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Lukie Shanahan
1996 ~ 2011
October 26, 2011
I am extremely sorry to say that Lukie went to Heaven today. Jack and I are devastated to lose Lukie. He was 15 ½ and we took him in as a feral cat when he was about 6 months old. I thought after losing Pete almost 10 years ago that we might take this easier, but that’s not the case. Thank God he is in Heaven with Pete now, but it is going to be very painful for some time.
We brought Lukie to the vet October 21st because he stopped eating. His kidney numbers went through the roof and the only treatment is fluids which the heart can’t handle. So they proceeded to do a more moderate fluid flush process.
He had both congestive heart failure AND severe kidney disease. This is an extremely bad combination, because the treatment for congestive heart failure is to force the body to expel fluids via drugs, which causes more damage to the kidneys. On the other hand, treating kidney disease requires addition of fluids to flush the kidneys, but leads to buildup of fluid around the heart and lungs, which of course worsens the congestive heart disease. Lukie had no way out.
At the end, he had renal failure (his kidneys completely shut down) and congestive heart disease. There are other details as he needed oxygen for his respiratory rate was very high as a result of trying to bring the kidneys back. He was anemic and his red blood cell count was very low and could only be corrected by transfusion and his heart wouldn’t take it. His blood pressure was 45 and should have been 120.
In the over 2 days that he was home he did not urinate, ate no food and drank water only Saturday. He started to vomit awful stuff, he was requiring the oxygen constantly by this morning. He was in pain and couldn’t walk, he was stumbling. It was very sad and heartbreaking, but also bittersweet – in being home for the last 2 days, he let us know how much he loved us, and how glad he was to be home even though he was in severe pain. We were able to comfort him, and love him in the last hours of his life.
Thank you for all your prayers and support. Niki & Jack
Update October 18, 2011
Lukie continues to do good. We have a check up next week. We thank the good Lord for His faithfulness. Thank you for all your support and prayers!
Update October 6, 2011
Today we were concerned about Lukie's breathing. We thought it seemed a little labored, which is tricky because it usually looks good and sometimes it looks like it could be labored. So we brought him to the cardiologist and she said he was fine. There is a little bit of fluid around his heart, but not enough for them to remove. She said that if we try to increase his lasix she believes that will take care of it. We had increased it once and he had trouble with it and threw up a couple of mornings in a row so we backed down on it. We will try to give him more than we are now, but less than we did when he had trouble, and pray that it will work out for the fluid and that he won't have trouble with it. She showed us how to monitor his respiratory rate, which should be very helpful, too. Thank you for all your support and prayers!
Update September 28, 2011
Lukie is doing good and just wanted to let you all know. He has been enjoying his windows, catching some sun, and is a happy camper! Thank you for your continued prayers and support, and we are always happy to pray for all of you.
Update September 20, 2011
Thank the Lord, Lukie continues to do very good. We thank you all for your prayers and support! Below I've posted 2 pictures of Lukie and one of his brother, Joey, on our recent vacation.
Lukie on vacation on the porch
Lukie on vacation in the window
Lukie's brother, Joey, on vacation
Update September 12, 2011
Lukie is doing very good. We are spacing out his medicine doses and that is working out good. Thank you for your prayers and support! I continue to receive emails of love and support from so many of you and I appreciate it!
Update September 10, 2011
We came home from vacation during the night. Lukie and Joey did very well on the ride home. Lukie is doing good except that the vet increased his lasix and that didn't agree with him. We are trying to space out giving him his medicine because for the last couple of days ever since we increased the lasix, he threw up the medicine when I gave it to him all at once. We are also going back to the lesser dose of lasix for now. Your continued prayers and support are very much appreciated!
Update September 6, 2011
We are still on vacation and back at the library to use the internet. Lukie is doing very well, thank God! He is eating and drinking very good, and using litterbox. Spending a lot of time in the window enjoying the sea breezes. Your continued prayers for his complete healing is much appreciated. Please pray that his heart is made healthy and perfect and the growth is gone. I was listening to a sermon this morning and the minister was quoting the Scripture, saying ask largely that your joy may be full. So that's what we're doing, asking largely! We will be heading back home this Friday the 9th, Lord willing. Thank you for your prayers and support. I continue to receive many emails from you and so much appreciate your checking in on Lukie and the family.
