Hello all,
I wanted to post here as part of a means to get some of it out there, and also in hopes that maybe I'll find some good news or information about the issues that my cat Spaz is suffering from.
Spaz is 9 years old, and this journey began a few days after Thanksgiving. Over the course of about two months he had been experiencing some pretty noticeable weight loss. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, he was acting incredibly strange as he had woken me up twice when he threw up. Throwing up for him has been normal since he was a kitten, usually eating his food too quickly. But this time was different. At this time he had also begun throwing up a clear liquid. I rushed him to the vet, where they ran some tests and stated that his kidney levels were really bad, he was very dehydrated, and he had an infection. He was admitted into the vet for the next three days where they would give him a course of antibiotics and fluids. I visited him every day, and he was significantly better after the first day.
After that was done, I was able to take him home and provide him some mediciation; more antibiotics, anti-diarrheal (he also had bloody diarrhea which onset Saturday night / Sunday morning when he was ill), and SubQ fluids. I was to give him all of the medication the best I can and take him back a week later. After the week was up, the doc ran more tests and determined that he still has the infection (this was expected) , and his thyroid levels were high. While the doc was happy that he was looking significantly better, the thyroid poses a complication because they can't treat that due to the current ongoing kidney issues. Also, her fear that this was an acute kidney issue is beginning to transition to a chronic one as she can't say for how long he has had these issues, or how damaged his kidneys are from this episode.
Unfortunately the doc wasn't very reassuring... she basically told me that he may have weeks, months, or may even bounce back but she can't give me any more information until his next followup which is the Wednesday after Christmas. This doesn't help my brain as every single day my brain decides to think that I'm not going to have my buddy anymore when I get home from work.
He's eating like a champ, drinking his water, and all around behavior has returned back to normal... except for one thing: Over the past few days, he has developed almost an inability to purr without being in discomfort. It sounds like he is congested, however it's only when he purrs. He breathes completely normal when not purring, but unfortunately he likes to purr and when this happens it is as if he can't exhale normally. This makes things even tougher because I want to comfort him during this difficult time, yet that would cause purring which I don't want him to suffer.
I contacted the vet who stated that if it is just while purring, we're going to wait and see and that it is probably a viral cold. They provided me with L-Lysine to help boost his immune system up a bit and hopefully get this quicker. I just want him to get better as we are supposed to have many years left together.
I've researched the posts on these forums but wasn't really able to come up with much of a determination. I am to monitor his breathing to see if this deteriorates at all. My question:
Could the fact that right now I am giving him 5x pills/day cause any of this? Some sort of esophageal discomfort? Or could I have given him a pill wrong and one got lodged somewhere it shouldn't be? He originally was on Metronidozal (sp?) liquid the first go around, but that stuff was so horrible and I felt he wasn't getting enough of a dose so I switched to the pills. Sadly that became 2x pills 2x/day.
Any thoughts, prayers, advice, or information is quite welcome. I'm trying to find anything possible that may give me some sort of reassurance that he will make it through this and that an already bad year won't end on a horrible note.
Thanks...
I wanted to post here as part of a means to get some of it out there, and also in hopes that maybe I'll find some good news or information about the issues that my cat Spaz is suffering from.
Spaz is 9 years old, and this journey began a few days after Thanksgiving. Over the course of about two months he had been experiencing some pretty noticeable weight loss. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, he was acting incredibly strange as he had woken me up twice when he threw up. Throwing up for him has been normal since he was a kitten, usually eating his food too quickly. But this time was different. At this time he had also begun throwing up a clear liquid. I rushed him to the vet, where they ran some tests and stated that his kidney levels were really bad, he was very dehydrated, and he had an infection. He was admitted into the vet for the next three days where they would give him a course of antibiotics and fluids. I visited him every day, and he was significantly better after the first day.
After that was done, I was able to take him home and provide him some mediciation; more antibiotics, anti-diarrheal (he also had bloody diarrhea which onset Saturday night / Sunday morning when he was ill), and SubQ fluids. I was to give him all of the medication the best I can and take him back a week later. After the week was up, the doc ran more tests and determined that he still has the infection (this was expected) , and his thyroid levels were high. While the doc was happy that he was looking significantly better, the thyroid poses a complication because they can't treat that due to the current ongoing kidney issues. Also, her fear that this was an acute kidney issue is beginning to transition to a chronic one as she can't say for how long he has had these issues, or how damaged his kidneys are from this episode.
Unfortunately the doc wasn't very reassuring... she basically told me that he may have weeks, months, or may even bounce back but she can't give me any more information until his next followup which is the Wednesday after Christmas. This doesn't help my brain as every single day my brain decides to think that I'm not going to have my buddy anymore when I get home from work.
He's eating like a champ, drinking his water, and all around behavior has returned back to normal... except for one thing: Over the past few days, he has developed almost an inability to purr without being in discomfort. It sounds like he is congested, however it's only when he purrs. He breathes completely normal when not purring, but unfortunately he likes to purr and when this happens it is as if he can't exhale normally. This makes things even tougher because I want to comfort him during this difficult time, yet that would cause purring which I don't want him to suffer.
I contacted the vet who stated that if it is just while purring, we're going to wait and see and that it is probably a viral cold. They provided me with L-Lysine to help boost his immune system up a bit and hopefully get this quicker. I just want him to get better as we are supposed to have many years left together.
I've researched the posts on these forums but wasn't really able to come up with much of a determination. I am to monitor his breathing to see if this deteriorates at all. My question:
Could the fact that right now I am giving him 5x pills/day cause any of this? Some sort of esophageal discomfort? Or could I have given him a pill wrong and one got lodged somewhere it shouldn't be? He originally was on Metronidozal (sp?) liquid the first go around, but that stuff was so horrible and I felt he wasn't getting enough of a dose so I switched to the pills. Sadly that became 2x pills 2x/day.
Any thoughts, prayers, advice, or information is quite welcome. I'm trying to find anything possible that may give me some sort of reassurance that he will make it through this and that an already bad year won't end on a horrible note.
Thanks...
