My Turn To Save Kye

The past few days have been very difficult and emotional.

Following Kye’s recent fall I had her checked on Monday 7th December by my vet, Mr Starr, who suggested that she have blood tests done to see if there were any clues as to what, if anything, might be wrong with her. He suspected that Cushings Syndrome might be a possibility and told me to monitor her water intake for 24 hours and then come back with a urine sample so that he could do some blood tests.

On Wednesday this week at 9 am I returned to the vets and left Kye there for an hour while the test for Cushing’s was done and blood was taken to test for other things in the event it wasn’t that. I was told that the results of the Cushing’s test would possibly be available at lunchtime on Friday and that the others would follow in a day or two.

I was convinced it was Cushing’s and, truth be know, I was actually even hoping that would be the diagnosis because although it’s not curable, Cushing’s is manageable with medication.

It was an uneasy feeling waiting for those results so I was relieved to answer the phone on Thursday evening and hear Mr Starr tell me he had all of them. First of all, the test for Cushing’s had ruled it out; he said the result wasn’t even close to what he would expect to see in a Cushingoid dog.

So he pressed on…

Kye has slightly elevated cholesterol which I was told does not indicate the same as it might in humans, a heart condition. Her urine was a little more diluted than he would expect but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what that meant without further investigation. After a few more anomalies were explained and dismissed and then Mr Starr asked me if I was in the medical field. I said no and he continued. Kye is slightly anaemic and she has a lot of calcium in her blood.

High blood calcium can mean one of two things. To be honest I can’t remember what the first one was because Mr Starr dismissed that too as soon as he’d finished explaining it. Then he moved on to the other explanation. It was the one word I had hoped not to hear.

The high calcium, coat condition, anaemia and muscle loss might indicate some form of cancer.

The word hung there. I felt my shoulders drop and I covered my face with my left hand. I heard the words “That’s the one thing I was hoping you wouldn’t say”, to which he replied; “I know”.

Mr Starr said I have two options. I could either book Kye in for ultrasound to have her abdomen and chest examined in a non-invasive way, or he could refer me immediately to a specialist who would take over the case completely. He told me to think about it and let him know in the morning.

It took a while for it all to sink in but the choice wasn’t difficult. I decided that since the gentler option for Kye would be the first that’s what I’d do.

On Friday morning I spoke with Mr Starr again. He agreed that the ultrasound was a less stressful first step for Kye and that afternoon the specialist at the centre called me to book the appointment.

Kye is booked in for her examination on Thursday 17th December at 9 am. If I could hold my breath that long I probably would.

In the meantime, Kye is sleeping a lot and not finishing her meals. She’s also more clingy that she usually is and doesn’t seem very interested in going for walks. The only thing I can do is give her plenty of love and hope to goodness that Thursday will bring news of something treatable.