I took Christopher back to the vet on Tuesday, this time for x-rays. She
called on Tuesday afternoon, and told me Christopher has two herniated
discs and another area where there's extra calcification. She said that
usually indicates additional disc problems, and his body's response has
been to deposit more calcium in that area, adding to his problems.
His blood tests came back perfect - something she says is very uncommon
in 18+ year old cats.
She gave him a steroid injection, to help ease any inflamation putting
pressure on his spinal cord, and gave me some dexamethasone tablets (a
fairly strong steroid) to give him twice a day. According to the online
info, Kim might be getting dexamethasone to battle her multiple myeloma.
He hates the pills, and is getting better and better at keeping his
mouth closed when I try to give them to him. Fortunately, they're small,
so they aren't that hard to put way back in his mouth (once I pry his
mouth open), leaving him no choice but to swallow.
He has definitely been more active in the past few days, and even though
he's not back to his level of a year ago, it's pretty clear that he's
feeling better. He was well enough this morning to climb the stairs to
my bedroom and demand that I come down *immediately* and get him some
breakfast - he hasn't done that in a while.
It looks like I'll get to enjoy his company for at least a little while
longer.
-- Mike (and that's a very good thing) --
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