The blog post titled Things I Absolutely LOVE is from Wednesday,
June 18th. On that day, Datsun was bouncing around the house, being his usual
sweet self. Never would I have imagined what was about to follow.
Thursday afternoon: Datsun was sick once or twice throughout
the day. I never thought anything of it.
Friday: Datsun was sick many times throughout the day. Food
was in the vomit so he was eating, however, I was becoming a bit concerned.
Saturday: Datsun was throwing up yellow liquids and panting.
Around 11am, we headed over to our regular vet whom Datsun has been seeing for
most of his life. The vet wasn't sure what was wrong but was worried enough to
send us to a nearby animal hospital for tests.
The doctor at the animal hospital,
納嘉動物醫院 Hlane-Animal-Hospital, took
x-rays and diagnosed Datsun with pneumonia. He said he would give us some
medicine and that the cat should be fine in a few days. I mentioned that my regular
vet had suggested taking blood and this doctor said he could do that. He gave
Datsun some fluids while we waited for the results.
The tests came back with numbers through the roof. Datsun's
BUN (blood urea nitrogen) showed as 124.2mg when normal levels are between 18
and 35mg. Creatinine came up as 11.4mg when normal levels are between 0.8 and
2.2mg. Both numbers relate to the kidneys. Datsun's AST (aspartate
aminotransferase) read 458iu when normal levels are between 23 and 79iu. This
number relates to the liver.
The vet proposed an ultrasound and it was only moments later
that he and his assistant shaved Datsun's belly and started probing around. The
vet said Datsun had a big kidney stone and very quickly starting talking about
renal failure and chronic/acute kidney failure. I heard surgery at NT$30,000,
approximately CAN$1075.00. Surgery would most likely rupture Datsun's kidneys
so he would later be faced with dialysis treatments at NT$10,000 per day. When I
asked for another option, the vet simply stated that I should put Datsun to
sleep.
I don't know how long I sat there trying to understand the
doctor's words. His lips continued to move but not much was registering. At
some point, he left the room and I was left alone with Datsun, who seemed
terribly unresponsive.
The silence screamed that this couldn’t be right. How could
this possibly be right?
Eventually, I found my voice enough to call a friend who
recommended I take Datsun to her vet. I motioned for the doctor to tell him I
would be leaving.
Along with x-rays, papers from the blood work and an
ultrasound image came a NTD$5,300 bill. The animal hospital doesn't take credit
cards, of course, and as I made my way across the street to the ATM, the
pouring rain seemed fitting.
Catching a taxi with the wet weather didn't come easily. Datsun
and I had a trek over to the other side of town and he was eerily calm which
worried me greatly.
Now, this part of the story could only happen to someone
living in a foreign country. I am so grateful I speak Mandarin, although it
didn't seem to help me out much in the following situation.
After giving the driver the address, he punched it into his
GPS. Not too long later, the driver stopped in front of a helmet/raincoat store
— they are plentiful in Taipei — telling me this was the address, pointing to
his GPS. I told him that the place I wanted to go to was near the Core Pacific
Mall, still a ways away, and said this definitely wasn't the place. He insisted
that it was the address I had given him so I told him to go to the Core Pacific
Mall and that I would call my friend to confirm the address.
I was sick with worry and although my friend explained the
location quite well, the only thing that stuck was the name Jia Ching Animal
Hospital. I figured that would be enough to get me there.
As we neared the Core Pacific Mall, I recalled my friend
saying something about the 85° coffee shop which I saw just up ahead. I told
the driver that I was looking for Jia Ching Animal Hospital. We both saw an
animal hospital and I asked him if it was Jia Ching. I didn't recognize the
first two characters but he confirmed it was Jia Ching. I asked him again if it
was Jia Ching and he repeated Jia Ching.
Totally not Jia Ching.
I didn't discover this until the next day when my friend
called to ask me where my cat was. I said that Datsun was at her vet and she said
that she had just spoken to them and they told her that I never showed up. Tears started
streaming down my face as I came to the realization that I had left Datsun at a
completely different place.
I scrambled to find the business card they gave me. The only words of English on it are
Excellent Animal Hospital. I missed Jia Ching by a block. The girl at the Excellent
Animal Hospital spoke very little English and when Datsun and I got there, I
was so upset I could barely talk. I told her who I was and explained in English
that my friend had called her and the girl nodded her head, gave me some papers
to fill out and called the doctor. I had no idea I was at the wrong place.
It quickly became clear that the vet and his assistant
spoke very little English. I thought it was strange since my friend did say
that everyone at Jia Ching spoke English but I just switched over to Chinese
and explained the situation as best I could.
The vet was genuinely concerned and handled Datsun so
gently. He looked over Datsun's test results and confirmed that Datsun's liver
and kidneys were 壞掉 which translates to me as broken. My heart sunk. The doctor stressed a few times that the cat's situation was very serious and that he needed to
be put on an IV as soon as possible.
I asked him
about surgery and he began using his index finger and making motions as if he was talking about
cutting into the kidney to remove the kidney stone and when tears starting
streaming down my face he stopped talking. I told him that I didn't understand
what he was saying. He tried getting his assistant to translate but she wasn't able to help out any.
The doctor
told me to leave the cat in hospital for a few days and promised to do all that he could
for Datsun. Each day in hospital would cost NT$1,500 and they requested a
NT$5,000 deposit. Again I was off to locate an ATM; at least the rain had
stopped.
Upon my return, the vet had Datsun already hooked up to an IV. I felt
helpless and saddened that I had to return home without my Boy Cat, knowing he may never come home again.
Saturday night and Sunday were rough. I spent most of my time crying. Things seemed so out of balance without Datsun in the house. Monday couldn't come quickly enough.
When Monday came, Datsun was showing a lot of positive signs. And to think, I was prepared to let him go. I had decided that I couldn't go through with surgery for him and thought it would be best to put him down. My friend came over the vet to help me through the process but the vet was very happy with Datsun's progress and said he may be able to go home the following day if his blood tests produced good results.
I was shocked. Datsun did look better and even took a big (smelly) pee right in front of me. That was a good sign. Sure enough, the next afternoon I got a call from the vet to congratulate me on successful blood tests and to let me know that Datsun could go home that evening.
Datsun was happy to be back in the house and started eating little bits on his own the next day. I took him back two days later for a check up and some more x-rays because the ones done at the Hlane Animal Hospital were not clear enough.
Datsun does have three kidney stones, one being quite a bit bigger than the other two. They don't do sonar treatment for animals here in Taiwan so the only way to remove them is by surgery. I guess from here on in, it's a change of diet for Datsun —who is an extremely finicky eater —and making sure he gets enough water.
Also keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the kidney stones don't grow too quickly. Datsun will be going for regular tests now so we can monitor him. In the meantime, he will get as much love as I can give him and I will enjoy him (more so) for every day he is here. ♥
