My cat has thrombosis, I need advice please

maddymadge

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Hi

I have a ten year old cat called Charlie. She is an outdoor cat. Last Saturday she came home limping from the front paw and she was crying in pain all day, she couldn't walk on it at all. She did have something similar a few years ago and recovered after a few days so I  thought  I'd wait until Monday to take her to the vet. On Sunday she was limping a bit but walking on her front paw so it was reassuring. On Monday evening, her back collapsed and she was dragging herself, although the vet said the front leg was not related, that it was just coincidence.

When I took her to the vet, she was diagnosed with thrombosis and two options were offered to me, treatment or euthanasia. We opted for treatment. The following day she was using her right leg but the vet kept saying there was no pulse in her legs. The day after, she was walking normally on it and the left leg wasn't dragging as much. Yet again, the vet said it doesn't show improvement as they can't feel any pulse. Now her legs are not cold and her paws are not blue. On Wednesday, the vet said if she s no better by Thursday morning, to put her to sleep.

On Thursday morning, we thought she d improved as she was eating, grooming herself, using the litter tray, purring and even playing a bit. the vet said even though she was walking better she couldn't feel any pulse in her legs. I told her we wanted to nurse her at home as when she comes back from the vet she seems worse. The vet then told me that the cat was very stressed there, that they did struggle to give her the tablets and that she was better at home. But then she told me the reason why my cat wasn't sleeping at home was because she was in pain ( which the previous vet said she wasn't). So I took her back home and told my partner. Because we were told she was in pain and seeing the amount of medication we had to give her, we thought that euthanasia was the best option. So I phoned the surgery and booked the appointment. When I arrived there, I saw another vet (4th one) who asked me why I wanted to put my cat to sleep. So I explained the situation and he looked at her and said that we shouldn't put her to sleep, that she wasn't in pain, that she was improving and to give her a chance until Monday. 

So back at home, she hid for the whole day and night and came out his morning. She has 4 meds to take a day including 3 tablets. Now my cat is not a people's cat, she hates being handled, by us or anybody. This morning she was walking on all her legs :) and she has regained some of her strength. I tried to give her a tablet with the pill popper, my partner holding her but this turned out to be a nightmare. She moved all the time even when holding her head. Anyway it took seven tries before she took the tablet ( not 100% sure it went in as she spat it 5 times but she was doing an awful amount of drooling) and we ended up with a super stressed cat who went hiding again as she was scared to death from us!

I can crush the aspirin and the kidney one but I have read you shouldn't crush the plavix tablet. She is a super fussy cat and she won't touch her food if medication is in it. So far I have managed to make her eat it by mixing tuna and I will try other stuff. I am going to buy different ham,beef and chicken slices to wrap the pill in, will buy a mackerel, maybe she'll enjoy that. I bought some cottage cheese but she didn't like it.

Have you got any experience of thrombosis and if so did your cat survive it? If not how long did it take before it died?

Also, any ideas on how to make her eat her meds without stressing her?

So sorry for the long post...
 

di and bob

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My heart goes out to you. I'm so happy she seems to be getting better, I'm also curious to see if others have had this problem and the cat became well again. I have to give my cat lasix every day and he is also a nightmare to pill. I got those 'pill pockets', break off a little piece just big enough to hide the pill, then 'cement' it (mold it on) onto a treat that he likes. Then I give him one normal treat so he starts eating, then I sneak in the treated treat. It works! At least for me. Tuna and other treats would work well, I would bet you could even 'cement' the pill to those too!. Please keep us posted and bless you for having to go through this, I know how much she means to you. Luck be with you, I'll keep you in my prayers.
 

pocho

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Not with cats but I have personally. I had it in my leg and did rounds of injections in my belly for I think two weeks of blood thinners self administered. Can you give her injections? Could be easier...Also did the vet explain how it works in felines? In humans according to the location of clot there is serious concern or little. It would have been highly unlikely that would have traveled from my leg to heart or brain....it wasn't going to take me out.
 
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maddymadge

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Hi

Thanks for replying. the vet told me the clot might move but go to her lungs or somewhere else. They said they never saw a full recovery apart from once and the cat died of a heart attack two weeks later. So according to her, she won't survive even if she seems to be better. To be honest, I am tempted to keep her home and nurse her and just get the meds from the vets. It is a struggle to get her into her carrier, she is a free spirit who hates being bothered by anybody.

It is heart breaking to see her and think she won't make it but there are always miracles and hopefully, she'll be one, we never know. She still needs to rest a lot and can't walk for long before lying down but a person having a stroke needs weeks to recover so it is a bit unrealistic to expect a cat to recover in 4 days.

