Mr Flapper Duck

Hodjee is not doing too well.

I am not sure I am going to take her back to the vet at this point. It didn’t go very well the last time. They were nice, but I came in with two serious issues and left with no answers. Her chin is swollen and she seems like she’s occasionally in pain. I left with an appointment in January for radiation for hyperthyroidism. They’re not even sure they gave her the antibiotic because it didn’t get written on her chart.

On one hand, I wish veterinarians and their offices would slow down and be quiet for 2 seconds, so they could really listen. Stop running around and pay attention. I didn’t even see the veterinarian when I took Hodjee in, though he did spend 10-minutes on the phone when her blood results came back.

On the other hand, I really feel Hodjee’s issues are terminal, and I don’t want to put her through unnecessary treatments. I didn’t really want to take her to the vet at all, since she hates it so much. Right now she is telling me to just let her be, so that is what I will do.

Hodjee has been acting differently the past day or two. She spends more time in the basement alone. Last night she cried out two times and then ran when I tried to talk to her. She eventually let me bring her upstairs and hold her, and she fell asleep in my arms.

For now she is back upstairs and sleeping near the heating vents. I get to hold and pet her now and then, but mostly I just let her sleep.

UPDATE 1:20PM: Meh… I’m taking her to the vet. I went out an hour ago to pick up medication for her, but when I tried to give it to her she didn’t really swallow and wouldn’t drink water. So I’m taking her in. I think the vet does not realize how close to death she is. Maybe he’ll give her fluids or something. We’ll see. I’ll post more when I’m back.

UPDATE 4:00PM: Back from the vet. Hodjee is really not well. A week ago they had to heavily sedate her just to examine her. Today she just sat in a pile on their table. She has bruising all over her chin, neck, chest and belly, which is likely an issue with her blood not clotting correctly. It could be a reaction to the medication she got last Saturday. They’re not sure if they gave her the antibiotics she needed last weekend (which kind of drives me a bit insane) so she’s on oral medication now. I hope she will take it and swallow it. They also gave her sub-q fluids to hydrate her and an enema as well.

She had an x-ray. I wanted one to see if she had evidence of tumors. I was certain she had cancer. If the x-ray showed tumors, I wanted to put her down today. But there are no abdominal tumors, which surprised me. So we decided to go with the medications above and see if she improves over the next day or two. It’s not very likely, in my opinion. But I’m hoping Hodjee surprises me.

Hodjee is doing okay. She’s hanging in there. The vet called and gave us a bunch of information. I took her in because her chin/neck is swollen and hurts her, but it turns out her biggest problem is she has serious hyperthyroidism. So we’ll treat that first, after she’s done with antibiotics. I don’t think they really addressed the chin issue well, but they did give her a shot of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, so that should help.

Hodjee is SUPER happy to be home from the vet’s office. She hates the vet’s office. She’s active and eating and we’ll just see how she does this week. I feel more confident now that she’s got some time left, especially if we get the hyperthyroidism under control. Then… she’ll have dental cleaning/teeth pulled if her chin turns out to be caused by her teeth.

So no quick answers, but she’s doing pretty well.

Hodjee Podge isn’t feeling great these days. I think she is seriously ill. She is about 13 or 14-years-old and has had tumors from a bad vaccine for almost five-years now. Simon has tumors from that bad vaccine as well. All 3 of my cats are rescues from the ASPCA in NYC.

I am torn over what to do for Hodjee. I believe I will take her to the vet on Tuesday for diagnostic work. But to tell you the truth, I don’t expect very good news. I am trying to prepare her for her vet visit.

I rarely take Hodjee to the vet because she goes absolutely ballistic. She flips out and throws up from stress and attacks and lunges at people and hyperventilates. She has actively attacked three veterinarians–and me–like a wild animal. Even while drugged on sedatives. It’s a level of insanity I just don’t like to put her through.

And since she’s got the slow-growing inoperable tumors… I just don’t want to put her through stress that won’t help her. But this time I will take her in to make sure it’s the tumors and not something else that might be easily fixed.

Her tumors are not curable, so I am more thankful every day I have with her. In her case, I will not prolong her life if she is not happy and comfortable and pain-free. But I do want to make sure if she has something treatable that she gets the best care.

It is a fine line, especially for a sweet soul who really does not like poking and prodding.

If I do take her to the vet on Tuesday, I will update you on what I learn.

Hodjee is happier now that her sherpa donut is out of the wash and back in her spot.

This has been a really bad year, but in this case… Hodjee has been on borrowed time for awhile. I don’t know how sick she is yet, but I do think death is a very real part of life. We’re all mortal.

This is a calm, quiet time for us.

I just wanted to prepare everyone for what might come.