Need help please!!!!

Hi ! I have a 10 year old male that is the apple of my eye.On the 13th of September he starting having diarrhea I waited till Wednesday morning and when it hadn't stopped I took him to his vet.They did a standard (pre op) blood test and kept him overnight.The next day they said his diarrhea had stopped but he mewwed when they palpated his abdomen so they wanted to do an x-ray.When I called back an hour later they said that they had never seen an x-ray like it before and all Mickeys intestines were on his right side but no masses or tumours.I had 3 options an internist,exploratory surgery or putting him down!!!! Quite simply none of these seemed logical and I went to get my terrified kitty to bring him home.At which time I say yet another vet (not my normal vet who was on vacation) who was WAY to eager to perform surgery on my baby. Needless to say $156 later I left.

I spoke with my regular vet this week and he said if his spirits didn't lift and he was still acting sick to bring him back for a bigger blood test.Also that there was nothing abnormal on the x-ray...at all.He does seem to have perked up,playing more and running around but he still uses the box three times a day and it's still loose not as bad as it was but still not perfect.

I am very worried about my baby boy.I know taking him for the blood test requires a 30 minute car ride that he hates.I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for me or has been thru something similar.I feel my confidence in vets has been shaken,it was like they saw my tears and saw dollar signs.Please any info would be greatly appreciated.

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I really dislike commenting on anything medical. There is a fine line of which vet to trust. We've had similar situations with a particular vet, and then got a referral from friends to another vet that took care of a problem the first vet didn't. So, who's to say. We have undying love for our animals and have spent big bucks on vet expenses.

When we have similar regularity problems, sometimes it takes a while for it to pass. Your little one could have eaten just about anything...living or dead. If the X-rays showed normal, I would get a second opinion.

If he were my cat, I would take him for the more extensive bloodwork. I know a 30 minute ride is tough. But what choice do you really have?

Why not buy some Feliway in a spray bottle and use according to the directions. I spray the carrier 30 minutes before I put my kitty in. I don't know how much it helps, but there are others who swear by it.

I think if his condition started to go downhill, you would kick yourself for not taking him in. Since today is Friday, weekend looming, I would suggest he be seen.

I sure hope it is nothing serious...I can tell you love the "apple of your eye".

Please keep us posted.

Thank you so much for your replies.I have to say I think the car ride is harder on me than him...I can't stand to hear him cry Under the advice of my regular vet I am slowly changing his food from Purina Cat Chow (he's been on it for 10 years) to 1st Choice premium cat food with natural ingredients...he's eating better than me now lol!!!

If there is no improvement at all I will be taking him Monday morning for the more complete blood work up.One thing I found strange though is that they never performed a stool analysis! You think that would be the first step.He still has no fever at all and is acting more and more like himself everyday.The vet had asked me if he was lethargic...what a joke lethargy should have been Mickeys middle name lol!!!

Has anyone ever had something like this creep up out of nowhere and last this long???? A few hours before this started he was running around like a total goofball and having a great time.

Yes I have. $1,200 later the vets still didn't know what was wrong. They diagnosed VIP becasue there was nothing left to test her for. I brought her home IV needles and all and was told it was a matter of time. (a very short time). Since that day she did nothing but improve. She is now 7 years old and never been sick a day since except for chronic ear infections. She was put on Jarodopholis for runny aweful smelling stools which literly cleared up within 48 hours. I will swear by the stuff its awesome and worth every penny. No amount is too much for diarrhea and that mess. As farleyv said make sure you are not kicking yourself down the line for not checking the easy things. When I put my cats in a carrier, I put them in the front seat with me and turn the carrier so they are facing me and not the dashboard.

Does your cat go outside? Did he get into something outside that doesn't agree with his stomach? Or how about something like the flu?

Thank you so much for posting I so wanted to hear that someone else had been thru the same thing I'm going thru.Well I contacted another vet today closer to home and had a good long talk with the tech on the phone (she was awesome!!).She said that if I wanted to have the larger blood test done they would do that for me for $97 plus the cost of the visit ($38),not that that means anything to me.Well since I spoke with the vet Mickeys diarrhea has stopped lol!! I swear he just likes to make a liar out of me He has also slowed down on drinking water, back to his normal consumption,I guess the diarrhea was really taking alot out of him.

I'm going to see how it goes (this vet is open on the week end!) and if all is well I will hold off on taking him for the blood test and let him recover a bit.He must be feeling better though because as soon as my bf came home from work he leapt off the bed looking for treats...which ofcourse he hasn't been getting lately while we were trying to figure out what was wrong.

My baby only goes out on the balcony but this is his first years doing this do you think he could have caught a flu out there?Maybe the change in weather?It is his first experience with this,he used to stay in at our old place but here we're on the 3rd floor so he's allowed out on the balcony which is baracaded off.

How is Mickey doing? Any better?

Well we went to see our new vet yesterday...she was awesome!!! She said there is nothing wrong with his tummy she palpatated it and he was fine.She gave me 2 different kinds of meds.One is a pill to kill the bad bacteria,which she suspects is the culparate,and the other a jelly to help the good bacteria flourish!! Ofcourse she gave him a dose of each and about an hour after we got home he used to litter box and no more diarrhea!!! I really don't think the meds helped that fast so I'm going to call her this morning to see if I should continue the meds or not!! I swear he just likes to make a liar out of me lol!!!

Has anyone ever had a pill work that fast??? He seems very happy except for when I had to catch him to give him the jelly last night,he refused to sleep with me after and keeps giving me dirty looks now.

Who were the vets that told you the first diagnosis. You could have put your cat down based on what they said! I would report them to whomever they get reported to. I would picket their office as well, with signs saying don't go here if you value your pets life. They are criminal.
IF nothing else, I would definitely take them to small claims and get my 156.00 back plus gas, and ask the judge for money for stress. They should not get away with that.

The vet I went to see is a clinic we have been going to since I was a kid! All our animals were seen there.The owner is actually a friend of the family.He was on vacation at the time but called me when he got back.I was more than a little "colourful" when explaining how I was treated.I thank God I'm not the type of person who takes advice like that at face value.

Mickey is on Metro now.Does anyone have any experience with that??