My Roscoe Needs Prayers

catpapa

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I've been pulling my hair out for the past few days and came across this wonderful forum. I've been trying to look up so many different things and I think I'm more confused as ever.

I have 2 cats, Roscoe and Kora. Both will be 2 years old on May 3rd of this year. They are from 2 different litters but were raised together. The last few weeks I noticed that Roscoe was acting a little more lethargic. He used to bring me the pop caps from the 20oz bottles of Coke and meow at me till I threw it and then he'd bring them back to me time and time again. But not lately. He's always been a semi-lap cat, but more then usual lately.

I bought a little pop up bed and he sleeps in it almost all the time. He barely touches his food when I put it out. I see him kind of strain to chew (Dry food)when I actually SEE him eat. I've been feeding them Iams dry, various flavors since I got them at about 8 weeks old. As for wet food, I do Friskies in the pouch.

Well, I figured I would take him to the vet just to see if anything was wrong. He felt around, took his temperature, weighed him and the only thing he noticed was that Roscoe had lost 3 lbs since his last appointment, which was way back in March '07. So we decided to take a blood sample and get a profile done and I found out the results today.

He said that Roscoe's liver enzymes were slightly elevated and needed further treatment. In the words of my vet, " His prognosis scares me."

So I'm taking Roscoe to get an abdominal ultrasound on Wednesday, which also happens to be my birthday. So I'm praying for the best birthday present I could ever get. My baby boy back healthy, or at least a direction to go in, to get him back to healthy.

I think I cried for 2 hours during work. I just kept seeing all the cute little kitten pictures I took of him and his sister.

He's not even 2 years old. So If anyone could say some prayers for him, I would appreciate anything.

And I apologize for my first post here being so emotional, but I'm just a wreck and this seemed like the place I want to be with him.

Thank You

Justin/Roscoe/Kora
 

2furbabies

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Hi - Welcome to the board.... I am praying for good things for your baby. I hope everything turns out ok. This is a great board and everybody on here is very helpful. It is a wealth of knowledge and support.

Good luck... let us know,
 

yosemite

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Sorry to hear about your kitty. Does he like wet food? The more you can get him to eat the better and wet food is very good for them, better in fact than dry food.

Some folks even buy baby food (Stage 2 I believe with no onion or garlic) to stimulate their kitty to eat. Even if you have to feed him a bit at a time with your fingers, that is what you need to do. Once they have liver issues, they lose their appetite and they need food to stimulate the liver so it ends up a Catch-22.

Sending healing vibes to your kitty and hugs to you. Keep us posted on how he is doing.
 

darlili

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You and Roscoe have my prayers and best wishes for a good prognosis.
 
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catpapa

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Thank you so much everyone. His ultrasound is tomorrow at 11am. I am a nervous wreck. I just have this feeling I'm not going to come home with him and it's eating me up.

But I'm trying to stay positive and you all are helping that very much. Most of the things I looked up regarding elevated liver enzymes had favorable responses, so I'm really hoping I can nurse him back to health.

I thank you and Roscoe thanks you.

I will post the results tomorrow when I'm able.
 

pami

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Its extremely important that you keep him eating right now. The below post is excellent advice for you.

Many prayers and vibes for your baby boy.



Originally Posted by Yosemite

Sorry to hear about your kitty. Does he like wet food? The more you can get him to eat the better and wet food is very good for them, better in fact than dry food.

Some folks even buy baby food (Stage 2 I believe with no onion or garlic) to stimulate their kitty to eat. Even if you have to feed him a bit at a time with your fingers, that is what you need to do. Once they have liver issues, they lose their appetite and they need food to stimulate the liver so it ends up a Catch-22.

Sending healing vibes to your kitty and hugs to you. Keep us posted on how he is doing.
 
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catpapa

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I tried 2 different wet foods after reading that post: Friskies out of the pouch - Oceanfish flavor and Fancy Feast - Shrimp and Oceanwhitefish.

Basically Roscoe sits by my feet with Kora and looks very interested, but when I put the food down, he mostly just licks up the gravy. I see him eat a few chunks here and there, but I do notice he tilts his head alot when he chews. I'm wondering if he may have a tooth isse where he can't chew without discomfort.

