caferacermike Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Got home today at 2:30am from the 24 hour vet. One of our kitties has always been a little sickly. He has been to 6 different vets and nobody has ever tried to figure out why, always sent us home with a different bag of food. Yesterday he was vomiting about once an hour and seemed warm. Took him to the 24hr place and found he had a temp of 106F. After several X-rays it appears that he might have an irritated liver. White blood cells were off the chart, temp high and showed signs of elevated liver functions. We did all we could last night with antibiotics, pain meds, and other such steps. If he recovers we will probably need to do all kinds of tests such as biopsies that will require lab work. We were hesitant to do all of the testing last night because he appeared to be very close to death and might not pull through. We chose to spend our money trying to make sure he recovered. He is 2 years old and might require a lot of testing and treatments in the future. If you are a vet and would like to help please send me a PM so we can discuss some of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dena Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Sorry about your kitty!!! I lost my first cat to liver disease, but she was nine years old. She had it for a while, but you couldn't tell until she ate Lily that my friend bought us after we lost one of our dogs. That set her kidneys off and made her horribly sick. My male cat died last November of Addison's Disease. Took my vet a year to figure it out because it's rare in cats. I've always got something going on with one of the dogs. I really hope someone can help and kitty gets better!!! Dena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Pancreatitis? Cholelithiasis(gall bladder)? Both have similar presentations to liver disease. Any kidney function tests done? (Not a vet. RN.) Trying to help. Good luck. (Lost my cat ~5 years ago to diabetes. It sucked. Max rawked ! Hard core style.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dena Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Any news on the kitty? So tempted to get another one, but my husband doesn't want any more cats. My cats were cool...loved to be held with their paws around your neck. My female would get on the counter when I was doing my hair and climb up me to give me hugs. They would lay on the sofa behind us and swat at our food to steal it. The male would eat tortilla chips...heck...he'd eat through tin foil to get to food...and cereal boxes. He ate part of a tinny bag from Sun Chips once...and it was all sparkly in his xrays. Hope your cat comes through this caferacermike!!! Dena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 He has been hospitalized for 5 days now and has not eaten in about a week. Robb as of right now you just hit the nail on the head with pancreatitis, also a form of cholangiohepatitis feline, and irritated bowel. The irritated bowel may be a symptom or a cause of all the problems. After 2 ultra sounds it is not apparent as to what is blocking the bowel tract. There may be internal blockage, it may have been crimped closed when the liver was swollen thus exasperating the problems, or it is possible that somehow the intestines might have gotten flipped over like a knot. We were told today that this has turned into the worst case our newest Vet has ever seen. We left the 24hour place for 2 reasons, first was they were gouging us at $1,600 a night for hospitalization and second because at that place 3 vets had been watching our cat over different shifts and each one had a differing opinion as to what was going on and how to treat it. We'd get frantic calls int he afternoon telling us we must immediately perform exploratory surgery and then we'd wait to see the guy we were talking with and he'd tell us that was never something he'd do. We finally lined up a Vet that offered to hold our cat for much less money and offered to do the surgery for a fraction of the cost of the first clinic and sure enough he told it would be crazy to operate on such weak cat. To many conflicting opinions. We've ruled out FIP through ultrasounds, biopsies and a $250 blood test. If it was FIP he was a goner. There is a chance he will pull through but we've completely run out of money and it might be to late since the many Vets were arguing about what to do instead of just doing it. Tomorrow he gets a feeding tube surgically implanted into his stomach. He will be watched until Thursday at which point he will probably have to come home as we've just got no more money to help him with. At this point we've spent $5,000. The second Vet is offering to help us hospitalize him at home by giving us sedatives, fluid IV's, antibiotics, pain meds and coaching us as to how to keep him locked and drugged in a cage for about 5 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 Springroll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Cute kitty, even cuter name! Good luck and if I can help in any way let me know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 Springroll Just went POO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Poop! There it is! That is a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princer7 Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Yeah!! I hope this is a turn for the better for this little kitty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 First time in about 10 days. Try to imagine that if it were you. Lots of good news tonight. I searched the room we are keeping him in and I found this huge ball of fur. He passed that through as poop, not a regurgitated hairball. The consensus thus far is that this is what was compacted in his intestines/bowels and may have caused all of the problems. It is a sound idea as many vets