Help! Family Pet very Ill.

One of our family cats has fallen very ill. Some backstory: About a year ago her left eye went dark. I dont know if this has anything to do with it but i figured id mention it anyways. I don't know if she's blind in it or what but its darker than her other. 6 months ago she got a supposed inner ear infection, was stumbling around, we put her on anti-biotics and she got over it.

Ever since then however she's lost weight, she used to be a fat happy cat, not obese, just a big ole teddy bear. Within the last 2 months shes gone down hill alot, she was throwing up almost EVERY day and not drinking water, and when she did drink water she threw it up. She's lost over 1/3d of her body mass in the past 6 months(ish). We've taken her to the vet 3 times in the past 2 weeks and they found nothing on her blood test abnormal and nothing on her x-rays except a few things.

Those things were her liver enzymes were elevated SLIGHTLY, the vet said it was nothing to worry about because it wasn't elevated enough to be anything. And on her X-rays her intestines appeared "thickened". The vet suggested Inflammatory Bowel Disease or colon cancer. We got prednizone and leukeran chemo pills, as well as some new food and a pill to help her stomach. (She had a sub-q on 2 of the 3 visits to the vet)

The first day back everything seemed great, she was eating her food like a starving dog and didnt throw any up, she was perky and walking around like she used to. Today has been horrible, she's been sleeping for around 15 hours straight, ate very little and she looks dreadful. She's a little shaky, I think she has a bit of a fever and shes very lethargic.

We've only been giving her the prednizone because she wont take the stomach pill (its huge) and we don't want to give her the chemo pill because there are some scary side effects that I think right now would make her worse.

Call the vet and let them know that she is worse.

Just call and schedule an appointment for in the morning. She shouldn't be shaky.
This isn't a wait and see issue.

for your baby. You're in my thoughts

I would get a copy of her file and blood work and get her to a new vet ASAP for a second opinion. The changes you describe are not good, and she needs someone that wants to figure this out!

for your kitty.

UPDATE: This morning she was looking just as bad, she wouldn't eat (other than some kitty treats) and wouldn't take her meds. We managed to give her the pill for her stomach with some butter. We gave her 100 milliliters of SubQ and after that she drank water for a few minutes and she hasn't thrown up her water which is good. I think the reason she won't eat is because we've been hiding her meds in her food and shes pretty smart so I think she knows that.

We called the vet and the vet wasn't available to talk on the phone. We'd like to get a second opinion but we don't want to spend another 300 dollars on another set of blood tests and x-rays.

Is it possible the prednizone is too harsh on her? We gave her 10mg 2 days in a row per vets orders. She hasnt got it today yet though.

FYI: She just turned 10 so she's not that old.

I'm sorry your cat is so sick! I know you don't want to spend more money with a new vet. But I really think you should get a second opinion. Is your vet at least going to call you back?

You shouldn't have to spend additional monies on the blood work right now, but I would surely find a feline specialist or take her to vet college if you have one close for a second opinion. Teaching vet schools are really the best option. Sometimes, they will treat the cat at a lower cost based on what is wrong with it- rare cases etc... Find a good feline vet ask for a transfer of records and go from there

What a long day, ok...

UPDATE: Me and my mom had a gut feeling she wasn't well and I didn't want her to just sit there in pain so we rushed to another vet for a second opinion. He did a full physical exam, a very nice person. He told us that she shouldn't be taking any medicine orally because she's difficult and its stressful. He told us on the X-rays her bowels didnt look anything out of the norm to him, he prescribed prednisone in a thermal gel that we just rub onto her ears as the ONLY medication to give her and a specialized dry diet. We got everything and when she got home she ate a bowel of her new food, had a bowel movement drank some water and now she's sleeping in her favourite spot acting like her normal old (skinnier and weaker obviously) self.

Thanks to everyone for the support, I'll update this thread if anything new happens.

I'm so sorry it's been so difficult, but that's good news. Hope the steroids do the trick!

And when it comes to blood tests and x-rays and things, you don't need new ones when you switch vets. It's just like when a person switches a Dr. or Dentist - you can get a copy of the file to the new vet so the tests do not need to be repeated.

