#and only moderately better in chem lab

[sarasa-cat]

The at home rapid antigen test #1 is negative. Still feel like crap 💩 tho. And sweaty 🥵.

My throat is definitely prickly and my nostrils are still cranky from that test’s sample collection stick… which was a messy ordeal.

[babystray-rescuecat]

Update on Romeo 🐱

Romeo got diagnosed with stage 2 (of 4) kidney disease.

On the night of Friday, July 23, my hand came away with a sticky clear fluid after petting him. I checked him over but couldn’t find a wound on his body. 

The following afternoon, I saw the wound on his bum. It was already red. He’d most likely been licking at it. I’m not sure how he got it. I thought it was from sitting on some piece of roofing that got blown away by the strong wind. It’s healing up now and actually it looks like a pair of puncture wounds. Maybe he got into a fight. Maybe he got bitten by something. I’m not completely sure because it’s scabbed over now.

I took him to the vet on Wednesday, July 28 - a little late, I know, but it was the soonest appointment we could get. He’d already been a bit lethargic and refusing to eat by this point. 

I mentioned his stimky breath, and the vet leaned into him for a sniff and immediately called for a blood chemistry panel. She said bad breath is a sign of kidney disease. 😱 

I had no idea! We’ve been using the oral gel and it worked to get rid of his bad breath but only temporarily. We had to keep using it or the stink would come back. 

He was such a good boy during his physical checkup, getting his blood drawn and getting dewormed. His CREA and BUN levels were hella elevated. A sign of kidney problems but it could have been affected by other factors like dehydration. And he was dehydrated. So she urged us to get an SDMA test, which is directly related to kidney function and isn’t influenced by anything else. Sure enough, the test showed his kidneys are impaired. 

I thought we were just about ready to go and I was just waiting for the print out of all the lab results and for the vet to write up the prescriptions when I was asked to go back into the exam room.

What I saw was hella terrifying. Romeo was hooked up to this machine and there were so many cables. I thought he had crashed and was dying! Turns out he was just having his blood pressure measured. The band that went around his arm was so tiny. He seemed so fragile in that moment. His BP was high at first, but the second time it was normal. Could have been just the stress of being at the vet. But there’s also a possibility of it being comorbid with the kidney disease.

He was prescribed nefrotec tablet to be taken 3x a day. It’s supposed to make him pee more to help him get rid of body waste. His kidneys aren’t functioning properly and so the waste builds up in his blood instead. He absolutely refused to take them when I gave them by hand. So I got a pill inserter to help. It worked the first time... and only the first time. Now I crush the tablet and cover it up with tons of yummy wet ciao treat and now he goes bananas for medicine time. 

He’s also taking antibiotics for his bum wound. He’s a champ at taking it directly by oral syringe. He also doesn’t make too much of a fuss when I clean and apply ointment to his bum. He can take off the velcro e-collar within two minutes of me putting it on him. So I got a different collar that is secured by buttons. It’s better at preventing him from taking it off, but he still did manage to slip out of it once by wedging himself into a tight space, getting the cone stuck, and then backing out of the cone. I only make him wear it about 30 mins after wound treatment to give it a chance to dry. It’s almost completely healed now. 

I spent that whole first night after the vet visit reading up on CKD (chronic kidney disease). I looked up the official guidelines and his levels actually indicate stage 3 kidney disease. Moderately impaired renal function. Not quite kidney failure but way too fucking close to that for my liking.

The vet didn’t mention making dietary changes and/or a urinalysis. And she said I had to take Romeo back a week after for retesting to monitor his levels. But that seems like way too soon especially when his meds were prescribed for 14 days.

The SDMA test is also really fucking expensive. It’s Php 1,500. The full blood chemistry panel was Php 2,400. Because we had both done, there was a discount and both tests were Php 3,500. For the retesting though, Romeo would need the SDMA test again and only two components for the blood chem, CREA and BUN, which are Php 350 each. I also think he should get his phosphorus level checked, but the vet didn’t mention it. 

