Help! Kitty is not eating as much... very worried!

Hi, everyone.

First of all, I want to say that this site has been most helpful.  I've been searching through it since last year and finding out many tips/tricks.  However, today, I am posting for the first time because I think I need to ask more questions about my specific area of concern.

We took in a stray (maybe even semi-feral?) cat last July.  She had been living outside in the back little "barn" area for a year prior to that.  At first she was very scared and hissed at us, so we couldn't get close to her. Took an entire year of feeding her outside there for her to finally trust us and warm up.  We eventually brought her inside and discovered she was already fixed (her ear was tipped) and she seemed to have an URI problem and/or allergies.  The vet claims she was clear of feline AIDS and leukemia as well as heartworm due to a blood test, so I just assume her main problem with the URI's is really seasonal allergies...?

Anyway, I learned from this site to put her on L-lysine powder for her wheezing/breathing issues.  It had really helped her out greatly, along with a raw food diet.  We feed her Bravo! and sometimes switch to Primal.  We also add a tiny bit of salmon oil supplementation and Call of the Wild to the raw food since it is not complete for cats.  She occasionally gets cat treats, too. 

Well, everything was going okay until about a week or so ago.  I noticed that she wasn't eating as much food. Now, the weather down here has become colder over the past week.  I'm assuming the air is much drier now for her breathing issues as well.  Anyway, as I said, I noticed that she would have only half of her food eaten.  Then it turned into she would only eat in the morning but not at night.  Then, about two days ago, I started to notice that she stopped eating altogether, or just *barely* was eating.  This cat never drinks water either; all of the water she gets is from her raw food and from the water (about 2TB per meal) I tend to mix in for her.

Yesterday I was just a total mess because I realized that this has been going on for awhile.  I've also noticed that she tends to crouch down to the floor a lot.  I don't know if this means she is having stomach pain or what.  She acts like she WANTS to eat.  But everything I try to give her she walks away from.  She even seems to have a fear of her food bowls now which really concerns me.  If she does eat a tiny bit of food, she will eat it only if I first give her a cat treat she likes (she's been eating the Blue Buffalo chicken Kitty Yums) and then take some food out of the bowl and put it on the ground in front of her immediately afterwards.  But even then she may sniff it and act like she is hungry yet doesn't want it.  Also, I had to switch from her regular raw food to Fancy Feast, because that's the only wet (water dense) food she will eat now, when she does decide to eat.

Also, I've been trying desperately to get her to take her lysine still by grinding up a few of her cat treats with water and about 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of the pure lysine powder I always give her.  I noticed that yesterday her wheezing/breathing cleared up a lot; but we also went out and bought her a warm mist humidifier so I'm assuming that could be helping, too.

One other thing that may or may not be of importance is that she had fleas when she came in to live with us.  I'm wondering if this all could possibly be related to tapeworms as well?  Or maybe she has a UTI as well as a URI?  I checked her litterbox and I don't see any signs of blood.  I also checked the size of her urine "clumps" and they don't seem smaller than usual.  Maybe this is just allergies?  Maybe she has a tumor in her nose?  She definitely is having trouble smelling the food, because she tries to sniff it and then walks away from it.  (Raw food doesn't really have a scent, so I think that's why she outright refuses to eat that any longer-- I even tried putting clam juice in it.)  I've also tried tuna fish with some of her Call of the Wild supplementation powder in it, but now she kinda turns her nose up at that, too.  I even tried warming up her Fancy Feast in the microwave but that didn't entice her either.  The only thing she wants to eat are those Blue Buffalo semi-moist chicken Kitty Yum treats. 

I feel like I'm at my wit's end.  I don't know what to do for the poor cat aside from taking her to the vet.  But I just fear taking her to the vet right now might make her more stressed, and then I'm worried they are just going to poke her with needles and put her through a battery of tests, etc.  I guess what I'm trying to say is, is there anything else I'm missing?  Is there anything else I can try before I have to subject her to the stress of going to the vet?  I'm very worried that she's anorexic now and it could lead to hepatic lipidosis.  Or maybe it's already at that stage because she keeps crouching to the ground so much?  Maybe her stomach/liver is in pain?  Or maybe it's cancer?  Or maybe it's just seasonal allergies?  Ahhhh!  I'm going nuts here.  I don't know what else to do.    Please help/advise! 

