Vibes needed please - all 3 cats poorly

Thanks - we are going to see the vet again tomorrow and get him to give him another a/b jab, as it is just over 2 weeks since his last one. He is still happy in himself, demanding lots of food, enjoying his cuddles, so while he is still willing to fight, I wont give up on him.

Zi is also worrying me though, she hasnt' been eating much of her tea, but i thought she had just finally twigged that I was hiding meds in it!! She was sick yesterday, and hasnt been as willing to eat her wet food, although she is still eating biscuits. If she is sick again today, I will take her along too tomorrow.

I hope that it is all good news! and

Thanks, we had a really bad night last night, he came for some cuddles and there was so much blood, I got my neighbour round so we had another pair of hands - she put a cold compress on it, not sure it did much good, as it did bleed again once he ate some treats - it is like hard food is doing it, but that is what he enjoys the most!! It didn't bother him in the slightest though, until we started messing with it, and it looks fine this morning.

I was woken up this morning to Zi being sick, it was brown liquidy stuff, so they are both going to the vets this morning!!

And another sad note, one of my ex-fosters has been at the vets most of the week with an unexplained illness, it is now looking neurological, and if a weekend on steroids doesn't work, it isn't looking promising for him. We dont know how old he is, as he was a stray, but the vet estimated 8-12 a year ago and he is very active, so we have always thought the younger end of the scale. His bloods also showed his kidneys weren't great, they thought it was ARF initially, but a scan showed no kidney issues, so I suspect it is CRF, and just picked up due to doing full bloods. He has been on a drip since WEd and they are continuing the drip cos of the steroids. So could I have some vibes for OScar too please?

Vibes and prayers for Oscar, and all your friends and you. Maybe you could crush the treats into powder. Easier on his poor mouth.

Sweet Zi, maybe just a one off. Hopefully.

Sam

Zia

Oscar

thinking of you all xo

Thanks - as suspected, vet wasn't very positive, he isn't happy with the blood, as he is concerned that the growth is getting close to his jawbone, and there is a very rich blood supply there, he said if he does get close to that, it will be like an oil rig, and we wont be able to stop the bleeding. He isn't letting it bother him yet though, although he is being a bit picky with his food - my neighbour made him some nice 'chicken soup' and he ignored it, although I have got him to eat some cat food - some foreign stuff the local shop is selling cheaply, it has 60% of something, jsut dont know what!! There has been a slight tinge of blood in his food today, but nothing like last night. He weighs very slightly less than Mon, but it was a different branch, so the scales can be slightly out, so the vet isn't worried, although I am slightly, as he is wanting to eat more, so we will have to monitor his weight. The vet confirmed what I suspected, that he doesn't have long left, but he has had another ab jab and hopefully will calm it down for a couple of weeks.

WAsn't too great with Zi either, there is nothing clinical like a temperature, and her tummy felt fine, so while he is hoping it is just a tummy bug, he wants her back for bloods and a urine sample early next week. Insurance company will love me, they have only just paid out for her last lot of bloods!!

Good thought about the treats, I will try that - I did that for a couple of weeks with my first toothless cat, until I realised she could eat dry food whole!!

I am probably going to have to let Sam go this week, unless the ab jab turns things round - he wants to eat, but can only eat small amounts in one go (and drops food all over, so not sure how much of what he eats gets into him), so I think he is constantly hungry, and not eating enough would be bad enough in a normal cat, but he has hyper-t and raised liver enzymes, so I Want him to go while he still has some quality, rather than leave it till he can't eat at all.

Zi hasn't been sick since, but she hates the Zantac (can't blame her, it is peppermint, and I dont like that either), and runs quicker than when I try and dose her with Metacam, so she isn't getting it twice a day, as I wont be able to get her MEtacam into her then (she did dribble a bit this morning with the Zantac), and then she wont be able to eat!! It has put her off her food a bit this morning, but she ate OK yesterday - she is on treat food today as it is her birthday, not sure tuna white meat and prawns/salmon is quite what hte vet had in mind when he said bland food!! I am going to cook some coley for tea, but not sure she likes it.

Oh dear. If you do have to let Sam go, it certainly won't be for lack of effort. Please take comfort you have done so much more for these guys than so many people.

