Sweet Mimi had kidney surgery! After being diagnosed with a blockage of her right kidney and failure to dissolve it with medication, Mimi underwent surgery to resolve the blockage using a SUB device. The surgery was successful and after the recovery process Mimi will be able to live a long and normal life. However, the expenses for the short term and long term are astronomical and we need all the help we can get! All donations will go directly to Mimi's surgery and follow up care. We will do anything for our girl and appreciate you taking the time to read our story.

On Monday October 6th, we took Mimi in for a routine vet visit. She hadn't been to the vet in a while and is known for being a feisty girl, so when the staff noticed she was agitated, they suggested that we come back a few days later after giving her some medication to relax her.

Prior to her visit on Thursday October 10th, we treated Mimi with a regular dose of Gabapentin. She was able to comfortably get through her exam, bloodwork, and vaccines at her vet visit. However, the following day, she wasn't coming out of her Gabapentin stupor. She was still overly relaxed and not quite herself. We called the vet and they suggested that if she wasn't herself by the end of the evening, we take her to the emergency vet.

Upon arriving home from work Friday evening, Johnna noticed that Mimi was totally out of it and that her breathing seemed a little strange. She took her to the emergency vet and they did a physical exam and ultrasounds, which all came up regular. They sent them home and said to come back if her breathing became more labored.

On Saturday morning, Mimi was still very sedated from the gabapentin she received on Wednesday night. Kasey found that the vet's office had sent her Mimi's labs in an email late the day before while we were working. Upon glancing at them, we saw many values in red, but with no explanation. We immediately called the vet. We had originally taken her to Bond Vet BedStuy, but since the vet that had seen her there was visiting from the Clinton Hill location, we called there instead. We were able to get in contact with the vet who saw her, and she was horrified that Bond Vet BedStuy hadn't reached out to her immediately to contact us about Mimi's labs when they were ready. She let us know that we had to bring Mimi to the emergency vet immediately, because she was in active kidney failure and might not otherwise make it through the day.

We took Mimi to VERG in Gowanus, where they further diagnosed her kidney disease and blockages and tried to dissolve them with medication, but did not find much success. They were also able to determine that her kidney disease was chronic as opposed to acute, meaning that it was not caused by her getting into something she wasn't supposed to consume, but rather that she was part of the large percentage of kitties that would develop kidney disease in their lifetime, and part of the smaller percentage whose lives would be vastly impacted by it.

Once VERG had done all they could do to try to solve the issue with medication, they insisted that we transfer her to Schwarzmann Animal Medical Center for surgery. At AMC, they were able to insert a subcutaneous utereal bypass, a surgical device used to treat ureteral obstructions often caused by kidney stones. This device will make it so Mimi can pass urine without use for the blocked ureter by connecting the kidney directly to the bladder. A vast majority of cats who receive this procedure go on to live long and healthy lives, with a little extra veterinary care along the way. With Mimi being so young and healthy otherwise, our vet advised us that she was a great candidate for this procedure and that it would allow her to maintain her quality of life.

Mimi had the SUB placed on Monday, October 13 and has recovered a substantial amount of kidney function. She remains hungry, thirsty, and feisty! She is set to come home a few hours after we are writing this (October 17th, 9:44am) after 4 days in the ICU. We are incredibly grateful to all of the veterinary teams that have taken such great care of her along the way!