Thank you.

Not sure what to tell you about this.  The crouching is NOT a good sign ...often that IS an indicator of them being in pain, but not always.  My old girl is often in this position, but I don't think she is in pain, just doesn't feel well because she's old and has kidney disease . 

This I can tell you.  I used to feed raw, than one day one of my guys simply decided he didn't like it anymore.  Just like that .  And he's never eaten it again, no matter how much I have tried to coax him into it.  I kept on feeding it to my other guy until it just got to be too much, as my old girl had already stopped eating it (she's the kidney cat), and she was on a different diet than the other two. 

Now with your little one, it could be that she's just tired of it, it could be as you surmised, that she can't smell it so doesn't really know it's there, it could be lots of things.  Have you tried topping it (or topping the Fancy Feast) with the Kitty Yums?  Or have you tried any other toppers besides clam juice?  I used to use Wholelife or Purebites, which worked well,and I still use them for treats.  How about Stella and Chewy's Freeze Dried Raw?  All of mine still eat that (in the dehydrated form) as treats...maybe it has more of a smell that "real" raw.

I'm glad you understand the issues associated with Hepatic Lipidosis.  This is something you definitely do NOT want to happen.   With HL, they will not even attempt to eat, at least that's what happened with my guy 20 years ago.  He had to go on a feeding tube.   Is your girl licking her lips when she sees her food, or just completely ignoring it?  If licking her lips, that's a sign that she's nauseated.  If that's the case, I think a Vet visit is definitely in order.  If that's NOT the case, then perhaps you can try other types of canned food, perhaps some stinky ones,just to see if it's nose problem.  The fishy ones are the stinkiest ones usually.  OH, and BTW, my boys that went from raw to canned REFUSE Fancy Feast .  They won't touch it with a ten foot pole .  They like Nutro Natural Choice and a few others, but not Fancy Feast, which is the ONLY food my girl will eat now.  So weird .  So it may just be a matter of finding something your little one likes

Thank you for your reply! I just cooked her an egg now and sprinkled a kitty yum on top. She ate some – and by some I mean very little – and she tried to go back again and eat more but decided not to.

Yes, she has been licking her lips yesterday and today from what I've noticed. Break it to me quickly – what does it mean? Does it mean she has the fatty liver thing? Does it mean cancer? Does it mean kidney problems? And, yes, the only way I've been able to get her to eat the canned food is by putting the treats crumbled on top of it. But she eats so very little of everything. If she eats 1/4 cup worth of food a day I'd be surprised.

I just want to know what the licking of the lips means. You said nausea, but what does that indicate? I just want to be prepared for when I go to the vet. I mean, she's very feisty still. She expects me to play a lot with her. But on Saturday I knew something was wrong because I wanted to feed her and she wasn't ready to eat and still sleeping on the bed. I knew something was off but my friend kept insisting she's fine she's fine she's fine. He tends to be in denial about a lot of things and it really gets me upset. He keeps fighting me to take her to the vet because he thinks I'm overreacting. He keeps telling me it's just a cold and she'll be fine. I keep telling him that it's not normal when a cat stops eating or changes their eating habits. And since he's the one who would be paying for the vet visit, my hands are tied. It's very frustrating. So I need to know what this is so I can convince him to take her tomorrow or tonight even. He's very stubborn.

Thanks again.

Nausea can be brought on by nearly anything.  It doesn't necessarily mean she has HL, or kidney disease, or anything super bad.  She could just have a stomach flu or a mild case of pancreatitis.  BUT, she definitely needs intervention.  My old girl recently had something going on with her liver (NOT HL, but her liver was acting up, and her appetite was nil).  We took her in to for a check-up and they ended up giving her an antibiotic and some sub-q fluids and she got better even though we never figured out what caused the problem.  (the only way we knew it was her liver was via a blood test during her check-up) 

I would take her in sooner than later since she's barely eating and you have indicated she IS nauseated.  They can give her a shot to help with that while they are working on figuring out what's wrong

well nausea could even mean that since she hasn't been eating..now she's nauseated and can't eat.. so the nauseated part might not be directly realated to what's wrong..but obviously something isn't up to par.. I know how you feel..just wanting it to pass so you don't have to make that vet trip.. ugh... but it's the only way to get answers and I wouldn't wait too long as she needs food and more importantly liquids in her.

