We are honored to present P.J. Campbell as Companion Animal of the Month for March. P.J. is an eleven year old, orange tabby, domestic shorthair cat. He is the companion animal to Bill and Joanne and their dog Timber. Bill and Joanne inherited P.J. about five years ago, along with his lifelong feline companion, Scamper. Their daughter had originally adopted P.J. from the Humane Society in Atlanta. She relocated to Phoenix and could not take P.J. or Scamper with her. That's when Bill and Joanne opened their home to them. They quickly acclimated to their new home and fit in like one of the family.
Bill and Joanne enjoy the antics of all three animals. They are
very entertaining in their own special way. P.J. displays typical "little
brother" traits. He often tries to bully Scamper by pushing her
away from the food or water
bowls. When Scamper, which is the smaller but older
cat, has had enough she'll take a swipe at P.J. His feelings are instantly hurt and he hangs his head and slinks away. P.J
is very vocal and seems to have an opinion about everything. He doesn't hesitate
to let his parents know when his bowl is
empty and he's hungry. He will sometimes walk around with his tail sticking
straight up in the air, always in motion, warning everyone not to touch him. You could
say he rules the nest! Like most other cats, P.J. hates taking pills. During his
recent illness, he needed a pill twice a day. After struggling to get the pill
down he would retreat to his carrier, turn his face away and sulk for an hour or
two. Yes, P.J. does sulk once in a while but he is definitely more of a player.
One of his favorite games to play is "chase the flashlight beam!" He also
enjoys grabbing at shadows, having his face brushed, and hiding under the
blankets on his parents bed. Occasionally P.J. and Scamper will groom each other. It's a
site to see. They are so cute together!
In early January 2007, The Campbell's were on vacation in South
Florida when P.J. was diagnosed with Feline Urologic Syndrome (FUS) and
persistent urinary blockage. This diagnosis was made by a veterinarian in South
Florida who tried to alleviate the blockage for about one week. The Campbell's
presented P.J. to Atlantic Animal Hospital upon their return to Ormond Beach.
Dr. Sukhija reviewed the referring veterinarians records, noted that P.J. had
stones in his urinary bladder and calcifications in one of the kidneys. He
also agreed with other veterinarian's final analysis tha
t P.J. had mild or early
renal insufficiency and would need two separate surgeries to help alleviate the
problems. The Campbell's agreed and we hospitalized P.J. Dr. Sukhija performed
a Perineal Urethrostomy (PU) and a Cystotomy the next day. The PU surgery
involved opening up and eliminating the penile urethra all the way up to the
pelvic urethra. This provides a bigger opening for P.J. to urinate thru. Next,
a Cystotomy was performed to remove the urinary bladder stones that were too
large to pass through the larger urethral opening. Intra-operative x-rays were
performed to assure that all stones were removed from the bladder. P.J. was
kept in the hospital for a few days post operatively and given intravenous
fluids, pain medications, and antibiotics. He was discharged soon thereafter to
the Campbell's, who did a great job with care at home. We removed PJ's sutures
2 week later and noted that his kidney function was better but not completely
normal. This is probably due to the calcifications in one of his kidney's. We
continue to use special diets to help P.J. dissolve these calcifications but may
never be able attain full kidney function. Regardless, now that he is able to
urinate without any problems, it seems that P.J. is back to his old self and has
a normal, if not improved, quality of life.
Every relationship we build here at Atlantic Animal Hospital is
truly special in it's own way. Getting to know our clients and their companion
animals and building a strong bond is one of the most important parts of our jobs
here. Being dependable and sincere to our clients gives them a sense of security
that makes it comfortable for them to trust us in taking care of their four
legged family members. In P.J's case, we fell in love with him and did our very
best to make sure he was given the best care possible. P.J. showed all of us
here that healing is not just a physical but an emotional journey as well. We
feel blessed to share the friendship that we do with P.J. and the rest of his
family.