Going to the Doctor today

I called Razzle's doctor yesterday and explained how he has been throwing up his medicines and has been lethargic the last couple days. She said to stop all medicine except for the Enacard (heart med) and if he is still lethargic, to bring him in.

When I pick Razzle up, he's squirmy as usual. But left alone, he very inactive. He also hasn't been eating much and he is noticeably smaller. I put out Maxi-cal (which he is apparently sick of now because he never touches it) and beef babyfood. He took a few bites of his beef baby-food and only ate a few kibbles. He slept most of the night. This morning I went to check on him and noticed a very clean cage. No poo anywhere? Lifted up the igloo and saw a huge, green jelly mess all over Razzle's back. He was on his wheel for just over a minute and in that time, he must have done his business and then walked on his wheel and the poo just plopped on his quills. Poor thing! So into the bathtub he went. The jelly poos are reason alone to bring him in today, but his lack of eating is also getting worrisome. So I am taking the morning off from work - possibly day - and taking him in for a check up. Fingers crossed for better news!!!!

***************************************************************
UPDATE 5pm
***************************************************************

You should know the drill by now - there's good news and bad news. Good news is, Razzle's heart condition at the moment is stabilized. Unfortunately, the reason his heart condition is fine is because there is no congestion around his heart/lungs because he is dehydrated. And while being dehydrated is great for the heart, it's not so good for the kidneys.

Razzle needs to stay at the hospital for at least the next couple nights to be monitored and given fluids. He is at risk for kidney failure right now. Good news is...he's not IN kidney failure right now: we are hoping by administering fluids that this is prevented. It could be just a kidney infection that is causing this. It could be the beginnings of kidney failure. We'll know more as he is monitored.

Razzle has been taking a diuretic so the excess fluid around his heart doesn't spill over into his lungs and cause breathing difficulties and/or a lung infection (like what he was hospitalized for last month). Yet the diuretic can stress out the kidneys since it has a dehydrating effect. Everything is so intertwined and it's quite a little balancing act, which accounts for all the ups & downs the past few months.

Razzle hasn't been eating/drinking as much over the last couple days for whatever reason and he also has thrown up his medicines a few times. This all could have led to the dehydration. His doctor said that it doesn't appear that he is in any pain or discomfort -- he's just a little tired and worn out. Once his fluid levels even out, he should get his ol' Razzy-ness back. Hopefully he'll get some food in him. We're going to go up to the hospital tonight and see if he might eat a bit for me. He's lost a lot of weight quickly. Just last week, things were headed in the opposite direction where I thought he looked the best he had in weeks. It's scary how quickly things change.

I just hope I can have Razzle home again soon....eating, drinking, pooping, wheeling. Doing all his hedgie things. He's bounced back every time so far...I hope he's still got more bounce in him. He's come so far despite all these obstacles. As long as there is a chance he can be happy and comfortable, we'll keep doing all we can for him. It's been a long and winding road, but we haven't reached the end.

**************************************************************
UPDATE 10:30PM
**************************************************************

Just got home from visiting Razzle at the hospital. My first impression was that he looked good! He looks bigger (probably from the fluids they administered) and seemed pretty spunky when I picked him up. He was his typical squirmy self! He had a bowl of water and two bowls of yummy-looking treats in the aquarium tank with him. I asked him if he could show me how he eats his snacks, and he went over to a bowl and took several enthusiastic bites!! We were thrilled! Then he went over to his water bowl and drank quite a bit of water!!! Wooohoooo!! But, you know Razzle can never let us get *too comfortable* thinking all is well, so after eating he promptly plunked down in exhaustion right there near the bowl. That didn't look good. :( He's just so tired. I'm sure it's due to the fact that he didn't get his sleep today; then being poked and prodded, given fluids, blood taken...no wonder he's wiped. We stayed for about a half hour or so and I told Razzle he was going to be coming home very soon and will be able to sleep in his igloo with his favorite blankies.....then we had to let Razzle get his much needed sleep. He's doing ok it seems....at least much better than the last hospital stay where he had to be in oxygen and he wasn't eating. So I'll call the doctor first thing in the morning to see how he did overnight and hope to get some promising news. Come on Razzle! I know you can pull through again my little prickle pear! :)