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
Nausea can be brought on by nearly anything.  It doesn't necessarily mean she has HL, or kidney disease, or anything super bad.  She could just have a stomach flu or a mild case of pancreatitis.  BUT, she definitely needs intervention.  My old girl recently had something going on with her liver (NOT HL, but her liver was acting up, and her appetite was nil).  We took her in to for a check-up and they ended up giving her an antibiotic and some sub-q fluids and she got better even though we never figured out what caused the problem.  (the only way we knew it was her liver was via a blood test during her check-up) 

I would take her in sooner than later since she's barely eating and you have indicated she IS nauseated.  They can give her a shot to help with that while they are working on figuring out what's wrong

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Yeah, I agree.  I would feel better if they at least hydrated her some and did some blood work.  Thanks.

MnM said:

well nausea could even mean that since she hasn't been eating..now she's nauseated and can't eat.. so the nauseated part might not be directly realated to what's wrong..but obviously something isn't up to par.. I know how you feel..just wanting it to pass so you don't have to make that vet trip.. ugh... but it's the only way to get answers and I wouldn't wait too long as she needs food and more importantly liquids in her.

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I'm assuming that it's pretty difficult to get them back to eating on their own without intervention then?  Like, if she's at the point she is now with the licking the lips and eating little, the only way to get her better is to either feed her with a syringe myself (which I highly doubt she would allow me to do) or go to the vet to get her started with sub-q fluids?

Okay, went to the vet.  He kinda just looked her over and said she has a bacterial infection, not viral, and gave her a steroid shot and perscribed Zeniquin 25mg for 14 days.

Now, I just have a few questions, because I'm utterly confused.  I asked my vet, but I'm still confused, so hopefully someone can dumb it down for my to understand....

How can you tell if the infection is viral vs. bacterial, thus knowing which antibiotic to use?  He said because she has always had this problem, it's bacterial, not viral.  If it was viral, it was probably when she was a kitten.  Thus, I'm assuming it's not feline herpes and such, because that's viral.  He says it's probably polyps or could turn into polyps/tumors in the nose.  But I'm still confused how you can tell?  What am I not understanding here?

Also, he said the lysine wouldn't help her since it isn't viral.  So does that mean she just has a cold?  If so, why give her antibiotics for it? 

He also didn't say if she was dehydrated or anything... he took blood work but only to double check to make sure she wasn't positive for feline AIDS and leukemia.  The only reason he wanted to test again b/c she was tested when we first got her and brought her into the house, so he just wanted to re-check and we agreed. 

He said she should be getting better in about 3-4 days.  He said if she starts losing her appetite again to bring her back in and not wait.  But I'm just still confused as how this is a bacterial infection?  Maybe he took her temperature in the back room and I didn't see?  He didn't take her temperature in front of me, didn't mention if he did or not, so I don't understand why she needs antibiotics.  Can someone please break this down in laymen's terms for me?  I just hate giving my pets antibiotics and try very hard to avoid that route if possible.  Plus I have no idea how I'm even going to give her the pill tonight considering she's not eating, which was the initial problem.  He said just to kinda open her mouth and give it to her, but I've never done that before, so I'm kinda frantic about it.

Thanks in advance!

Just a quick update-- those steroid shots must work fast because I made some raw food with Call of the Wild and kitty ate some willingly-- no coaxing this time or anything!  Although... she didn't eat a lot of it, but boy is that progress!  It's probably the most I've seen her eat in one sitting within the past 3 days.  I just hope she continues to do better... *crosses fingers* 

Sounds to me like your Vet is doing some guessing, UNLESS he took some cultures.  It IS true that many cats develop Feline Calicivirus as kittens, then throughout their lives they develop secondary bacterial infections, but (the way I understand it)  the only way to be certain what is what is to do cultures.  It is also true that Zeniquin CAN be an effective antibiotic for a bacterial URI, depending on the exact issue.  

Now, not knowing just what your Vet did or didn't do, I can't say how he determined whether or not this infection is viral or bacterial.  Maybe percentage wise more are typically bacterial

As far as the polyps go, those are EXTREMELY rare.  I've only known of one case of them. 