He has about 45 minutes left to eat, then I need to hide the food, since they told me not to feed him anything after 10pm.

He's now back to lying in his little tent. It breaks my heart because I feel I'm not doing enough. I doubt I'll even be able to sleep tonight.

This is so scary, I feel like a total whimp, but he's my buddy and it's breaking my heart.

Gonna give my own for him. Details tomorrow.
 

pami

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You just want him anything now so gravy is good, too.

Sending more vibes for Roscoe and for you.
Its not being a wimp, its caring for your baby boy
 
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catpapa

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Well, I got the news today. It turns out, Roscoe has a tumor in his intestine and a number of swollen lymph nodes surrounding it. The doctor mentioned it could be one of 2 kinds of cancer, typical in cats, one was Lymphoma, which she said depending how far along it is, has a reasonably high survival rate, with surgury of course, and chemo. I honestly forget the other kind she mentioned. It started with a C, that's all I remember.

I feel like I've done something wrong, but I know I didn't. I went to the specialty office with alot of positivity and belief that I would be able to give him some special food and/or medicine and I could nurse him back to health. Wow, was I wrong, but I'm trying to be strong for him.

I just don't know what to do. As for treatment right now, I opted to get the mass and a lymph node tested to see exactly what kind it is and how serious it is. The doctor said the liver appears to be ok, and that she is just worried about the lymph nodes, due to their size. If I recall correctly, when she showed me the xrays, she mentioned that a normal intestine width is usually around 3cm, Roscoe's was 11cm, which is HUGE. She asured me that at this point, Roscoe is in no pain, but may be feeling a little discomfort due to some fluid build up in his belly.

So now I am back home with him. He pee'd in the carrier on the way home and seemed irritated when I tried to clean him. I did the best I could and he's been laying under my couch ever since. I tried the usual yelling of TREATS!, which even yesterday, he would still come to me for some. This time, he didn't come. I brought the treats to him, and he wouldn't eat them.

I am so heartbroken.Todays my birthday and I don't feel like doing anything but spending time with him, but I know he's stressed from today and would rather be alone.

Anyone ever have an issue like this? I want to do what's best for him and I do NOT want him to suffer. As much as I would like to have him with me forever, I know that it's a very selfish way to look at it. I see all kinds of herbal stuff saying that they help quite a bit, but who knows if that's legit.

I just want what's best for my boy. Thank you all for your prayers. I read them to Roscoe when he was on my lap last night. He's not even 2 years old so this all really caught me by surprise.
 

jaffacake

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I`m so sorry


There`s no advice I can give as it`s not something I`ve seen before but Roscoe will be in my thoughts and prayers. Hope there`s something they can do for him.
 

darlili

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I am so sorry you didn't get better news today, but I think you're doing the best thing to refine the diagnosis before going further, both for yourself and for Roscoe's sake. My only suggestion is to discuss any herbal or alternative treatments with your vet before starting them, just to see what interactions may happen and to keep your vet in the loop.

My prayers are with you and Roscoe.
 
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catpapa

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The day I got him Roscoe and his sister Kora


Roscoe and Kora on their new scratch thingy a few days after I got them home.


Roscoe a few months ago, seemingly perfectly healthy.


No matter what happens Roscoe, I love you forever as my little boy.
 

robertm

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This is so sad. He's still very young! But unfortunately, cancer doesn't really care about that.

It's scary how quickly even an adult cat can go from seemingly healthy to very sick. Not being an experienced cat person, I never realized this until my wife's cat developed a tumor in his bladder and was PTS just a few short months later (but at least he was 13). And sadly I feel like I have read stories like this far too often on this site as well as others. These things just make me appreciate even more the time that I have with my cats, and I hope that others would feel the same.

Sending for both you and Roscoe.
 

kit e cat

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I'm so sorry for you and Roscoe. It's much harder when they are so young. I had to have one of my kittens put to sleep when he was only 5 months old. It was heartbreaking, and I know how you are feeling right now. I hope you get some better news from the vet, and you are able to treat whatever it is that Roscoe has.
 
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