Take comfort that when they reach the Bridge, others will greet them with..."you are the ones that were loved by that compassionate, gentle and loving human".

My thoughts are with you all.

Thank you for that. I know my neighbour thinks I should just feed him cheese all the time to keep him going, but I dont think that is fair on him (and he struggled with that last night), he wont be able to eat enough to keep weight on, and the lack of nutrients wont do his heart or liver any good. If his mouth is that sore that he can't tolerate soft cat food, then I have to think of his quality of life.

Oh yes, quality of life is the most important thing. He is, and will be, forever grateful, for all you have done for him, especially that final Kindness.

hugs.

I am so sorry about Sam, you are doing right by him though. You have done as much as you can for him, sometimes it is just their time to go. As un-easy as it is, you are doing what is right. It would be cruel to let him suffer in his last days.

I hope that your others continue to improve, you can't take but so much bad news at a time.

Thanks - we didn't have a good morning yesterday, he seemed to want to eat, but only able to eat small amounts and looked a bit miserable, so I have made an appointment for tonight, and when we got home, the voiles/curtain looked like a scene from CSI, so I think I have got the timing right, while he is bright, he isn't eating a lot in one go, and that is 2 bad lots of bleeding in 4 days with bits in between, I dont want to risk him bleeding to death, which could happen if the growth is too close to his jaw. i gave him a slightly higher dose of Metacam last night, so he had a good amount to eat, but this mornign is back to not eating a lot, and he actually stopped purring a couple of times while we were lying on the sofa last night.

I'll be thinking of you and Sam today. I won't say "poor old guy" because he did have a wonderful senior life with you, and once at the Bridge will be free of any more suffering.

What's the news on Zi and Oscar?

Thanks for the thoughts everyone, we have had a tough day, both me and my neighbour have been in tears cos of the kind of cat he is, but even she has admitted he doesn't look himself today, and is slightly uncomfortable, but not enough to make me take him up earlier than his appointment, as I think most of it is the weather. He hasn't been wanting cuddles as much as normal either.

Zi seems fine, so not bothered to take her today for any more tests. Oscar went downhill yesterday, so they have put him back on steroids, and sent him home to see if he perks up a bit at home, he is due back at the vets tomorrow, but it looks like they are really stumped by him.

You have a special neighbor to grieve along with you.

Keeping all in my prayers today.

God bless.

Thanks everyone - Sam had his usual reaction at the sight of a needle, so while it was a bit harder, at least he still felt well enough to fight us. The rest of it went peacefully though. When we checked his mouth, the vet said it was about 4 times bigger than when he first saw it, which was only 3 weeks ago, and it was really affecting his jaw, which is why it was bleeding so often, so the vet was right about it being inoperable, and the fact it got so big so soon meant it likely was cancer. He had also lost a bit more weight. While I am still annoyed with the first vet for not picking it up, at least it meant I only had the last 3 weeks knowing he had a growth, and not nearly 3 months. I just can't help thinking we might have been able to buy him another few weeks if he had started ab's and Metacam sooner. The vet was really compassionate afterwards, and even expressed concern about me driving home, which I have never had before, and spent time with me talking through things. I will do a tribute to him soon, he was such a wonderful cat, RIP my little meerkat.

Molly will be seeing the new vet next week to be checked before she gets her next lot of steroids, and OScar is back at the vets today, I am taking him and his mum up, so will get to be in the consult room with them.

Sam is a TCS Bridge Angel Now. Happiness and no tumors at the Rainbow Bridge.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Please try not to second guess yourself. You did everything for him and gave him a wonderful senior life full of love and warm spots and lovely naps. If not for you he would have died alone and unloved in a shelter.

Sam,

Thanks - I think his fate could have been worse, as I fostered him through the old rescue, we only used foster homes, but I know at least one of the other rescues would have pts due to the amount of health issues he had, and I am not sure the rescue I volunteered for would have done that much, which is why I kept him when I changed rescues, I didn't trust anyone to be able to keep a close eye on his mouth and weight. I think the time with his ulcers helped him in this last 3 weeks, as he was so used to a sore mouth.

We had a lovely last day sunbathing, and I Think I got the timing spot on, as he was starting to get a bit grumpy and not as accepting of cuddles, which wasn't like him.

I am so sorry, but as you say, it seems it was definitely the right time. But it's still so hard to let go.