Update September 1, 2011
We are on vacation now. We brought our laptop to the public library where we can get wireless internet access. We are all doing good, including Lukie! We went to the vet with Lukie Tuesday. Had a good check up and the vet adjusted his medicine some. Says there's still a little fluid left around the heart and increased the lasix. We go back in a couple of months for another checkup. Lukie and Joey did very well on the trip in the car and they both seem to be very happy at the rental house. Lukie is spending lots of time in the window smelling the fresh ocean air as we are a couple of streets away from the water. We are believing God for a complete miracle, praise God! Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!
Update August 28, 2011
Lukie is doing great! We survived the hurricane just fine. We don't have our power back as of 6:30 pm, but we are running a generator. We had planned a vacation to go to Maine for two weeks. We were supposed to go Saturday, but with the hurricane and Lukie's situation we decided to wait. We may leave tomorrow if there is power to the rental house and all is well. We have an appointment with a vet near the vacation house and he is actually the same cardiologist that we were to see on Wednesday back home. This doctor moves around to different hospitals and it isn't far from the vacation place. So the current plan is to leave tomorrow and take Lukie to the vet Tuesday. I will try to post another update tomorrow before we go. While on vacation the house doesn't have internet, but Jack is going to see if we can use a modem/phone set up and if it will work on my computer, then I will continue to do updates from Maine. We are in Massachusetts and we will go to Southern Maine so we are not going that far. Our other cat, Joey, is also doing very well. We have pictures of Joey under the photo link on this site also. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
Update August 27, 2011
Lukie continues to do excellent! Praise God! Your continued prayers for the healing of his heart, kidneys, and this mass to be benign and totally gone is greatly appreciated! We have had praise reports from people for these kinds of healings as most of you have probably seen under the Pet Prayer Requests link and in our newsletters. His next check-up is Wednesday, and if you could pray that they find great improvement we would be thankful. We are happy to continue to receive many emails from all of you. It's very comforting to know that so many of you care. I know we all feel that our pets are our family -- our children -- and we love them dearly! We are prepared for hurricane Irene with supplies (we're in Massachusetts), and pray that those of you in the path of the hurricane will be very safe!
Update August 26, 2011
Lukie is doing very well and continues to eat, drink, use his litter box and jump up on his windows. He is taking a nice cat nap in the living room this afternoon. Thank you all for your emails, prayers, love and support!
Update August 25, 2011
Lukie had a very good night. He has been going up and down the stairs just fine. He has even jumped up on the bay window a couple of times. He is eating, drinking, and using his litter box good. He is taking his medicine just fine. Lukie is very happy to be home and we are extremely happy to have him home. This morning he is on his bay window and I have put on some of his Christian children's music for him to listen to. We have a follow-up appointment with the vet next Wednesday. We continue to hear from so many of you and appreciate your prayers, support and love! Jack, Lukie and I thank you all!
Update August 24, 2011
They did an ultrasound on his chest today and he has an enlarged heart and heart disease. That's where the fluid is coming from, but they do not see any cancer cells in the fluid around his heart so it is heart related. His kidney numbers are elevated. We have to give him a few pills each day for the heart. Now we need to let his heart stabilize before we think about the tumor which we still don't know for sure if it's benign or malignant (we are praying for benign). We brought Lukie home and he is very happy to be back home. Although he has a few health issues, we are still trusting God for his healing and a miracle. Thanks for your prayers! I have received many, many encouraging emails that you are all praying for Lukie's healing. Jack and I thank you so much!
Original Prayer Request - August 23, 2011
This is Niki Behrikis Shanahan. I have a very, very urgent prayer request for my cat, Lukie. He was having labored breathing (mostly you could see it in his body - not his mouth). We took him to the vet today and they said they felt a mass and he had fluid in his lungs. We had to go to another vet to get an ultrasound. They have said that he has a mass on his pancreas. They are now removing some fluid from his lungs and doing additional tests. They do not give us a good report or much hope. They think it's cancer. We have to leave him there tonight because they want to watch him after the fluid removal. We are going back to see him in a few minutes. PLEASE PRAY FOR A MIRACLE FROM GOD! Pray that this mass will be gone and that there will be no cancer or fluid in the lungs. Pray that he be completely healed and live a very long healthy and happy life with us. Please, for me, I request that you pray for healing. I know some of you believe whatever God's will is, but I ask you humbly to pray specifically for his healing. Thank you and God bless you all for your prayers, support and friendship.