FREDERICKSBURG, FL – Local cat, Smokey, has been staying in the local vet hospital – in the ICU – for about 4 years. This feline needs the assistance of a mechanical ventilator to breath, and has for his entire stay. Smokey was declared brain dead by the veterinarian, but his family made him a full code and placed him on the ventilator.
“We are still hoping for a miracle,” Cheryl Anderson, Smokey’s owner told reporters. “There’s a warm dish of [butcher-quality] chicken and tuna with a saucer of milk, waiting for you Smokey, at home.”
Unfortunately for Smokey that dish will never be eaten, especially if it has been sitting out for 4 years. This small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Cheryl has done everything to keep hope alive.
“Last week we started permanent dialysis,” Dr. Raynod, Smokey’s veterinarian told the press. “He is dialyzed Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He’s tolerating it very well.”
Dr. Raynod had to call a pediatric gastroenterologist from Mercy Hospital to perform the PEG portion of his trach and PEG. “They just have smaller scopes,” said Cheryl. “Now we are able to grind up his favorite meals and he is enjoying it quite a bit.” This claim cannot be confirmed except per Cheryl, who knows his purring well. GomerBlog cannot confirm or deny if the sounds are purring or the resonance of the ventilator.
His stay has been complicated by ventilator associated pneumonia and he even was getting cachectic because of lack of TPN. “I couldn’t get my TPN orders in on time; I’m not used to dealing with pharmacy. So glad we have a PEG now,” said Dr. Raynod.
The veterinarian bill is in the millions and nobody knows who will pay it. In the meantime, items like his Air Mattress Overlay – to prevent feline ulcers – push the total even higher.
Smokey’s physical therapists told reporters that his treatment was “state-of-the-art” and above the typical cat therapy while on a ventilator. Therapies include, massaging of the legs, dangling a feather or a little bell and a poof-ball on a string, and shining a laser pointer all over the walls. He developed a way to have Smokey “mimic licking himself and placing hair into his PEG” followed by “chest percussive therapy to have him cough up the hairball.”
Smokey is 14-years old and nearing the end of his life – for the last four years. He is now on 2 pressors and doctors think any day he could go. “We had 2 Code Blues last week, and since Smokey is our only patient, well, that’s not a good sign. Most of his ribs are broke, he is not in good shape.”
Unfortunately Smokey did not have an advance directive at the time of admission, 4 years ago. It’s anybody’s guess as to what he would actually want done.
