Day 170 - Monday (The big vet):
This morning we woke up and did the usual loop trail. Then got in the car and headed to Cornell University to find out what Finster's dripping problem is. Finster slept for the whole 2 hour car ride. He was still sleepy from the tiring Sunday. He generally sleeps a ton after the weekend. When we got to Cornell Finster took a nice long pee and then we went to the waiting room. There were a few dogs in there, all of which Finster was very interested in. After about 10 minutes of sniffing the floor (there were no dogs in our row of seats) Finster laid down on the floor and took a little snooze. Even the dog's barking 2 rows down didn't stir Finster, he was in complete relaxation mode.
Then the vet in training came to get us. She gave him the once over and asked us all the usual questions about his problems. She got Finster pretty excited while she was checking him out. She kept calling him handsome and talking in excited tones. Finster was wagging his whole body in glee. He was very good, even with the finger and thermometer crammed up his pooper. Then the first vet left to get the senior vet. She was gone for about 20 minutes, in which time Finster took a nap by the door and under the desk.
The second vet also gave Finster some lovin' and got him good and excited. Finster is one with the ladies I must say. Eventually, they took Finster in for the ultrasound and blood work and E and I went to cruise Ithaca, checking out some bookstores.
When we got back they were done with the tests and we got the verdict. Finster has one kidney that is dead to the world. It is completely non-functioning and is enlarged and full of urine. His 2nd kidney is also enlarged, likely due to the extra work it has to do to take on the responsibility of both kidneys. Their recommendation is to take out the dead kidney. The fear is that it may rupture, spilling all the urine into Finster's body, which would be bad. Also, the dead kidney greatens the possibility of internal infections. They said that pulling the dead kidney may or may not stop the dripping problem. They said it weighed 10lbs. and might be hindering the other organs due to its size. They said that it would be a routine operation for them, the only fear being that the 2nd kidney might not be up to snuff to manage all the work. Also, there is potential for kidney problems in the future. So, there you have it, we finally got to the bottom of the problem. The operation would have a nifty price tag of $1500-$1800, that's one expensive dead kidney.
After the verbal prognosis we waited about 45 minutes for them to write up the report. During this time Finster did some more sleeping :) We ended up leaving around 5 and stopped at Taughannock Falls State Park and took Finster for a little mile or so hike around the park. After we left there we stopped at a little soft ice cream joint for some dinner, during which Finster slept on the outside deck that we ate on.
When we got home Finster did some more sleeping while E and I watched game 7.