I’m worried about his belly being a bit large. He’s got a visible waist still, so I don’t know if that’s just his primordial pouch or if he’s got some swelling or fluid buildup on the inside. I might take him to the full animal hospital to get an ultrasound/x-ray and a urinalysis. Our regular vet doesn’t have an ultrasound/x-ray machine.

What’s stressing me out a lot is not being able to feed him a specially formulated renal diet which is supposed to slow the progression of CKD. They’re just way too expensive. There’s also just not a lot of options here. There’s only hill’s and royal canin. We’re just going to have to make do with Special Cat Urinary which has okay ingredients and a phosphorus content that’s lower than other non-prescription cat food. Not as low as what our goal should be, but it should still help his kidneys a bit. It’s Php 1,200 for a 7kg bag compared to our usual food that’s only Php 870 per 7kg. I’m not sure if I should be feeding it to the other cats as well. The ingredients are actually better than our current dry food. The protein content is actually higher and the first ingredient is chicken instead of cereals.

I still wonder if there would be any benefit to doing the expensive renal diet even if for two weeks just to get his levels under control.

I’m feeding Romeo more wet food now and less kibbles so he can get more moisture. Given the choice, he prefers dry food, but that’s not doing him any good so I’m limiting his dry food intake. He’s also much more energetic. I’m really scared about what his levels would be when we do retest. But we’re just taking it day by day right now.

See his paw in the cone. This was taken in the car at the end of our vet visit. We hadn’t even left for home yet and he was already working on his escape. 😂

[fiftyeightminutes]

kalagang for "We both have friends who party too hard and we keep running into each other in the bathroom while we hold their hair back"??? i love your fics

aahhhh thank you so much.  sorry this took so long to write!  apparently my brain went, “au?  you mean time to give the story a ton of context right?”  so this is way longer than i intended.  (no one seems to mind when that happens though haha.)  okay so this au is set in a vague college setting in the united states because that’s the personal experience i’m working with here lol.  just accept the setting and roll with it, dears.

ALSO.  just wanted to say.  i know the fandom is having a hard time right now.  but i want to let you guys know that i am not giving up on this show.  other shows have had revivals.  several others, really.  be it movies, or a mini-series wrap up, even full blown new seasons.  it’s happened before, and we are so strong together.  we’ve already made so much noise.  please don’t give up, guys.  i love you.

---

The first time Kala meets Wolfgang, it’sthe first week of her junior year of university.  Specifically, the first Friday, when all thepartying gets started.  This has neverexactly been her scene (she’s spent many more late nights with her biochemistrybooks than booze), but after hearing how much she loved her school in theStates, Daya had wanted to join her.  Andwhen Daya came to college, she expected the full American experience.

So that’s how Kala finds herself holding her younger sister’shair as she vomits into a toilet in the bathroom of a home they’ve never been tobefore.  Kala had tried to help Dayamoderate how much she was drinking, but the younger girl had slipped off atsome point to talk to a boy.  By the timeKala had found her sister, she’d had at least two shots and another beer.  It wasn’t long before the quick drinkingcaught up with her, and soon she told Kala she didn’t feel so good.  Knowing where this was going to lead, Kalafound the nearest bathroom.  (Just intime, too.  Daya had barely managed toopen the lid of the toilet before beginning to puke.)  In their haste, they hadn’t closed the doorbehind them.

Daya’s stomach is just starting to calm when two boysstumble into the room, the skinnier of the two looking particularly green.  “Oh, fuck,” he says when he sees the toiletis already in use.  The other boy goes tolead him out of the bathroom, but there’s not enough time.  The first turns to the sink and vomits there.

The broader boy chuckles and pats him on the back.  “Ja, ja,just get it all out.”

Kala notices their accents, wondering if the two of them arealso exchange students.  But then thesounds coming from the sink get to Daya, and Kala’s attention is back toholding her sister’s hair.

---

A few weeks later, it’s Kala and Daya stumbling in on thetwo boys.  The skinnier one’s head is inthe porcelain bowl this time, so Kala directs her sister to a trash can.  The less drunk boy raises his eyebrows atKala.

“Fancy meeting you here again,” he says with a smirk.  (And yes, Kala has heard enough to be sure ofhis accent.  German.)

