Since before my first high school girlfriend, Trini has been with us through college and beyond (20+ years). If you've ever loved a pet like a member of your family, please donate to help pay for her vet bills. The campaign picture is from her recent visit to the animal hospital ICU. All donations will be used to pay pending and future vet bills.

 

Baby Trini when she could fit in the palm of your hand.

We adopted Trini when I (Sean Tiernan) was a Sophomore in Highschool from a friend (Jason Davis). She has been a member of our family since then. Trini loves sleeping with her owner (Sean Tiernan) and wakes you up looking for food and snuggles in the morning. She didn't get much bigger than kitten size, staying as cute as ever. Trini is a lover; she'll sit by you while you watch TV, snuggle up behind your laptop while you work, and knows how to brighten your day. She enjoys going on adventures when it's warm outside with my dad and keeps him company when my mom is away in CA taking care of my grandfather.

 

Back in the days of CRT Monitors, she loved to sit on top.

One of my fondest memories growing up was when my friends and I (Nick Meyer, Mitch Pflederer) were playing video games; Mitch came over and said, "Sean, your neighbor just jumped over the fence." Then "Sean, your neighbor, is chasing your cat!" I could hear yelling, "It's got my chippy, it's got my chippy!" Trini used to love catching chipmunks and letting them go. As far as I'm aware, the chipmunks made it out unscathed, but I was worried the chipmunk might get hurt this time. However, I was able to calm the neighbor down, and sure enough, the chipmunk hopped off.

Trini prepped for Christmas festivities.

So what happened? A detailed description of recent events has been provided below (with lots of cute pictures to keep your attention):

 

Since then, Trini has been doing quite well for her age. She had been in the first stage of Kidney disease for the last few years, taking an appetite pill every 24-48 hours and recently started .5ml of prednisolone (liquid steroid) each day. At the beginning of December 2021, she stopped eating altogether. Her primary care vet added an antihistamine and suggested "saunas" in the shower, but it did not improve her condition. She started losing weight, dropping from ~98 oz to 90 oz within two weeks. At this point, due to growing concern, I put my Christmas in CA plans on hold and grabbed a flight to IL to try to help.

 

Trini getting a suntan.

 

Upon arrival, I was heartbroken; Trini seemed so congested that I was worried she had trouble breathing. You could tell she hadn't been eating and wasn't herself. Her primary care vet insisted there was nothing else we could try-except upping the steroid dose for two days, but that had no effect. Unwilling to lose her, we rushed Trini to the Lisle Emergency Vet on December 18th. They prescribed a hefty dose of daily steroids and an antibiotic course. We started Trini on prescription recovery food from Royal Canine four times a day in syringes per their advice. At this point, Trini was mildly anemic, and her kidney values had not changed.

 

Trini getting ready for a car ride.

 

Trini started eating independently within a day and gained a few ounces back over the next few days. Her primary care vet insisted this was due to the increased steroids. As Christmas approached, a reversal occurred, and Trini started losing weight again, dropping to under 90 oz. We rushed her back to the Lisle Emergency Vet on Christmas Eve. As the night went on, turning into Christmas day, we anxiously awaited results.

 

Trini often watches the house at night.

 

When we got the call, I was in uncontrollable tears. According to the Lisle ER vet, she had become severely anemic and was near renal failure. They recommended putting her to sleep Christmas morning; when I refused, they suggested bringing her back that weekend when I was ready. Instead, I requested they give her an antibiotic shot for the high white blood cell levels, which implied she was fighting an infection.

 

Once upon a time, Trini was learning the guitar.

 

As a family, we decided as long as she wasn't in pain, we would rather keep her with us. To our surprise, within the next few days, her condition improved. Trini was purring with ease, eating again, and sure didn't seem like a cat that was about to die. With mounting suspicion about the Christmas readings from the Lisle ER Vet, we searched for another option and found the VCA Arboretum Animal Hospital.

