Buffalo's Bladder, Part 1

Sunday, May 24, 2009, 11pm (ish)--Cristina and I arrive home from hanging out with the young adults after church. We notice Buffalo facing the corner of her cage, exactly the way I left her at about 4:15 that afternoon. I tried talking to her and she was unresponsive. So I reached in and moved her but she did not move on her own. I decided to pick her up and she was like dead weight. I placed her on the couch and she just plopped down. She was not using her legs to support herself as usual but simply letting them fall where they may. I tried petting her on the head. She usually blinks, but not this time. Her eyes we wide open and vacant. If it were not for the fact that I could see her breathing I was have thought she was dead. As it was I wondered if she was dying. So Cristina and I placed her in her carrier, which she was half hanging out of, and we went straight to the Animal Emergency Clinic in Grand Terrace.

Earlier that day I had given Buffalo a bath. Buffalo is now six-years-old and a bit rounder. So it has been harder for her to clean where she needs it most. Her fur was dirty and matted and I wanted to clean her up. After a long bath I put her in her cage so she could preen herself. I pitched in a bit with a brush. At one point she hopped on her perch to preen. But as she reach around she lost her balance, her back paw flew out from under her and she landed on her back. She was both mad (that she had been given a bath) and embarassed. She played it off for a moment, then went to the corner face first. And that is how I found her over six hours later. Was she there the entire time? I don't know.

When we got to the hospital I placed Buffalo on the counter as we waited to be seen. The receptionist immediately recognized how serious the situation was and took her to the back right away. When Dr. Johnstone came out to give us a prognosis she was very concerned and not too optimistic. Buffalo was cold, weak and unresponsive. We would leave her overnight and call Dr. Johnstone in the morning before 8am when she leaves.

So we went home, prayed and got some sleep... sort of. I kept waking up every hour until it was finally after 7am and I called the clinic. Dr. Johnstone told me the results of her tests. X-rays revealed she had bladder stones and would likely need surgery. She was stable but still not eating. I would have to call in the afternoon to see if she made any progress.

Fortunately for us, it was Memorial Day weekend. So the emergency clinic was open 24 hours from Friday at 6pm to Tuesday at 8am. Otherwise I would have had to pick Buffalo up by 8am whether she was better or not.

I called again at 2pm, and about every 10-30 minutes after that. They must have been busy because there was no answer. And to make things worse their voice mail box was full. It finally got through about three hours later. Buffalo's status hadn't changed much from the morning. Her temperature was back up and she had eaten a little. But I figured that, since the clinic would be open through the night, we should leave her there so they could monitor her.

So we went to visit with family in Colton. Afterwards, since we were so close, I decided to go check in on Buffalo personally. it was a little after 10pm. When we got there they led us to the back to see her. She had a purple bandage on her front right paw where the IV was. She had ripped it out. And the bottom of all her paws were blackened by newsprint. The good news is she was out of the incubator and eating on her own. So they let us take her home.

They sent us away with Tribrissen, a liquid antibiotic, and referred us to our primary vet, Dr. Brothers at the Highland Avenue Veterinary Clinic and to Dr. Price at the Calimesa Veterinary Clinic for surgery. Dr. Price is the one who removed a tumor from Buffalo's belly about a year ago. We would visit him first thing in the morning...

TO BE CONTINUED