Poor dear....... I hope she starts coming around.

I hope the new vet, and new food, do the trick for her! Please keep us posted!!! Sending lots of and for kitty!

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I sure hope your kitty doesn't have anything serious and recovers soon!

I am so glad you switched vets - the old one doesn't seem to have much of an inclination to figure out what is really going on or to even talk to you about it.

Like was already mentioned - you have every right to ask for a copy of your pets entire file that your old vet has! Some charge a small fee for photocopying but otherwise they have to release that file to you!

Get the file (( in fact, every time I take Kismet to the vet they know I want copies of everything and they give me it before I leave )) or keep your own copies... for all future events.

Good luck and keep us posted - hopefully your cat will continue to improve with the direction of the new vet

Hopefully this new vet will be able to get your cat feeling better soon!

UPDATE: Our kitty is doing slightly better but still not that great. She still has a fever and sleeps 90% of the day, she drinks water but she eats very little and we can't seem to coax her to eat more than a few bites of her food and maybe a cat treat or 2 if we are lucky. We've been giving her prednisone via a transdermal gel, we gave the vet a stool sample and are hoping for the results soon because she doesn't look good and her 3d eyelid started showing today when her eyes are open and I know that means she's feeling pretty bad.

We gave her a SubQ this morning to maybe help with her fever a little, she perked up slightly. She's been sleeping on my bed for 7 hours now. The vet suspects maybe colitis or some type of ulcer. Hopefully the results come back and it's an easily fixable issue because she doesn't seem to be responding to the prednisone. On a high note she hasn't thrown up in a good while.

She also still purrs when I pet her and will mew at me when I come into the room if she's awake.

Hi, you have, have to force feed her with a syringe, or you risk her liver shooting down/fatty liver disease. That can happen fast, and can be deadly... it is a road you don't want to go... Please, please do not leave eating up to her. Be very very proactive - it essential for her to eat. I would discuss with the vet an appetite stimulant as well.
There is good information on this link: http://www.assistfeed.com/FeedingTechniques.htm

Originally Posted by Carolina

Hi, you have, have to force feed her with a syringe, or you risk her liver shooting down/fatty liver disease. That can happen fast, and can be deadly... it is a road you don't want to go... Please, please do not leave eating up to her. Be very very proactive - it essential for her to eat. I would discuss with the vet an appetite stimulant as well.
There is good information on this link: http://www.assistfeed.com/FeedingTechniques.htm

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Ok, if we still can't get her to eat tonight when she wakes up I will do this. Thank you.

Originally Posted by frenchfry223

Ever since then however she's lost weight, she used to be a fat happy cat, not obese, just a big ole teddy bear. Within the last 2 months shes gone down hill alot, she was throwing up almost EVERY day and not drinking water, and when she did drink water she threw it up. She's lost over 1/3d of her body mass in the past 6 months(ish). We've taken her to the vet 3 times in the past 2 weeks and they found nothing on her blood test abnormal and nothing on her x-rays except a few things.

Those things were her liver enzymes were elevated SLIGHTLY, the vet said it was nothing to worry about because it wasn't elevated enough to be anything. And on her X-rays her intestines appeared "thickened". The vet suggested Inflammatory Bowel Disease or colon cancer. We got prednizone and leukeran chemo pills, as well as some new food and a pill to help her stomach. (She had a sub-q on 2 of the 3 visits to the vet)

Click to expand...

The bold area is my concern - what liver enzymes were "slightly elevated"?
Does the new vet has this blood test in hands? Did he run another test? The lack of appetite, elevated liver enzymes, dramatic weight loss can all be a sign of Fatty liver. On Fatty liver, the liver is consuming the body itself, thus giving the kitty the filling of being full, when he is not... it creates a vicious cycle - the less he eats, the more the liver does that, etc... The way you break that cycle is with food. You got to feed her.

Originally Posted by frenchfry223

Ok, if we still can't get her to eat tonight when she wakes up I will do this. Thank you.

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I don't want to beat a dead horse, but if it was my cat, I would feed it tonight...Good luck!