I keep on reading ways to trick her to eat her meds, hopefully we'll find a few that work well.
 

pocho

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Yes, with cats there is always hope. They are true survivors. I had a feral cat boarded for 11 painful days due to medicating complications. He had to be held down and given injections for several things and pilling would have been impossible. Is that a possibility? What about a drug to relax her during this time? Maybe that could help her be pilled and deal with pain? Nothing I would suggest if not an emergency.
 

di and bob

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Hold on for that miracle, you never know.....your cat may be the first in your vets experience. Remember to, that saying.....If love could keep you alive, you'll never die. Just love your sweet baby now, the past is gone and the future will take care of itself. I'll pray for a miracle, take care.....
 
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maddymadge

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Hi

Thanks for your support. Charlie is now walking on her four legs, even though one of the back leg is still bent. She can only walk a little bit before needing loads of rest but then, I remember I had a knee operation to repair a torn cartilage and it took me 8 weeks just to walk on my leg! She doesn't look as perky though today, which worries me a bit.

On the positive side though she is not in shock anymore, her eyes are not fully dilated and she spends her evenings in our company, which she always does. She sleeps on my son's bed during the day.

She is a lot of trouble to give medication though. I do not want to hold her and give the meds by mouth as we end up traumatised since she fights like mad not to open her mouth. So I bought loads of treats to try to make her eat her tablets. I ve cooked a fresh mackerel and mixed it with her food. It took two attempts but she ate most of it so 2 meds gone out of 4!

The Plavix is another story. I phoned the vet to ask if I can crush it and mixed to food and he said if it is last resort as long as she eats it. However, I read an article that it could cause harm being crush as it is a slow release medication, so am not too sure what to do. I do not trust these vets as they kept saying there was no pulse in her legs but she still managed to regain mobility? Surely blood must be travelling through them if she walks on them. Her legs were never cold or blue either.

I ve read this article:

http://manhattancats.com/Articles/Arterial_Thromboembolism.html

and realised she hasn't got long to live anyway and that there is no proof all the tablets she is taking make any difference.

I am almost tempted not to take her back to the vet on Monday to avoid another fight with her and her being super stressed and just ask them to carry on with the meds as she will have them for life anyway.

I just want her to feel as comfy as possible with minimum stress. Obviously, if she is pain, I would take her back.

It is just heart breaking as I am expecting something will happen every day :(
 

pocho

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I have a feeling sweet Charlie will make it through this. I just have seen so many outside ferals hop around on three legs for months and then all of a sudden be fine with all four working. Not to mention the cats with a leg missing. Not that u think to remove leg or that those cats I speak of had blood clots, just that cats are incredible and there is truth to the nine lives legend.
 
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maddymadge

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Hi

I thought I would give you an update on Charlie. She is doing ok although she has lost a lot of strength on her back left leg and most of the time she cannot walk on it. She is eating ok and she is desperate to go out but we decided not to let her out anymore as we don't feel she could cope with the other cats and her current situation. She doesn't like our decision at all!

I have also changed vets as I felt the previous ones were just after my money. When I went to have the cat euthanized like one of their vets advised, the vet I saw ( it was another one) talked to me for about 20 minutes to tell me not to euthanize her but he also charged me an extra £40 for it. Also, they told me the treatment would cost me £30 a month and it turned out to be £75. I had different opinions too so anyway I went to another vet who seems much better.

My main worry is that my cat is getting more and more difficult to take the meds. First we tried the pill gun, which was awful. It took us several times before we succeeded as she kept moving her head and she would spit everything. After that, she was hiding as soon as she saw the blanket. She also bit me a few times as she got scared I was going to force her to her carrier or to have pills. It came to a point that as soon as she saw me, she'd run to hide and wouldn't come out all day. With the new vet, we reduced the amount of pills from 5 to 2 a day.

I tried pocket pills but she sniffes it and go away. The only thing that worked was crushing the meds in food and add some treats in it like fresh cooked mackerel, chicken.... It worked fine for a bit but now she doesn't want to eat her food if her meds are in it. I also tried the cheese in tube and to put it on her paw, which I managed with difficulty but when she sees me with the cheese on my finger, she knows and she hides.

So I was wondering if you had any more ideas on how I could trick this clever and very fussy cat ( she doesn't like beef and pork by the way)so I don't use 4 tablets so she can eat one lol she has relaxed more with me now as I only mix her meds in food, I don't try to force it on her.

thanks :)
 
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