kept trying to figure out what/if something was stuck inside him or if the diseases hit first and then constricted him due to bloating. If this giant hairball was impacting in his gullet, then certainly it could have caused enough blockage for him not to be able to poop. Then would come the vomiting as well as all of these secondary infections and his jaundice. I force fed him when I got home today and about 20 minutes later he went poop in his box. Hence the above post. If you just thought I was being dumb you might not understand that basically if he would not go poo again he was certainly going to die. We've spent 10 days trying to get him to go and this afternoon was the first time. He then went on to his food bowl and took in quite a lot of food on his own. No vomiting tonight. If all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together then this means that he has passed the blockage, he can now eat on his own, his liver can be fed and will cleanse itself. The jaundice will take about 6 weeks to clear up. We must inject saline into him every day during this time to help flush him of all of his poisons. If this all works together then the vet thinks he will live. We were told to put him down about a dozen times by 4 different vets. He kept showing a willingness to struggle and was not showing any signs of pain so we let him do his own thing. Not through the woods yet but we think we can at least see a sliver of daylight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ysanford Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 He is too cute for words. Glad he is doing better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Great news! You guys are very good cat parents! -Paul First time in about 10 days.Try to imagine that if it were you. Lots of good news tonight. I searched the room we are keeping him in and I found this huge ball of fur. He passed that through as poop, not a regurgitated hairball. The consensus thus far is that this is what was compacted in his intestines/bowels and may have caused all of the problems. It is a sound idea as many vets kept trying to figure out what/if something was stuck inside him or if the diseases hit first and then constricted him due to bloating. If this giant hairball was impacting in his gullet, then certainly it could have caused enough blockage for him not to be able to poop. Then would come the vomiting as well as all of these secondary infections and his jaundice. I force fed him when I got home today and about 20 minutes later he went poop in his box. Hence the above post. If you just thought I was being dumb you might not understand that basically if he would not go poo again he was certainly going to die. We've spent 10 days trying to get him to go and this afternoon was the first time. He then went on to his food bowl and took in quite a lot of food on his own. No vomiting tonight. If all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together then this means that he has passed the blockage, he can now eat on his own, his liver can be fed and will cleanse itself. The jaundice will take about 6 weeks to clear up. We must inject saline into him every day during this time to help flush him of all of his poisons. If this all works together then the vet thinks he will live. We were told to put him down about a dozen times by 4 different vets. He kept showing a willingness to struggle and was not showing any signs of pain so we let him do his own thing. Not through the woods yet but we think we can at least see a sliver of daylight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Update?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 Still jaundiced. He has begun to eat about half of what he needs each day but is very willing to be force fed the rest. As we've been able to feed less watered down canned food he has began to take fluids on his own. Our research indicates that cats don't drink much water and cats eating canned food drink even less, so that is proving itself true as he is eating more dry food. More blood work in a couple of days. He is still being medicated heavily with several antibiotics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Latest news Mike? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 Well he appears to be fine now. I'd say his demeanor is about 90% of what it was before. He seems to sleep a lot more and is a little more distant to us then he was. We don't take him to the vet every night anymore. I think it's as good as it gets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 He just passed on, about an hour ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 ****. Sorry to hear about him Mike. Our condolences, Robb and Family Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Mike....I'm sorry to hear about your kitty.......been there twice....and I know it's not easy. On a positive note: You did your best to provide a loving, caring environment. When the time comes, I don't know how I'm going to handle it, but our kitty has being w/us for 11 yrs. (human years). A few months after having my 2nd daughter...Jeffrey came into our lives. He grew up along w/my daughter and he's the most loving, carefree, friendly cat that's ever lived w/us. He think he's a dog, acts alot like a dog----dogs are his friends go figure. Again, my condolences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Mike, I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty. Know that you gave him a wonderful home and did everything in your power to take care of him. I talked to you once about your kitty at Prof's house....when my boyfriend and I got in the car, I said, "I like that Mike, he knows kitties come first." My thoughts are with you. Hang in there. Ashley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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