OT: sick cat

[danielp]

I am so desperate that I am trying here to get any idea or help which would help me and my wife to save our 4-year old cat.
Post might be a bit long but I want to write everything I remember and do not miss anything.
Almost 4 monts ago in April our younger cat started violently throwing up. We thought it was just one of these days when cat decides to make your carpet/couch dirty. After 48hrs not showing up I found her in our spare bedroom (we moved few weekes before that) where we still had a lot of stuff unpacked. She was quiet, lethargic, did not want to come out etc. Took her to vet, she got some medicine, fluid, they checked her temp (was a bit high then).
Since that day almost nothing has changed, she is lethargic, throwing up almost every day (20 times in the last 21 days for example).
We already did an x-ray, nothing came out. Ultrasound-nothing came out, yesterday even leukemia/FIV test-negative. Blood test, her organs still looks goods even though she has been throwing up so often. Countless visits to vet, different medications, she is on steroid right now just to enhance her appatite, we are just tired and she is very stressed out about that syringe feedings. So sometimes there are better days when she eats by herself, sometimes not. She lost weight from 6lbs to 4.5, then after heavy medication and some special can food got back to 5.2lbs, yesterday again down to 4.5lbs (she was always a small cat, but you can imagine 4,5lb cat).
Basically we are running out of options and ideas. We spent great amount of money already, somebody suggested sorry for maybe wrong spelling, laryngoscopy/basicaly examinations with putting some kind of device through her throat to intestines and maybe a biopsy of some organs. Problem is that costs around 1400-1500usd. We just can't afford that right now.
Another option somebody suggested is barium test (almost 400usd) just to make sure she really didn't swallow anything, she was never like that, so doubt it, plus she had x-ray and ultrasound already, it would show something.
I have not seen her since April eating dry food, like she can't do it, or is unable to do it. She drools a lot. After the initial problems she seems not to have problems with pooping. Basically water she gets only when I mix it with her wet food. She doesn't drink for her fountain anymore (yesterday I saw her do it first time since mid April)
She can't be forever on steroids, doctor says that in the future we might even have to look at a possibility of putting her to sleep. Her organs will stop working, and she is very small even for a cat so her immune system will also stop working.
We have another cat, older then her, much bigger, they occasionaly fight (not lately when she is sick), but since we moved they have also much more space and it calmed down a lot. Other cat in perfectly fine. We though maybe stress finally get to her? Or some kind of allergy got her?
It is a stress for her (I don't know in how much pain she is), stress for us to force feed her, to give her medication at exact time twice a day with out schedule for work and school. And finally we are going for few days away for vacation and I don't think we will be able to enjoy it and relax. Don't get me wrong he has a sick cat and he is going for vacation, well we didn't have one since 09 and my wifes cousin will stay with her. That's the only time we can do it, my work/school schedule is completely different tan my wife's.
I know that taking a cat from Anti Cruelty, or any animal for that matter I am responsible for it, but at what point to give up? We are still hoping she will get better, but day after day it is the some. For the last 4 months...
Any ideas are more than welcome, maybe somebody knows some miracle doctors, heard about problem similar to ours?
Thank you.

 

[bocochoco]

...antifreeze...

 

[readmeli]

I am sorry about your kitty, so sad! I hope she recovers.

This reminds me of a blog I read, and their cat had similar sounding stuff - lots of throwing up, etc...but nobody could figure out what was wrong. Not very happy though as they did put her to sleep. But perhaps helpful to you:
http://epetmeadow.com/2011/06/21-wrap-up/

Hope your cat gets better.

 

[DaveWF]

...antifreeze...

I would certainly hope that you were suggesting the possiblity of anti-freeze poisoning and not suggesting that he feed his cat anti-freeze - 'cause that's how your post came across to me.

Danielp, I unfortunately cannot offer any advice, but having gone through this with a sick kitten when I was much younger, I can only offer you words of encouragement. Do what you think is right and will keep the cat the most comfortable for the best quality of life that you can help offer it. If and when the time comes to make the monumentally difficult decision, at least you will know in your heart that you did what you could to make his short life comfortable and as happy as possible.
I wish you the best of luck and hope for a miraculously speedy recovery

 

[myfast]

Hi danielp,

Sorry your kitty is so sick. If she were my kitty, I'd take her to a specialist vet, I think probably an internist. I know VCA hospitals have internists, so maybe give them a try. I hope she's feeling better very soon.