Glad the steroid is helping.  My old girl got a steroid shot once and it definitely increased her appetite for a short while.  Take advantage of it in getting the antibiotics in .   Are the pills small enough that you can stuff them inside one of her Blue Buffalo Yums?  I would definitely try putting them inside something rather than try to pill her, if she's skittish.  You could try covering them with cream cheese, a piece of hot dog (that's what MY Vet recommended), a pill pocket, maybe even wrap it in some of her raw meat...make her a little meatball encasing that pill.

Hope she is feeling better

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
Sounds to me like your Vet is doing some guessing, UNLESS he took some cultures.  It IS true that many cats develop Feline Calicivirus as kittens, then throughout their lives they develop secondary bacterial infections, but (the way I understand it)  the only way to be certain what is what is to do cultures.  It is also true that Zeniquin CAN be an effective antibiotic for a bacterial URI, depending on the exact issue.  

Now, not knowing just what your Vet did or didn't do, I can't say how he determined whether or not this infection is viral or bacterial.  Maybe percentage wise more are typically bacterial

As far as the polyps go, those are EXTREMELY rare.  I've only known of one case of them. 

Glad the steroid is helping.  My old girl got a steroid shot once and it definitely increased her appetite for a short while.  Take advantage of it in getting the antibiotics in

.   Are the pills small enough that you can stuff them inside one of her Blue Buffalo Yums?  I would definitely try putting them inside something rather than try to pill her, if she's skittish.  You could try covering them with cream cheese, a piece of hot dog (that's what MY Vet recommended), a pill pocket, maybe even wrap it in some of her raw meat...make her a little meatball encasing that pill.

Hope she is feeling better

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I don't think he took a culture, which is why I'm wondering why he decided to say it was bacterial.  *sigh*

I tried to give the pill to her 3x and wasted 3 pills in the process.  So I went back and got a liquid antibiotic-- Orbax.  He had suggested that first, so it's really my stupid mistake for thinking I could get a pill in her food and she'd eat it.   I just gave her a dose of it 1/2 hour ago.  Poor thing.  She's been through a lot the past couple of days.  I feel awful having to give it to her.  She's now hiding from me beneath the dresser in the one bedroom. 

She didn't eat her food again this morning.  But she did eat some tuna and some Greenies chicken flavored treats (I begrudgingly gave her some since they aren't moist and I'm afraid of her water intake... but it's the only other thing she'll eat right now... I even tried some chicken baby food without cornstarch in it... so I dunno... I'm trying). 

I hope this antibiotic works.  I keep worrying that maybe she has a UTI and that turned into a URI-- I don't know how that would happen, but I just keep panicking because after she eats she seems like she doesn't feel well.  And she wants to eat and keeps licking her chops but won't eat again... only ate last night after her usual raw food dinner, and then kinda refused any more food after that and kept crouching low to the ground.  The vet said today that he felt her stomach and there's nothing going on there, so I dunno... I'm probably just overreacting because I'm so full of anxiety now.  I just don't know what to do for her and I'm praying that the Orbax is going to make all of these problems go away for her and she'll be back to normal (or even better!) soon.  I'm just hoping it's her sense of smell being affected that's causing all the eating problems and not something more serious.  Oh, I just want to cry (and have been!).  This is so frustrating.  This poor cat has had it so rough... she was (we're assuming) abandoned by someone and lived outside in the back of our house for a year until she learned to trust us.  She "moved in" last July and it's only been a little over 5 months and already she's having it rough again.  I just want her to have a happy life... she's only about 2.5 years old... it would be so sad to keep seeing her have to suffer like this.  I just want her to eat and get better and stop having these URI's. 

WHY do you think she may have a UTI?  Is she showing any signs of that?   Inappropriate urination or anything like that?  I've not heard of a UTI turning into a URI, but I suppose anything is possible. 

Didn't the Vet say to bring her back immediately if she lost her appetite again?  Did you at least call him back and tell him she still isn't eating properly?  I wonder why he didn't give her an anti-emetic for nausea, as I still think she is showing the classic signs (licking her lips), and also do wonder about fluids (whether or not he gave her any).  Does she seem dehydrated?  Are her gums nice and moist?  When you pull up on her skin, does it bounce right back into place, or does it tent up? 