 

Trini has always loved her boxes.

 

The Lisle ER Vert readings showed she should be critical, so we got in quickly. Then things got interesting, a doctor at the VCA performed a manual PCV test to check the anemia values, and his reading returned quite different. To confirm, the VCA retested the blood (HCV) in-house, getting a similar reading as the manual test. Then they sent her blood out to a third-party lab to double confirm her values were not critical. The doctor at the VCA stated they've seen senior cats live comfortably with her current values.

 

A well-deserved nap after a long day.

 

I'd like to believe miracles are possible, and this was our Christmas miracle. The VCA changed the prescribed medications and helped set up an appointment with an internal specialist for Jan 19th at their clinic. The goal of the new meds was to slowly get Trini off the higher steroid dosage and switch her to Alura's new appetite stimulant. They also prescribed an oral antibiotic to help with the infection. When we asked what else we could try, the VCA provided two alternatives to the Royal Canin Recovery food, one of which Trini ate on her own (Kitten Gastro).

 

Snuggles.

 

Trini was stable, not even mildly anemic. Because the previous anemia values were incorrect, the VCA believed all the blood work performed by the Lisle ER vet had been in error. They recommended we follow up with a kidney test from her primary care, but it wasn't urgent. Trini began to eat surprisingly well independently, and we reduced the syringe feeding to ~zero per day. She started gaining weight again. We believed as long as her kidney disease was managed, all signs indicated she could live a comfortable life.

 

Cuddles.

 

Soon after, Trini attained a 3-year record weight of 105 oz. Trini had an appointment at her primary care for the 2nd week of January that we got moved up to January 11th. The clinic performed a senior cat assessment to recheck her kidney and other internal organ values. They also found an ulcer on her left eye and prescribed an ointment. The clinic advised us the reports would be available Thursday.

 

Mhmm, the laptop is warm.

 

Thursday morning, afternoon and evening came and went with no response from the primary care clinic we were aware of. Around 6:15 pm, we noticed a missed call from the clinic that had gone out at 5:45 pm. Upon listening to the voicemail, shock and dismay filled the room. The doctor stated, ~ "they had sent an email around noon that said Trini's kidney values had progressed to Stage Four and she should be immediately admitted to an animal hospital to get IV liquids 24x7 or minimally IV liquids at home daily".

 

Trini claiming her catnip.

 

We rushed Trini back to the VCA. They retested her kidney values and confirmed the same prognosis. She was admitted to the VCA animal hospital ICU Thursday, January 13th. Hoping Trini knew how much we loved her, we prayed and prayed, hoping for good news. My father and I visited her the next day and discovered that within 24 hours of IV fluids and IV antibiotics, Trini's kidney values dropped by 50%.

 

Visiting with Trini at the VCA.

 

Upon advice from the VCA, we let them keep her for another 24 hours to receive extended treatment. We revisited her Saturday afternoon, but she wasn't quite ready to come home. The VCA advised us Trini's creatine levels had dropped to within the normal range, and she was back to BUN levels for Stage Two Kidney disease (~ identical to December 18th). We picked Trini up and brought her home around 10 pm on January 15th. In addition to her existing meds, she was prescribed a liquid antibiotic course because her white blood cell count was still elevated.

 

Trini is on guard, getting ready to pounce.

 

At the time of writing, it's Monday, January 17th. Trini's morning weight is stable at around 103-105 oz. I've changed my flight several times (for free - thank you, Southwest) and hopefully will change it one last time later today so I can join my parents at the internal specialist visit this coming Wednesday, the 19th. I plan to update this page regularly with pictures and videos of Trini. We are grateful she will be with us for a while longer, but the bills are piling up.

 

We could use all the help we can get to help with her vet bills, even if the amount is small. We appreciate everyone who took the time to read, even if you don't donate. Thank you.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sttiernan/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sttiernan/ 

 

Trini discovers live catnip.