February Patient of the Month- "Friskie"

“Friskie” Johnson, a 7 year old indoor cat was brought to see Dr.Heim for a possible UTI. “Friskie” had been urinating more frequently over the past month and began to take it outside of the litter box. Her owners knew there was a problem but when “Friskie” arrived at the HAH she was very dehydrated. Dr. Heim examined her and recommended bloodwork, a urinalysis and x-rays to get a more complete picture of her condition. The x-rays revealed a large stone in her bladder requiring surgery. However her bloodwork showed such significantly abnormal kidney and electrolyte values that she did not make a good surgical candidate.

For the next three days “Friskie” was given IV fluid therapy and medical care to address her hydration and to stabilize her electrolytes. Once she was stable, her owners took her home to continue this care until she was healthy enough for surgery.

Nearly a week after she was brought in, “Friskie” returned for a schedule cystotomy with Dr. Heim. Because her bloodwork was now within the normal limits, the surgery went smoothly and the stone was removed.

During surgery, a culture of the bladder was obtained to determine what kind of infection may be present. In “Friskie’s” case it was severe. “Friskie” had a ‘bug’ that was extremely resistant to most antibiotics and that had likely infiltrated her kidneys. The only medicine that would fight this was a very expensive human medicine that needed to be administered under the skin twice a day along with subcutaneous fluids.

Now as you may imagine, a cat named “Friskie” was name for one of two reasons. “Friskie’s” was not for being playful. She did not welcome daily injections. But her parents were loving and persistent and they worked out a system that made it work.

For 6 weeks, “Friskie” received all the TLC she could handle as her parents administered her fluids and injections. Now “Friskie’s” bloodwork is normal and her only medicine is a Hill’s Prescription diet.  According to the owner she has gained weight and is doing great!

Her parents were so pleased with the results that they paid it forward by donating the remainder of her medication to another pet in need.

This month we honor as patient of the month “Friskie” Johnson but also her parents. This is a true story of how the commitment and dedication of her parents made all the difference. There dedication to her and her daily treatments is the reason “Friskie” is back to herself again.