 

[danielp]

Thank you for your opinions and help, I knew I can always count on people from RC.
Sorry for many mistakes I made writing the previous post, my head is not where it should be lately.
@bocochoco I really really doubt she was around any antifreeze, it was a new appartment, nothing was there when we brough both our cats for the first night there. Paintings finished 5 days before that, floor renovation a week before (I though maybe some chemicals caused that, but it's impossible to me). At our previous appartment they never had a chance to be around any antifreeze, for 7 years I have been in the US I never had a car. But still I am gonna talk to my wife about it, maybe she knows something I don't.
@readmeli thank you for the link. Unfortunately it looks very similar to the case in that blog. Much less severe, my cat has been sick for 4 months already, mostly she eats by herself, she just throw up so can't maintain proper weight (imagine any of us throwing up around 100 times in the last 120 days). But I will try to get in touch with that lady who wrote that blog, if she doesn't talk about that I understand, it's just a very sad story.
@Dave I told my wife even though Sophie is her cat (long story short if she has a choice she always goes to my wife, she just need me to feed her or clean her litter) I will never put young cat to sleep. But like vet said yesterday at some point we might have to make that decision, we can't be selfish, it has be painfull for a cat to throw up so much, or at least very uncomfortable.
@myfast that might be an idea, thank you

 

[nixer]

sure sounds like poisoning to me.
obviously there is other things.

my cat is battling lymphoma herself right now. its a tough road dealing with vet costs and the unknowns. i feel your pain. its hard to figure if its time to put her down especially considering you dont have a diagnosis. way too many times ppl just figure max price they will pay and then base their choice upon that(i dont agree with that myself) in the end it basically boils down to quality of life and suffering.

i would surely try to find another vet.

 

[puffer_fish]

Daniel, I just lost my 2.5 year old kitten a few days ago and I am still really upset but I wanted to weigh in because I really want your baby to recover. She sounds like she may have something with her kidneys (which is what my kitty had) but we believe that this was caused by some sort of infection, maybe FIP? but also, be sure to check your house for any possible poisons - such as antifreeze or even LILIES. Many people don't know that lilies are very very poisonous to cats.
Otherwise, my older cat, she is almost 16, constantly throws up too. She is a pretty small cat also and she honestly throws up almost every day, she always has. Either she eats too fast, or some hair stuff in her throat or really anything makes cats throw up. They have a natural protection thing where they automatically throw up if they put anything in their mouth that may hurt them.

Here's what I would maybe suggest but do talk to your vet first (unless he is money greedy and may just be doing it for the money which a lot do so I am very weary of them) : See if she will be better if you take her off of the medication and give her a small break. Many meds have contraindications with cats who are sensitive and can cause them to not really eat or anything. Try giving her a small break from all of the meds and see if she will start eating. I can also recommend an amazing vet if you'd like.

I really hope youre kitty will get better.

 

[drew11588]

hey daniel, i work in an emergency animal hospital and see many distressing cases. The symptoms youve described typically arise from a foreign body/ obstruction. These usually show up in x-rays or possibly ultra sound. If you are not 100% confident in your vets opinion with the results from x-rays and ultrasound, I would recommend repeating them with a specialist. Another slightly less expensive option is to just have your vet send the x-rays to another vet for a second opinion.
On the other hand, there is only so much you can do/afford. Even if x-rays do show something, you would have to consider the the surgery that would follow. The cat has already been suffering for four months now. In my opinion and veterinary experience, you have already done and endured much more than than most people.

 

[danielp]