We've got another advisor (@stephanietx ) here at TCS who has quite a bit of experience with URI's I believe, so I'm going to see if she has any words of wisdom for you.  Hang in there

I checked her urine today a few hours ago in the litter box. It seemed normal sized and I know if they are small – meaning the clumps – it means possibly there is a urinary tract infection/issue. So I was relieved to see that it was normal sized. She wants to eat. She is still licking her lips and looks down at the food and looks at me. She ate this morning some tuna. She ate some cookies – meaning the greenies because we ran out of kitty Yum's and both stores are sold out of them. But after I gave her the liquid antibiotic, she started to refuse the food and treats again. I've read the antibiotics can reduce the appetite even more so, so now I'm wondering if she is nauseous from that?

He did look at her teeth and gums when she was there I did see that. I don't know what he did when he took her in the back room in terms of testing though. He just drew blood for the feline aids/leukemia tests. He did say if she's not better by tomorrow night to call Friday. I guess I'm just very confused as to why the anabiotic would be making her less likely to eat instead of curing whatever is blocking her smell. But to be fair I read that this particular anabiotic takes 3 to 5 days to work. So I don't know. I'm very new to all of this. I took in her and another stray cat within the past year or so and the other cat is very good but this cat has always had problems with sneezing and wheezing. He says it's not herpes. So I don't know. That's why I've been given her Lysine all of this time because I assumed it was helping keeping everything under control. Obviously not because she got sick. So I guess that's why he thinks it's bacterial and not viral.

I'm just very stressed about this because I don't like seeing any animal suffer and I feel helpless. But I'm sure that is very common among everybody – are almost everybody I would assume – posting on this board for advice. I guess I'm just scared because this is something I'm not familiar with. I've only taken care of dogs my entire life and never had a problem where they stopped eating and had colds and the sort.

But anyway, thank you for your advice and help. And thank you for contacting the other member of the board who you think might be able to give me some advice.

Please excuse any weird typos. I'm using a voice to text translator right now on my phone and I know I can't go back and edit these posts. So if there are some weird words accidentally inserted and what I just wrote, or the grammar is horribly wrong, that is most likely what happened. Ha ha ha. :-)

Oh, PS – my two cats are separated. They live on separate sides of the house because they don't get along. Ha ha Ha ha ha. So hopefully there never has or never will be a risk of the one I'll kitty infecting the other cat. I just wanted to mention that in case anybody was wondering if the other cat was okay. She is very healthy and we have always been very careful to keep her away from the other cat in case there is something contagious with the sick cats constant wheezing/breathing/respiratory issues.

Well, while it may seem nochalant, I think your vet's approach is the norm.  I hate it when they don't eat, it's awful.   The baby food is a great idea, I'd just keep trying wet food.   How about some royal canin digest sensitive?  Not sure what the rules are for switching back from raw, but maybe that's why the baby food is best.  I also keep fortiflora in the house, because if I sprinkle that stuff on anything, they'll eat it.

BTW I use one of those small syringes to get water into my cat when they aren't feeling well.  You can get them at your local pharmacy, just ask them, they may even give them to you.  Anyway, I can usually get the tip into the side of their mouth and gently squirt it in.  Then I wait 15 minutes and do it again, etc., etc.

WOW!  You're such a good cat meowmy to be so concerned about your girl.  I'm impressed! 

First of all, I would encourage you to take a deep breath and relax.  I know it's hard when your little ones are ill and not eating, but they will pick up on your stress and it will just aggravate the situation.  So, kick back and put your feet up for awhile.  (Easier said than done, I know!!)  Breathe!!  Just breathe!

Secondly, I know it's not the best thing in the world, BUT plain meat baby food is a charm many times in getting kitties to eat.  Get either turkey or chicken (chicken seems to be the bomb in my house) no onions, garlic, or veggies.  Start off feeding that to her exclusively, then build up the amount.  Feed her small servings more often, if possible.  Then, start adding some of her regular food back.  The other food you can try is classic Fancy Feast. Suprisingly, it's grain free.  Again, get the pate, chicken or turkey.  One other thing you can do is get Science Diet a/d from the vet.  That stuff is like kitty crack!  It's chock full of nutrients and used a lot with kitties who are or have been severely ill or malnourished.  Warm the food up just a bit to enhance the aroma.  Not too warm and don't heat for too long, just a few seconds in the microwave or in a water bath.  You could also try elevating her food so that she's not having to bend her head down as far to eat.  Snot runs out the nose, the kitty lifts her head, thus stopping the eating process. 

