Yesterday was a fun day. Andrew Flowerday, my fellow Michigan Tau Beta Pi District Director, runs Quiz Bowl Tournaments 1-2 times a year at the University of Michigan Dearborn. He mentioned it to me last year and I told him to keep me in mind to serve as a moderator. So yesterday was the 2008 Spring Classic at U of M Dearborn. It brought back fond memories of my time playing Quiz Bowl...err...12 years ago. :0 I ended up reading for seven different matches.

I had to get used to the format which was different than what I was used to in high school. However, the format was much easier with only two halves of eight questions each with two bonus questions per toss-up question. All I remember for sure was that the format from high school was much more complicated. Detroit Country Day beat out Catholic Central for first place. I read for both teams in the morning session and Country Day picked me to read for their quarter-final and semi-final games. ;)

Hmm, three postings in four days...what is the world coming to?

Well, yesterday was definitely a teary-eyed day for me. Lots of crying about the potential loss of Dickens. Of course, me crying is a pretty big deal because I don't cry very often. In fact, I don't think I've cried that much since the loss of my Grandmother seven years ago. That was yesterday, today was different.

One of the vets from the Cat Clinic called me late in the afternoon to share Dickens' blood and urine test results with me. Both of the key tests they look at for kidney problems came out high. One was double what is found in a healthy cat, but she wasn't that concerned about that one because it just indicated a problem processing water properly. The other test came back at a 3.8 (I don't remember what it was called) and a normal cat has between a 1.2 and 2.4. She also added she had just seen a cat with a reading over 6. Good news...Dickens has some time left. The results indicate a loss of 75% of his kidney functions. However, his phosphorus levels were normal which is a much worse, i.e. 85% loss of kidney function.

Where now? I'm switching Dickens to a kidney friendly diet which is low in protein which will relieve his kidneys of some work. Dickens likes the food, Baxter doesn't...too bad for Baxter. :) In fact, the food makes cats fat, so if Baxter chooses to be picky, that might be better them him pigging out!

She also said that I will need to think about giving him subcutaneous fluids...in layman's terms, injecting him with water 1-2 times per week. We'll see if that's doable, as I'm not a big fan of needles especially having to actually use one on my cat. However, if Dickens continues to be his fun-loving active self and this will help him live a little longer, we'll see if they can't teach this old dog a new trick. :)

Today was not a good day. After taking possession of my cats from my parents last May, I had knew I need to take them to the vet for a checkup. Well, I finally got around to it and took Dickens into the vet for a checkup and to look into his thinning waistline. On an unrelated note he developed a case of every teenagers worst nightmare, acne. :) The vet trimmed his chin and he's on antibiotics to clear it up...if it had only been that easy when I was a teenager!

Upon examining him, the vet found that one of his kidney had lumps on it and the other one appeared to be enlarged. She recommended blood and urine tests as well as an ultrasound to what the problems with his kidneys might be. So I left him there and went back to work and tried not to think about it. She said it could be just some growths associated with old age or possibly the dreaded "c" word. They performed the ultrasound and she called me about an hour after getting back to work with some bad news. Dickens has Polycystic Kidney Disease which means his kidneys are growing cysts that will ultimately result in kidney failure. This is an inherited disease he has had since birth and usually claims a cat when they are 3 and 10 years old. Fortunately, Dickens is 14 and has been with us for almost 11 years.

They will call back with the blood and urine test results tomorrow which will give an indication of how far along the disease has progressed and how much time he has left. I'll post again tomorrow to let everyone know. In the mean time, Dickens is home and on a low protein diet to reduce the load on his kidneys. Everyone who has come to know Dickens thinks he is a wonderful cat and I know my family has enjoyed having him as part of our family. Anyone who is interested is more than welcome to stop by and visit with him in his remaining days...of course, if you want to see me, Rachel, Baxter, or Flannery , we'll be here, too!

Dickens sitting on the table after returning from the vet.