Brave Malakas is home again

Malakas proved again that he is a cat - he is nearly 20 years old, and he is still checking to see that all of his 9 lives are working.

Thursday morning, 7 o'clock. Malakas and I were sleeping in my bed, when all of the sudden I heard a loud BOOM sound, and Malakas started wining. the reason: He fell from my bed. I saw him lying there, restless, and he was just stuck to the floor. I picked him up, and set him on the bed, so he will not be cold from the floor. I could see that his eyes are not at their usual self - they were wide open, and he was looking to all directions. he even scratched me in the wrist and chest. He tried to get up, so I placed him gently on the floor. he walked from my room, swinging from one side to the other, towards the laundry room. He got to the entrance of the laundry room, and there he collapsed. he couldn't walk any more. Dalia and I, which were the only ones home, got him a blanket, and set it underneath him, so he will not be cold from the floor. We phoned the vet, but there was no answer, but the machine said they open at 8:00. We got one of the laundry baskets, and placed Malakas and the towel in it. Safta's car was at our service, and drove to the vet.

At the vet there were no animals, so we got to be first. Malakas' eyes were still the same - wide pupils, and inside them a sort of mist or fog. you could tell his eyes weren't functioning at the moment. While the vet looked at him, the nice girl at the front desk asked for his name. "Malakas Sharon" we said proudly. He is part of the family. She searched for his card, but found only Maganda's - his sister. After that she found his card, in which the last visit was back in 2001. The doctor said it looks like he had a stroke, caused either at night, and because of that he fell, or from his fall. anyhow, he offered us to take a blood test, and then we will know better what his condition is. The nice girl then came over and said: "he was born in '88 - he is 20 years old". The doctor smiled. I think Malakas is his oldest patient. Of course we agreed on the blood test (280 NIS), and waited for the results.

The results showed most of the things that you anticipate in finding on a 140 year old man - sugar levels are a bit high, and all sort of things which are a bit out of the average. the thing that was way off, by 300%, was the pepsin, which is caused usually by problems in the pancreas . also the reading for the creatinin was high - the salt or urine levels in the blood - shows of kidneys. He also said that Malakas might be dehydrated, and that effects also the blood samples.

We decided to have Malakas to stay there for 2 days - intensive care. He got antibiotics, water by IV, and he was fed with an injector to his mouth. We came to visit him on Friday, and the doctor said he looks good, considering. he swallows the food, and even drinks some. he tries to stand from time to time, but he is too weak. The remaining of the weekend was dedicated to eat and work in the garden. On Sunday morning we drove over to see Malakas. The Dr got him to us, and he was much stronger. he stood on his own, and walked a few steps. He looked at us for a few minutes, and then turned to the vet. I guess he got attached, or he wanted to say goodbye to his physician. so polite, the old man. at around 6 at night Dalia and Odi drove over and fetched him from the vet. Now that he is home, we will need to take care of him. he is still weak, and having problems walking. he still remembers everything - on which sofas he likes to sleep, where are the toilets - he walked all the way, so he can urine in them. Also he remembered where my room is - the second place he visited (after the toilets). Now we need to take care of his medical condition - give him fluids under his skin, make sure he is eating but not too much, make sure he does not fall or climb to places. i think that in a matter of days he will be back to his old self.

As you can see in the bottom right end of the picture, i found a way to monitor Malakas while I'm writing the blog. Yep, that's a web cam. We need to keep and eye on him, because if he tries to jump, he will most likely fall and slam on his face.

In two days we will take him back to the vet so he will look at him again, and take out the needle which is still there for the IV, if needed.