Puffer Fish sorry for your loss, I just can't imagine the feeling of loosing beloved animal.
We went through everything again trying to think if we missed something. But I never had a plant in my old appartment (dark as hell), I knew from the start cats and plants are not the best mix. I also heard about my coworker cat eating a butterfly, they had to put her to sleep 4 or 5 days later, cat was dying in horrible pain (some kind of butterflies apparantly have some king of poison). Anyway my cat was never trying to eat anything, she was never like that (the other one is a different story, no fly is safe at our place for example, but since the problem began with Sophie I am not letting the older one even to chase any fly, I don't need any more sick cats). She was never even try to get around my saltwater aquarium, she used to sleep on the cover of our small freshwater aquarium, but I gave it away for my friend's kids a year ago. I was analizing if maybe my wet towel after water change, or maintance got in her way. Almost impossible, but now I can't recall if 4 or 5 months ago somehow she didn't get around it. But would she live that long if she got poisoned?
Kiddney idea? Hmm she had an x-ray, she had ultrasound, they said no inflammation, nothing there. Plus she had a blood test 3 weeks ago, results very good for cat struggling so much with keeping her food.
We are backing off the meds a bit, now she gets half of a steroid dose and that's it, no more reglan, no more other meds for now. But I can clearly see that on her own she eats maybe half a canned food, it's not enough for 4 year old cat. She sees me with a syringe and she tries to run away, it is just horrible.
I don't think our vet is greedy, they already charge us half for every visit, they just can't find the solution, they can't diagnose her, that's what killing me. If I only know that's gonna help her, I need to spend whatever I have to spend but somebody will help her. I don't want to see my wife crying over and over again and be just depressed, it's killing me that I can't help and find a solution.
What's surprising to me that she can't eat/swallow dry food anymore. Before she was 99% on dry food. Now she just looks at it, try to grab it then make this strange head shaking, like something is stuck there or she tries to get rid of sth. We looked there is she doesn't have any polyp there, vet look there, but maybe we are missing something. I thought maybe her teeth hurt but would it cause throwing up, strange noise from her stomach (there is a lot of gas according to 2 different vets)?
We are going soon to new vet, to the internist, after that I just don't know what I am gonna do.
Right now Sophie found a new spot to sleep, on my wife's pijama under which is this heating "thing" we bought for her in Walgreens (for older people to keep them warm). She loves to sleep on the heater in the winter, no more heaters in or new place so at least we can give her some comfy heating device.
From the funniest and craziest cat I was ever around she just changed to lathergic, sleepy, no energy cat "just" like that. When I was ordering anything for my aquarium she had to have a box or styropian for herself for few days, otherwise she would be very upset. And it's no fun to put my hands in my fishtank after she scratches it. People were coming to our place for party, she would sleep on top of drunks, only to be around fun and party. When the older one was scared under the bed the young one was the host of the party. Now I don't care if she is fun anymore, I just want to her to be healthy...
@Drew I just saw your post. The x-ray was done in I think a good clinic, the ultrasound in the specialist clinin on Elston (forgot the name of that place). They consulted each other. But still to be 100% sure somebody told us about this barium test, with serious of x-rays, that way our neighbor cat was saved when they found that she swallowed some toy or sth. But their cat didn't have an ultrasound, and from I heard it is almost impossible to miss some foreign object that way. If they find sth and have to have surgery to remove it, she is there the same day, no matter what cost, but I just don't want to open her for the sake of doing it only (I am not saying you suggesting it). She almost didn't make it when we were taking her from the Anti Cruelty, after her hernia surgery, she is small, she may have some allergy for anesthesia meds (they would have to get in contact with Anti Cruelty to know what caused her problems when she was waking up). She had other problems before, just only little girl. One vet was so smart that they punctured her ear drums during cleaning, that's no fun to see you cat crying like somebody is hurting her when she was trying to get to her litter, we had to put her physicaly in her litter for a week, she didn't have any ballance. We had to pick her up everytime she was trying to jump somewhere, taking turns to wake up at night, schedule different work schedules (we both working nights) she is just unlucky. There were other problems, unrelated to this one so I will spare these stories. But she went through a lot in her short life. It is just unfair...
Thanks for any encouragement.

 

[puffer_fish]

Daniel it really saddens me reading your story because I know this feeling of not being able to help your sick pet and it really does kill you inside. My kitty went from being really healthy and playful likes yours and then sick for a week and eventually passing away. I am not saying that is at all what is happening to yours because mine had either a poisoning or something esle, even our vet doesn't know. But she did have a lot of gas as well, which may be why your Sophie doesn't eat a lot because clearly her stomach is very sensitive. Be sure to check out whether steroids can cause upset tummies? And also my vet wanted to do the barrium test as well, so I do recommend that because it may be something that isn't showing up. These cats get into so many things that you never know what she could've downed and what could be bothering her. It sucks feeling helpless I know, I had the worst week of my life last week, you just want to do anything to help and now I am trying to pass the word on about lilies because many cat owners don't know. But as for now, I do recommend you do the barrium test and see if her steroids could be upseting her tummy; also, see if there is anything that can help her get rid of the gas because that may also help her get an appetite.

Please keep us posted, I wish all the best to Sophie.

 

[bocochoco]

I would certainly hope that you were suggesting the possiblity of anti-freeze poisoning and not suggesting that he feed his cat anti-freeze - 'cause that's how your post came across to me.

Danielp, I unfortunately cannot offer any advice, but having gone through this with a sick kitten when I was much younger, I can only offer you words of encouragement. Do what you think is right and will keep the cat the most comfortable for the best quality of life that you can help offer it. If and when the time comes to make the monumentally difficult decision, at least you will know in your heart that you did what you could to make his short life comfortable and as happy as possible.
I wish you the best of luck and hope for a miraculously speedy recovery

And I sure hope nobody is stupid enough to FEED their animal antifreeze. I only figure it was 100% obvious I meant antifreeze poisoning. The fact that this would even be up in the air would question the intelligence of animal owners. For 50 years now pets have been dying due to antifreeze poisoning and it is very upsetting that nothing has been done in 5 decades to fix this.