Thirdly, if she is congested, you can steam her in the bathroom.  Get the bathroom nice and steamy, then sit in there with her until the steam dissipates.  You can also run a vaporizer 24/7 to help relieve congestion.  Also, you can use Little Noses nose drops found in the kid's section of the pharmacy to help break up the congestion in the nose.  Just one drop in each nostril a couple of times a day.  If kitties can't smell the food, they're less likely to eat. 

Personally, I'd continue giving the L-Lysine since you've seen that it helps.  If you're not already giving it, give 500mg twice a day.  That's the flare up dose.  You might also want to give her a daily antihistamine.  I give my snotty girl 1/4-1/2 of a 10mg Loratadine (generic Claritin) tablet once a day.  I grind it up in wet food and serve.  Start with 1/4 tablet and give it a week or so to see if it helps.  We use the generic brand from either Sam's or Wal-Mart.  Since you said that these flare ups happen with weather changes, this might help. 

Lastly, how's her pooping?  I'd be concerned if she's not pooping at all.

Thanks for the helps-- I'll write more later but I haven't seen any poop in her letterbox yesterday and maybe even the day before yesterday. But to be fair she hasn't been eating. I try to watch her when I can to see if she's straining but can't catch her doing anything. She still wants to eat but acts like she's scared of food.

Another quick question- after giving her the antibiotic yesterday her breathing changed. This happened the last time she has an antibiotic when we took her in this summer. That antibiotic was a shot though. I can see her breathing hard and fast, meaning, her chest/body rises in and out quickly-- not a normal calm paced breath. Is this normal to have from an antibiotic?

meowx16 said:

Another quick question- after giving her the antibiotic yesterday her breathing changed. This happened the last time she has an antibiotic when we took her in this summer. That antibiotic was a shot though. I can see her breathing hard and fast, meaning, her chest/body rises in and out quickly-- not a normal calm paced breath. Is this normal to have from an antibiotic?

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I would say definitely NOT normal from the antibiotic.  I would give the Vet a call about the breathing.  Sounds to me like she is having a more difficult time breathing.  Maybe try the steam in the bathroom that Stephanie suggested until you get in touch with the Vet. 

She may be allergic to the antibiotic. Benadryl is usually given to counteract the reaction. With any cat it would be extremely hard to know the correct amount of Benadryl to give, please call your vet.Fast breathing may be serious.All the luck!

Thank you for the responses. My other kitty and one doggie can sens in stressed to the max-- they both came downstairs to give me some love. Just got some biscuits on my lap. Hahaha.

But anyway I (calmly) called the vet and asked about the breathing and they think it's probably just from the stress, which makes a lot of sense. They said if it lasts all day, though, to let them know. I will check her over tomorrow before I give the next does and see then. They are really nice people at my vet place and th doctors there are really smart so I do trust them. I swear I do. I think my anxiety stems from a horrible experience I had a few years ago at a different vet office and ER. Basically my dog had diabetes but no one figured this out. They kept telling me to give him glaucoma medication for his sudden blindness and after a few weeks of not treating the diabetes his organs started to shut down basically and he started to have seizures. I took him to the ER and two specialists and they told me he never had glaucoma and then figured out he was diabetic. When i left him there he will still okay and happy. But then they called me the next day and said he went downhill and was very sick. His neck was messed up and he was on a breathing machine. I know they did something negligible but I couldn't prove it. They wouldn't let me take him out either to another vet because of the new breathing issue. I had to put him down and I was hysterical. I felt like I had killed my baby because I didn't go in armed with knowledge; that I didn't ask enough questions. It's like pet mommy PTSD. I'm still crying right now over what happened to him.

But anyway... I do appreciate the help. And I do trust my vet office-- they are very good and very caring. But I'm just super anxious because of the horrible experience I had a few years ago. I just never want to go in blindly into another situaon with a sick pet. Since they can't talk I don't want to sit by passively and not be a voice for them. But I also understand I can't freak out either because that's just as dangerous and I could make things worse that way, too.

But anyway thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm gonna take the advice above and just try to relax. The funny thing is, if the cat was terminally ill (which I pretty much believe she is not now, thank fully), I could handle that better because I would have data and hard facts and know what to do then. But when I don't have control over what's going on like with my doggie that had to be put down, I panic. I just never want anything like that to happen to any of my little babies ever again. I loved that little guy so much. :'-(