He had a relapse on Sunday and took another trip to the emergency vet. Of course it happened after I didn't spend a night at home, making me wish this was just Chach having a panic attack over my absence but knowing that might not be the case. I came home Sunday morning to find his breathing was a little off. It started getting worse as time went on, and after a house call from my mom, we thought it best Chach have another expensive Sunday Funday at the vet.
His breathing was very labored, and he had more fluid in his chest. By the time we left the vet, you could see him physically try to breathe and at some points, he was open mouth panting. It was really scary. After some injections of a diuretic meant to drain the fluid from him (making him drink a ton of water and use the men's room a lot) and an antibiotic, and a few doses of each since in pill and liquid form, Chach is doing MUCH better.
The bad news is, the vets are worried it might not have been pneumonia after all-he might have a heart condition. So, in typical Chach diva fashion, he now has a cardiologist who's going to do an ultrasound on his heart to determine what the problem is. There are a few promising signs it doesn't have to do with his heart. 1.) Where he's retaining fluid is more consistent with pneumonia than with heart disease. 2.) His vet took him off the heart medicine (a diuretic meant to drain the fluid) within two days of his first episode and he still cleared up and was given a clean bill of health by the vet after only being on antibiotics. 3.) And here's where it gets sensitive. Chach's vet, the handsome Dr. Joe, ever so kindly implied that Chach might be too fat to have heart disease. Typically, cats are thinner or lose weight drastically. We all know Chach has been encouraged to apply for "The Biggest Feline Loser."
So, for now, I wait until his appointment on the 28th and hope the cardiologist has a cancellation so she can see him sooner. Until then, it's a pill twice a day and liquid antibiotics twice a day (and a 15-minute earlier wake-up time for me in order to fit wrestling a cat down to drug it into my morning schedule). Chach has returned to Mr. Fabulous status and has a humidifier running in my room when he's sleeping; his food in my room and in the kitchen so he doesn't have to walk far; me feeding him wet food from my fingers; water on all levels of my house; and his litter box in my room so he doesn't have to go far to use the latrine.
Based on the meltdown I had Sunday over this and the anxiety I've felt since, I've determined I will be a crazy lady mom if I ever have kids.
