Help, my cat is very ill and at the hospital.

I`m so sorry Tucker is poorly. Many healthy vibes fore her, I really hope she will get better

I hope Tucker is home with you soon please keep us updated

Jamey,

I had a look at the bloodwork and really, it was darn good - except that the liver enzymes were elevating a little bit, and potassium, sodium and chloride were low (potassium would be of more concern to me, I'm guessing they probably supplemented her with some in her IV?)

As for the not eating - that's definitely hard on the liver for sure.

I remember back about 10 yrs ago, I noticed that Taco had lost some weight. I had attributed it to a move which happened to be to a much warmer climate. None of my cats liked the heat (house didn't have A/C) and none were eating as much but it impacted him the most because he was such a large (okay, overweight) cat. When I weighed him I was shocked, he'd lost about 5 lbs in not very long. I took him to the Vet, fearing he was at risk of Fatty Liver Disease (Hepatic Lipidosis). They piddled around with him there for 2 days, doing bloodwork, he was getting worse (he really wasn't symptomatic when I took him in). They had him in a cage and they'd toss him a plate of canned food and he was so stressed he wouldn't eat, of course. It wasn't even his usual food, it was some yucky prescription stuff. I'd call to get updates and they'd tell me "he's not eating but we leave food for him." At one point he was getting a lot worse, they did a liver biopsy and confirmed Fatty Liver. Sadly, they were not force feeding him, I guess they expected an ill cat to just decide to eat. I watched him get weaker and worse. Finally I got so angry because he now hadn't eaten for 2 days...........I went in there, demanded the staff give me a can of Hill's A/D, grabbed a tongue depressor, climbed up onto the exam table (I was in tears and angry, he was so not like himself) and I force fed him. Of course after not eating for 2 days I fed him too much and he threw it up............but anyway, I took him the heck out of there, took him home and force fed him with a syringe around the clock for 2 weeks. They told me his only hope was for me to take him to some specialty hospital 8 hrs away and have a stomach feeding tube inserted. That was ludicrous to me, he'd have never survived the car ride.

I got cans of A/D, feeding syringes and I created a schedule where I started off feeding him so many cc's every hour, then every 2, then every 4........ensuring he'd get the max amount he required for a 24 hr period. I also gave him subQ injections of medication to keep him from being nauseated. He got subQ fluids as well. He really wasn't expected to survive but he did. I had him in a room by himself and some nights I'd sleep on the floor with him. I persisted. As he got better, he'd fight me force feeding him but I wouldn't give up. As her progressed, it was like he "forgot" how to eat on his own.......he'd seem very interested in canned food and would lick it but it was like he didn't know enough to eat it. I'd have to put a little in his mouth until he got the hang of it.

I also used the appetite stimulant Cyproheptadine (aka Periactin) and nowadays I believe there's a new one for cats called Mirtazapine. This helped a lot as he got better, to get him to eat.

A cat with liver disease that needs to eat, I'm sorry, he will just not get what he needs in a vet hospital, they are too busy to force feed it seems.

he will be a lot less stressed at home, too.

If you could get them to teach you and your wife how to give SubQ fluids as well.........to ensure he doesn't get dehydrated.

Get some feeding tubes. I used to blend a day's worth of A/D up in a blender with a bit of water so it wasn't so thick and it made syringing it easier.

Great advice from the_food_lady. My only quibble would be the term "force feeding" - folks who are doing this (myself included) now call it "assist feeding". Sounds a little nicer...

There's a great site you should take a look at - it was a huge help to me when I first started assist-feeding:

www.assistfeed.com scroll to near the bottom and click on where it says "Subscribe to Yahoo Feline Assist-feeding Group"

Ask your vet for as many oral feeding syringes as she's willing to spare. They're supposed to be single-use only, but if you rinse them in cold water you can probably get them to last through another meal (after that, the plunger starts to stick).

It's very possible that Tucker wants to eat but won't while she's at the hospital. It's too distracting and frankly, for many kitties, too scary. You might luck out that once she's home, she'll feel calm enough to resume eating on her own. One of my vets likes to say that "home is where the heart is" and suggests that many times a cat will improve just by being back where she feels safe and loved.