She sighs, grimacing at her Daya.  “She’s not usually like this,” Kala offersweakly.

The boy chuckles.  “He’salways like this,” he replies.  (From thepuking boy there is a small noise of protest, but it turns into a groan as hisstomach heaves again.)  “Freshman?” heasks her.

Kala nods.  “Firsttime in the US, too.”

The other boy’s smile widens.  “Ah, that explains it.”

She giggles.  “Well,if we’re going to keep meeting each other like this, I may as well know yourname.  I’m Kala.”

“Wolfgang.”  She doesn’tmean to, but her eyebrows raise in surprise. “Yes, really.”  Kala laughs again.

---

The next time Kala sees Wolfgang, she actually manages tofind him outside of a bathroom.  She’sbeen keeping a close eye on Daya at this party, trying to make sure her sisterat least stays hydrated if nothing else. But at some point, she wandered off, and now Kala is wandering aroundsome stranger’s house looking for her.

When Kala turns a corner, she accidentally bumps right intoWolfgang’s back.  His arm is slung overhis skinny friend’s shoulder, and they’re almost too drunk to notice her.  She considers just moving on, but as shewalks past and sees who it is she figures it can’t hurt to say hi.

“Wolfgang?” she asks.

He turns quickly out of his friend’s grip, looking to faceher.  Even through the intoxication, hiseyes light up when they reach Kala’s.  “Hey,”he says, face softening.

“I see your friend is upright tonight,” she offers.  (Kala’s suddenly not sure why she saidanything.  They don’t know each other,and she isn’t even sure what to talk about.)

Wolfgang chuckles. His friend is in the process of shotgunning a beer.  “For now, at least.”  She smiles, then turns to look around her andsee if Daya is anywhere nearby.  “Lookingfor someone?”

Kala nods.  “Daya – mysister – she managed to get away from me. I’ve gotta make sure she doesn’t get completely drunk again.”  At that moment, a loud whoop of laughtercomes from another room.  They both turnto look at where it came from, and Kala winces as she recognizes it as Daya’svoice.  “Nevermind.”

“Need some help?” he asks.

She considers it for a moment, but then looks to Wolfgang’sfriend.  He’s clearly still having a goodtime, and Kala doesn’t want to drag Wolfgang away to babysit a drunk freshman.  She shakes her head.  “No, thank you.  I think I’ve got her.”

---

The semester is almost half over before they actually runinto each other on campus.  Kala has justfinished her chem lab, and after having been there for hours she’s hungry.  She’s standing in line at the cafeteria whentwo familiar figures sidle up behind her. She hears them before seeing them, the skinny one joking and Wolfgang laughingquietly.  She recognizes the accent morethan the voice itself, never really having heard his friend speak much, but she’shappy to have guess correctly when she turns around to see them.  “Wolfgang,” she says with a smile.

“Kala,” he replies, looking a bit surprised to see her.

“Kala?” his friend asks, looking between the two ofthem.  “Did we meet?”

She giggles.  “Sortof.  You were pretty drunk.”

“Oh, right.  Partygirl!” the friend answers.

Kala raises her eyebrow at that.  “I wasn’t the one with his head in a toilet.”

Wolfgang laughs loudly at that.  Felix just grins.  “No, but that other girl was.”

She sighs.  “Mysister.”  The go through the line,ordering their food and getting their trays. When she’s done, she looks out into the cafeteria to see if any of herfriends are in the dining hall.  (Sheusually made plans with them to eat, but her lab had run long that day.)  When Kala doesn’t see anyone familiar, shestarts to make her way to one of the smaller tables, figuring she’ll just eatquickly on her own and go back to her room to start her homework.

Before she gets a chance to sit, though, she hears Wolfgang’sfriend calling behind her.  “Hey, Kala!”  She turns around.  “You gonna just sit alone?”  Wolfgang elbows his friend in the side, butthe question is already out there.

Kala looks around herself and then nods.  “Was that an invitation?” she asks.

The boy shrugs, then looks at Wolfgang for a second.  From where she’s standing, Wolfgang isunreadable, but his friend must be able to see something because he turns backand says, “Sure.  The more the merrier!”

