Frankie hospitalized since Sunday

What luck! btmao and I have not visited the cattery for two weeks as we were both unwell (still are). But on this Sunday past, I jumped into a cab and rushed over after Foster Mum called.

Frankie, the laid-back guy who has never given any trouble before, hadn’t eaten for three days, despite all the cajoling and is dehydrated.

I got there amidst a blugeoning headache. With my heart throbbing in my mouth, I waited to see Frankie.

When one of the helpers brought him out in a carrier, I was cautiously hopeful as he didn’t seem to be in too bad a shape. His eyes were as bright and alert as ever. However, he did something that we’ve not known him to do through the 2 years of our acquaintance. He vocalised. It may not seem a big deal but he has NEVER even meowed before. He seemed to be bewildered and wanted to know what’s going on. My heart went out ot him to hear him alternate between silence and crying.

Foster Mum was going to another clinic to attend to other cats and her own dog, Brownie and she dropped Frankie and me off at ours.

Dr T attended and a detailed physical revealed nothing unusual. Even Frankie’s body temp was ok.  Dr T ordered a blood test then.

After a terse 20 minute wait, the verdict was out. Frankie has kidney failure. Further tests may be needed but a check with Foster Mum on his eliminations, which is none for the past 3 days, led Dr T to a preliminary diagnosis of acute kidney failure(ARF). It seems Frankie has the same problem as Bam Bam, and so it seems he has a fair chance of recovery.

Frankie was hospitalised, and is still warded for now. As for me, the presence of a few large dogs at the clinic brought on a severe bout of my rhinitis, adding to my sniffling nose’s woes.

End-note: I called Foster-Mum to update her on Frankie’s condition. She very kindly offered to help see how she can help defray Frankie’s hospital bill, because as she knows it, we’ve been hit really hard in the past weeks, what with Chrissy’s illness, Angel’s problem, and Lizzy and April’s issues too. I was very touched by her thoughtfulness, and truth is, we’ve been hit harder than she knows – the slackers had their annual checkup ltwo weeks ago, and as a follow-up to Teddy’s previous bladder stone problem he was x-rayed… he’s clear of bladder stones but was diagnosed with kidney stones. It’s been very hard to take the things that has happened in the past months. But I told Foster Mum it’s ok, we’ll figure it out, because she herself has more cat-related finance worries to think about.