I also agree that you should continue to do sub-q fluids (hydration) at home. Your vet or a tech can teach you how and tell you how much to give and how often. There are lots of TCS members who do this for their cats (me too, again) so you can get plenty of help.

The_ food _lady's story about her cat was very inspiring. I hope the outcome will be the same for Tucker

Is it possible and would it be a good idea to just let Tucker be at home for a few days with you assist-feeding her? When I read the part about you taking her to the Humane Society tomorrow, it occurred to me all the running around might stress her out and further keep her from eating.

Poor baby. Hang in there, Tucker!

Thanks, everyone, for the advise, best wishes, and help. We sat in the waiting room, and when they brought Tucker in I tried my hardest to hold back the tears but I couldn't. Her poor little face was soooo swolen, I guess from the doctor asperating the lymphnodes under her jaw (the results under a microscope were normal by the way.). She sat down at first, and then when she heard my wifes voice she layed down to be petted. They left us alone with her for about 10 minutes or so, and I was devistated to see her so sick. She was infested with fleas, and had a tick on her neck that they had not removed. After a while she seemed to perk up a little bit, and began to pur, but would not eat any of the treats we brought. I decided it would be best to take her home. They said that they have been force feeding (assisted feeding) her, gave us the stuff to do it, with the food,along with bags of some solution and some needles to keep her hydrated. Also we were given Doxycycline to give her every 12 hours, Clavamox every 12 hours, and Buprenorphine every 8 hours. I will keep her home for a couple of days and see if things improve, as she seems happier, and more responsive at home.

More questions, they took the tick off of her, but I keep seeing fleas on her face. She is gray in color so it is hard for us to see how bad the infestation is. They said they gave her Frontline last night, should I run to the drug store and get some kind of flea shampoo? Also I was happy to hear that her temperature dropped to 103.3 degrees. Is there some kind of thermometer that I can purchase to check her temperature, like from her ear or something?

Again, thanks for all of the help here. I am really thankful I came to this forum for advise. I feel confident that we will be able to help Tucker pull out of this.
Jamey

I wouldn't stress her with a flea bath--maybe buy a flea comb and use that but the frontline should start to kill them off.

Her temperature is dropping and getting closer to normal so I wouldn't be too worried about that right now. You'd have to take the temperature rectully (sp).

I would just keep her hydrated, medicated as told and fed. Definitely keep new kitten away if possible--you want her to be as relaxed and pampered as possible.

You're doing great--keep the faith!

Leslie

I agree with most of what has already been said and to be honest, those fees concern me. Also, why with all that have thy not removed a tick though it possibly came from another kitty there? Her K - potassium levels are of some concern - but it all looks like it very well could be from not eating which as I just explained in another post is often caused by stress and a new cat in his territory could certainly cause that. Cats can become extremely ill from stress and even more ill from not eating - their kidneys ad livers just shut down after awhile to say it simply.

I honestly think from what I have read Tucker would be better in HIS own home - territory where there would be less stress and his peple there. You could feed him and monitor him and make an arrangement with the vet to bring him in if anything goes wrong if you live close enough to the clinic. Thy can show you how to adminiser the meds. It is hardly rocket science.

Good luck!! Oh, btw, we treat many cats with heart murmurs ad with varying degrees and the vast majority, unless there is some serious underlying medical problem, do just fine.

I would do a flea bath, particularly now - too stressful.

I once read about this on another cat health forum, years ago, for people who had very young kittens that had fleas (and at the time there wasn't anything safe for such young kittens in terms of de-flea-ing):

http://www.all-pets-info.com/fleacontrol/Flea-Comb.html

I remember them saying "Sunlight dish soap" was the best but this article seems to say any soapy water?

Can you use a flea comb on her.
If you do not get the fleas off her she can get anemia.
Some cats do no eat very on clavamox.
I have had it happen with my cats.
I hope she keeps getting better.