She walks over and joins them as Wolfgang grabs atable.  It’s not much bigger than the oneshe had been planning on sitting at herself, making it clear there isn’tactually any “more” that his friend is referring to aside from Kala.  She sits next to Wolfgang and his friendtakes a chair on the other side.

“I’m Felix, by the way,” he says, already spooning food intohis mouth.

Wolfgang just shakes his head and looks down at his ownfood.  His manners aren’t that muchbetter, but at least he’s not talking with his mouth full.  Kala, on the other hand, is slowly cuttingher food and eating small, clean bites.

Felix mostly talks while Kala and Wolfgang listen.  He’s going on about some party from theprevious weekend, one Kala didn’t go to because she had an exam on Monday.  It’s not a bad story, but she can’t keep hereyes from wandering to Wolfgang.  He ismuch more stoic when sober, but the affection he has for Felix is stillvisible.

She’s pulled out of her thoughts when she hears hername.  “So, Kala,” Felix says.  “What made you decide to study in America?”

Kala puts down her fork, thinking about her answer as sheswallows her bite of food.  “A fewreasons.  Mostly the good chemistryprogram at this school, and they offer a tuition exchange program with one ofthe universities back in Mumbai.”  Shedoesn’t add that as much as she loves her family, she feels like sometimes theylook right through her.  That she wantedto go somewhere that maybe people would see herinstead of what they hoped she could be. “What about you guys?  Did youboth come here together?”

Wolfgang gives Felix a look. It’s not angry, necessarily, but there is something hard to it that Kalacan’t place.  After a moment, Felixcarefully replies, “Yeah, we came together. There’s nothing left for us in Germany.” Kala wants to ask more, but given Wolfgang’s face, she figures this isnot a subject to press.  After a coupleminutes of awkward silence Felix says, “I’m getting dessert.  Anyone want dessert?”

Both Kala and Wolfgang shake their heads no.  Felix shrugs and gets up, and suddenly it’sjust the two of them alone.

“Sorry,” Kala says.

Wolfgang looks at her, an intensity in his eyes.  “For what?”

“If that wasn’t an appropriate question to ask.”

He shakes his head.  “It’sfine.  Felix asked you first.”  Kala shrugs. “He wasn’t lying.  There’s nothingleft for me there.  Don’t worry about it.”

That only makes Kala more curious, but she knows this is himasking her to drop it.  (She barely knowshim, she reminds herself.  He is in no way obligated to explain hispast to me.)  Instead, she decides tomove to safer subjects.  “So what are youmajoring in?”

“Engineering,” Wolfgang says.  “You said you were studying chemistry, right?”

“Technically pre-med, but I hope to go to pharmaceuticalschool,” Kala replies, relaxing.  This,she can talk about easily.  Science sheknows.

“Really?  You want tobe a pharmacist?”

Kala laughs.  “I don’twant to work at the stores, no.  Althoughthat is has its own place, I don’t know if I would want to deal with customersall the time.”  Now Wolfgang islaughing.  “I want to study medicines anddevelop new ones.  Better ones, if I can.”

Wolfgang gives her a soft smile.  A real one, that reaches his eyes.  (She hadn’t realized that so many of hisothers didn’t look quite right until she saw this one.)  “That’s admirable.”  Kala blushes a bit, looking down at herhands.  There is a moment of quiet, butit’s not awkward this time.  When shelooks back up, Wolfgang seems to be deciding something.  “Do you want to get out of here?” he asks.

Kala looks around, seeing Felix standing in line for a pieceof pie.  “What about Felix?”

She turns back to look at Wolfgang, who is already pullingout his phone and typing a message.  “He’llbe fine.  He knows where he can find meif he needs me.”

The pile of homework in her backpack isn’t going to do itself,but Kala can’t seem to bring herself to care. (You don’t know him, part ofher mind says.  You have no idea what he means when he’s talking about Germany.  But she can’t seem to care about that mucheither, now.  Not with the intensitybehind Wolfgang’s eyes.)  “You knowwhat?  Sure.”

“Really?” Wolfgang asks, trying to hide his excitement.

“Yeah.  Let’s get outof here.”