Thanks, Krista and all of you who were thinking of Frank. He's been
through quite an ordeal.

When I took in the boys (Frank singing all the way and Caliban as quiet
as a mouse), the vet saw Caliban first. He's recovered from his eye
problem, and got his vaccination. The only problem now is a strange
patch of raw skin on his left haunch. The vet took a sample for a fungus
test, and gave me an ointment to put on the patch twice day.

Then she looked at Frank. TED decided to do a blood panel to see what
might be the cause of his diarrhoea. They gave him a mild sedative and
sent me home with Caliban because it would take a couple of hours.So I
went home and tried to proof-read a thesis that I'd promised to do by
Friday, and waited for the call. When she finally rang, TED told me
Frank was getting fluids as well as potassium, because his potassium
levels had been alarmingly low. He was slightly more anemic than a
couple of weeks ago, and some other values were a bit out of whack, too.
So what the vet wanted to do was keep him there for the fluids a couple
of hours, and then I should bring him back today (Friday) for some more
fluids and potassium supplements. I fetched Frank later and was given
(well, actually I paid for them ;oP) a whole array of medicine to give
Frank; a potassium supplement, another course of antibiotics (his
bloodwork showed there's still an infection), a paste with supplemental
bacteria for his tummy and eye drops.

Last night I managed to squirt some of the bacterial paste into his
mouth, squirt the eye drops somewhere near his eyes, and squirt his
normal hypothyroidism meds into his mouth. The potassium supplement came
as a huge pill, and they said not to crush it, so I had no idea how to
administer it to him, so didn't. They'd also given him an antibiotic
shot at TED's so I didn't have to give him those yet.

They'd left the cannule in so they wouldn't have to prick him again
today, and the place must have been a bit sore, because I touched it by
mistake (it was covered in a huge pink bandage, so I didn't even know
quite where it was on his leg), and poor Frank jumped back and hissed,
then swatted at me (which he's never done before), and then hid under
the bed, sometimes hissing to himself there. But that made it all the
more difficult to medicate him; he didn't want me near him, and I was
scared that I'd touch the sore leg again as he struggled to get free of me.

They gave me some a/d to syringe-feed him if he wouldn't eat by himself,
but he ate nearly the whole tin during the evening and night. (Miranda
sniffed it, a bit longer than any other catfood, granted, but in the end
she decided, no this is not catfood.)

Well, today I brought him in early in the mroning, and TED just rang to
say that his potassium levels are back to normal and I don't have to
give him the supplement after all! His anemia is better than yesterday,
as are his kidneys. Everything seems to have improved, except that his
neutrophil and monocyte counts are high, which TED said indicates an
infection. She did mention that it can also indicate a tumour, but she's
betting on an infection for now. I so hope she's right!

Well, I'm now off to bring home my tough old guy. We'll see if he still
hates me, and how I fare with all the meds I still need to administer.
For at least 10 days.