Update. Our first night with Tucker back home was ok. She is taking her meds with only a little bit of resistance, and my first syringe feeding to her was successful. The syringe they gave me is 15cc's I think, so I was able to give her a total of 25 to 30 cc's last night. We will see how things go this morning. I doubt I will be able to come home for lunch to feed her, but I will try, so today she will most likely only get three feedings, but for the most part she will get 4 feedings 5 days a week. Tucker is just kind of laying there lifelessly, but she does pur when petted, and she will sometimes move to reposition herself or stretch. Overall though she looks very weak. If I hold a small cup of water up to her chin she will drink a decent amount of it, but I think it is probably good to keep giving her 100ml of Subcutaneous Fluids once a day until she is up and about, and can get water for herself?

Maybe she will improve more now that she's home. Continued Prayers and

This mornings feeding went well. I gave her about 30 cc's. I don't want to push it because I want her told hold it down. But I plan on working her up to 40 cc's a feeding by tomorrow.
Another question. She usually sleeps on our bed, or sometimes up on a shelf in the closet. I'm going to try to put up a baby gate or something to keep her out of the closet, as I don't want her to over exert herself trying to get up on the shelfs. I figure she is best left in our bedroom, on the bed, with the door shut and away from Andy. Do you think if I put a litter box on the floor with a little bit of litter she will use it? I want to leave her on the bed to keep her cozy, but I really don't want her to soil it either.
Thanks again, all of the advise here is inspiring

She should use the litter box with no problem. I've had to isolate some of mine from time to time in my bedroom and I'll put a make shift litter box there and they use it all the time. I also put an old blanket or extra towels or sheets covering my bed spread just in case it should get soiled. I'm glad of the progress you are making with little Tucker. Continued Prayers and

I would put a litter pan in there.
I hope she gets well soon.

Sorry about all of the questions, but Tucker is grinding her teeth from time to time when I syringe feed her. Is it ok that she does that? I have to sit on the bed, lean over her with my body and left arm to keep her still, and use my left thumb and index finger at the base of her jaw to keep her mouth open when I feed. I really barely use any force to hold her still, but she does try to pull away, and growls at me a little. I talk to her the whole time, and try to keep her calm. But she is eating, and holding it down. I guess its good to see that she has the energy to fight me a little.
Also, the pain medicine says to inject it under her tongue, really hard to do. Anyone have an easy way to do this?
Lastly, we have a 5 day supply of the Clavamox left, and about 11 days of the Doxycycline left, when do you think I should take her to her regular Vet for a follow up visit.

Just my uninformed opinion, but I don't think the teeth grinding is anything to worry about. Maybe it's like when we grip the chair arm when getting a shot?

When my cat was sick last year, the vet advised against taking his temp rectally - apparently it's not too hard to make a little tear and they can get an infection.

Sounds like she's so happy to be home with you guys. I'm very happy you're all together again.

I would call the vet and ask if they want to see her.
I know we always follow up with our vet after the Er.
Coco has the Buprenorphine and they told me to squirt it in the side of her mouth and it would disolve in her gums.
I think you are doing good with the feedings.

Thanks a million, we will call the Vet tomorrow and see when they want to see her. Her pain meds, Buprenex, runs out in two days. I am not sure why she is taking it. Maybe her apetite will be better when she is done taking it?

Hi Jamey,

When I had to assist feed my old CRF kitty (for months!), she'd often make a grinding noise with her teeth/mouth, don't know why.

You may want to talk to the Vet about your plan to give her 100cc's of subq fluids until she's up and about; for a cat who doesn't have kidney failure, that's an awful lot of fluids and there is a risk that you could overhydrate her; overhydration puts a great strain on the heart, can put a cat into congestive heart failure, cause fluid build-up around the lungs, etc. Even with a kitty who has kidney failure, you don't give fluids unless the "fluid pouch" from the previous session has all been absorbed (meaning: when you give fluids, it falls with gravity and usually settles in a leg or down their side). Also, your kitty's potassium was definitely on the low end of normal while in hospital. The more fluids you give, the more she will lose (pee out) and low potassium causes lethargy and profound muscle weakness and can negatively impact the heart.

If you're getting a full day's worth of canned food into her via assist feeding, she shouldn't really require extra subq fluids, definitely not more than 50cc's per day.