Pets with health conditions

jupeycat

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Does anyone have a pet with a health condition or illness that they have to deal with every day? I have a 5 year old JRT with Megaesophagus, she was diagnosed with it about 3 years ago, I had to fight for the diagnosis which cost about £1000 all in all as they messed up an xray. It was a very worrying time, she was regurgitating food after every meal and was throwing up liquid all the time especially at night. I was constantly cleaning up after her and was so scared I was going to lose her. We got the diagnosis and it turned out she had aspiration pneumonia caused by the Megaesophagus which can be dangerous, she was put on steroids and antibiotics. Thankfully we got it cleared up and she's not on any medication now but I have to feed her 4 small meals a day in an elevated bowl, she has to have a harness instead of a collar and her water has to be elevated. I have to watch what treats she has and she often coughs up water after she drinks. I'm always scared she'll get the pneumonia again, the fear never really goes away.


She's doing good now
:

Poppy with Fable at my mum's, taken this summer when I was briefly living there.

I know Poppy's condition is pretty easy to manage, it's the worry really that's the worst thing. I was wondering if any of you had pets you worried about all the time because of a condtion.
 

momofmany

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I'm very glad to hear that you got Poppy's condition under control. That is always the hardest part of an illness - finding the right combination of treatments to help them have relatively normal lives. It's a very good feeling when you've gotten to that point. And worrying is normal, but don't let it run your life. They need you to be healthy to treat them!!


Yes, I have critters that I treat every day. Spike has hip dysplasia, Muddy has chronic herpes, and Stumpy has LPS, an auto immune disease. I haven't had a day in the last 15 years where I wasn't treating someone in the house for some problem or the other.
 

butzie

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After numerous visits to the vet we found that Butzie has a perpetually runny nose. It is so runny that if I am petting her on the bed, I get a bath and the covers get wet.
She wheezes. Butzie goes, "PurrWheeze." The vet monitored her, we monitored her but she just wheezes. It is very exciting trying to keep a cat calm while you are counting how many times she breathes. Try it some time!
Butzie also has a sensitive stomach. If she won't eat regular food, I have to feed her expensive meat baby food.
Lastly, Butzie has a heart murmur. So did my husband. He had to have a pacemaker and an artificial aortic valve (he was too young to have a bovine valve) put in. His hospital bill was $750,000. I sure hope that Butzie can live without a new valve. It would have to be artificial, too, since my free shelter cat is only 2.5!
 

katzyn

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Two of our cats have a pancreatic enzymatic deficiency (one has recurring, the other is chronic).

I had a fish with Neon Tetra DZ, which, for a while, I was treating his secondary infection everyday.

I have an overweight cockatiel, who is now on a diet, hopefully in time to save her from hepatic lipidosis.
 

sharky

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the cat with CRF passed ..

Gigi my yorkie has cushings , allergies.. ibs ... luxatting petellas ..... but she is managed by careful diet supplements and accupucture/ VOM

Zoey is semi feral not looking fwd to the senior yr s with her
 

white cat lover

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Damita is diagnosed with ? still. Gave up on trying to find a cause.....vet's baffled.
She'd on Prednisone furr-ever....every day. And she's got ringworm on/off....chronic.

Ophelia was on Buspar for a long time...an anti-anxiety med. She's doing marginally well without it, so I quit dosing her. She still wants to kill PJ & Punky though.
 

green bunny

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My sweet dog, Lady, who recently passed, had epilepsy. She was also neurotic and had an extreme anxiety disorder. Poor thing. She had a "leaking" problem. Also, in her later years she developed a benign tumor which we couldn't have removed because she was too old to be put safely under general anaesthesia.

I think the epilepsy, before we got her medication to control it, was the worst because it was so scary. It was silent, and you just couldn't do anything for her until the seizure was over. I remember, one time, she had an attack and she was near the top of the staircase. I think I was somewhere between 10 and 13. I was upset and scared for her safety. I had to step over her, holding onto the railing, and manage not to slip or accidentally step on her so I could get onto the second to top step and make sure she couldn't accidentally fall down the stairs. Fortunately, that was the only time she ever had an attack in a possibly unsafe area,

Tricia
 

artgecko

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My cat toby, has seizures and an enlarged heart (which the vet thinks might be causing the seizures). He doesn't have them often, about 1-2 times a month. I decided to forego the daily seizure meds as they had worse symptoms than the seizures themselves. Funny thing is, I thougth I was getting a "healthy" 3 year old from the shelter, lol.

Art
 
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