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Pet Profiles |
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Punch's Story (continued)
Page: 1 (2)
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![[Photo of Punch]](images/punch_2.jpg)
In order to prepare Punch for the surgery, he would have to first undergo dialysis to get his body sufficiently free of toxins.
The plan, therefore, was to put Punch, who had already been through quite a bit, through four or five days of dialysis before
performing a surgery on him with a 60% success rate. On top of that, there was no telling how much permanent damage had already
been done to Punch's kidneys and no one would be able to find out until after the surgery. As the dialysis went on and Punch's
situation didn't improve, the doctors at The AMC ran further tests which indicated that Punch's ureters were not blocked by kidney
stones, but rather were so infected that urine could not pass through the urinary tract. While this meant that Punch would not
have to go through surgery, it meant that the prognosis was significantly less clear.
The new evidence indicated that the best course of action would be to continue letting the dialysis machine do the kidneys'
work for them in the hopes that by resting, they would slowly regain their function. Dr. Langston told us that she'd seen cats go
over ten days in dialysis without urinating, but that if he still hadn't urinated after a week it would start to look more likely
that his kidneys were permanently damaged beyond repair. Since Punch originally went on dialysis the prior Saturday night, we talked
with the doctors on Tuesday and decided that if Punch hadn't urinated by Saturday, it would be inhumane to continue to keep him
alive solely by dialysis.
Miraculously, after a stern talking-to on Wednesday night, he had urinated three times by Thursday morning. For the next week and
a half, I spoke with Dr. Serge Chalhoub several times a day as Punch went on and off dialysis but continued to urinate on his own
and his numbers gradually came down into the normal range. Dr. Chalhoub finally weaned him off dialysis entirely and was allowed
to come back home, albeit shaved in hilarious places. Amazingly, he retained his lovable personality and fearlessness and gives
every indication of being totally back to his old self. At a recent checkup, Punch's numbers were at the high end of normal - he'll
never have perfect kidneys - but we have every reason to believe that we'll have many years of healthy, happy Punch to look forward to.
The doctors at The AMC, especially Dr. Cathy Langston and Dr. Serge Chalhoub, were incredibly compassionate and patient with us
as we forced them to give us a crash course in feline nephrology. They took the time to answer all of our questions as we tried
to make a decision for an animal that couldn't decide for itself. They made us feel that Punch was in the best possible hands and
were invariably straightforward and honest with us about Punch's chances. The only reason Punch is alive today is because Dr.
Langston had seen enough cases of acute renal failure to be able to confidently tell us "give it a week." When all of our family
vets were telling us it was a lost cause, only the doctors at The Animal Medical Center had the experience to be able to judge the
situation objectively and save Punch's life.
Photographs by Steph Goralnick
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