My Pippin is sick.

devlyn

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After 2 years of perfect health, my sweet boy Pippin is ill. He's a three year old, male, neutered gray tabby. He started vomitting on Tuesday. By Wednesday, I took him to the vet as he was very lethargic and couldn't keep anything down.
He didn't have a temperature nor did he have any signs of a blockage. The vet gave me Metoclopramide 5MG to give him three times a day to help prevent the vomitting. It didn't help, so I took him back today (Friday).
He was severely dehydrated and I had tried to force water on him with a syringe in his mouth. That helped some, but the vet was very concerned. His temperature was very low. They put him on warm IV fluids all day, took blood tests, urinalysis, temperature, weight and observed him. He vomitted again at the vet and they gave him a shot to help with the nausea. His tests showed nothing unusual and they got him back to full hydration and sent him home with me around 5 this evening.
I have him here with me with orders not to feed or water him until I speak to the vet tomorrow. He is very listless and antisocial. He wants to sleep in his cat crate or under the bed, doesn't acknowledge my voice, but responds a bit to me petting him.
I'm wondering if the meds they gave him might have made him very drowsy. It was the same medication as they gave me for nausea, except in a shot.
I'm very worried about him. His brother Merry had a similar thing happen to him in 2003. After 8 months of tests, vet visits nearly every week, a multitude of meds, x-rays, bloodwork, and a visit to the specialist he died of unrelated causes. I never did get a diagnosis, although the specialist called me a couple of weeks after he died with an idea about a hernia in his diaphram. She also thought it *might* be cancer, but thought that was less likely.
Could something like that be genetic? I'm terrified of going through something like that again. I don't want Pippin to have to experience it either. Merry was a very sweet animal and his quality of life was the best I could provide with lots of love and care. But he was very sickly and even with his large bone structure, after he got sick, weighed between 4-8 lbs depending on the week and how well he was responding to treatments.
I know I can't expect a diagnosis here, but if any of you have any ideas or have experienced something similar, or just want to sent Pippin some healing energy, please do.
I'm heartsick over this. I raised Pippin and Merry from the time they were 5 weeks old. I don't want to lose Pippin too.

Devlyn
 

lissa80

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I am so sorry about your kitty. I don't have any advice for you other than to stay strong and that there are a lot of experts on this site to help you. I'll keep you and your Pippin in my thoughts and prayers and that he is able to get the help he needs so he can be better. I will say this and this is certainly nothing against your vet, but if it helps ease your mind you could always get a second opinion. That helped me once.

Good luck and stay positive.
 
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devlyn

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Thanks!
I'm trying to stay positive and not think it's the worst, but cat losses in the past especially Merry have made me oversensitive. I'm hoping that he will start improving now that he's rehydrated. I don't think he's vomitted since coming home, but it's hard to tell.
I'm staying in the same room with him so I can see if he is or not. He is sleeping comfortably in his basket now, and urinated normally. That helps. Seeing things start to work properly is a nice sign.
Thanks again!
 

emma's friend

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Hang in there Devlyn and remember that this site is FULL of very caring people. You can come to us any time.
 

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I know what you mean. I lost a kitty last year to FIP. It was horrible. And now if my boys get so much as a sniffle I freak out. Your feelings are very understandable. Keep us posted.
 

pat

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I will keep your sweet Pippin in my thoughts...sending healing vibes his way.
 
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devlyn

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Thank you all who posted. It does help to know people care.
Pippin threw up again just a few minutes ago and woke me from a dead sleep. He's hiding under the bed now. It's been about 11 hours since I picked him up, so maybe the anti nausea meds wore off. I have to call the vet in about 3 hours to give him an update.
It's so hard when pets are sick. Just an intense feeling of helplessness.
I just wish he would get better, or I would at least get a diagnosis of some sort to work with. Not knowing is so hard.

-Devlyn-
 

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I would just give him a dark place to lie down in so he can rest. If he is hiding, it is because he doesn't feel good, and he doesn't want to be bothered. I know you want to cuddle him and make him feel better, but you could be fighting a genetic disorder here. It is hard to tell. When my cats feel puny I get an empty cardboard box, flip it on it's side, pile the inside with warm bedding, and drape a blanket over the top of it, leaving enough room underneath that the cat can slide into the box to lie down. I dim the lights in the room, get it as cavelike as I can and just let them rest. They really do have the capacity to regenerate themselves at times, if left alone to do so. Since you can't feed or water your cat, I would just let him rest.
 

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My Persil had a hernia in her diaphragm, and almost died, but a wonderful vet offered to do very chancy surgery and so far (one month on) she is fine. The inner organs get sucked up into the chest through a hole in the diaphragm, and can completely rupture it. The condition can be genetic or can be caused by an accident. Persil's symptoms were losing weight, rapid shallow breathing and lack of interest in anything. She did not vomit, though I saw on the net that that can be a symptom, depending on how tangled the intestines get in the chest. But an Xray can tell if that is the problem, and it it often can be surgically treated. I do hope you find out what is wrong, it must be very frightening after losing his brother the same way.
 
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devlyn

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I'm trying this now. I turned out all the lights except my reading lamp. He has his cat carrier with a towel in it to sleep in, and a basket of pillows he enjoys too. He's still under the bed but I will try not to worry about him and let him get some sleep. There's not much else I can do until the doctor allows me to feed him again.
After reading a variety of resources on the net, pancreatitis sounds like it entails a lot of his symptoms. Does anyone have experience with that and how one diagnoses it?

-Devlyn-

Originally Posted by hissy

I would just give him a dark place to lie down in so he can rest. If he is hiding, it is because he doesn't feel good, and he doesn't want to be bothered. I know you want to cuddle him and make him feel better, but you could be fighting a genetic disorder here. It is hard to tell. When my cats feel puny I get an empty cardboard box, flip it on it's side, pile the inside with warm bedding, and drape a blanket over the top of it, leaving enough room underneath that the cat can slide into the box to lie down. I dim the lights in the room, get it as cavelike as I can and just let them rest. They really do have the capacity to regenerate themselves at times, if left alone to do so. Since you can't feed or water your cat, I would just let him rest.
 
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devlyn

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I told my vet about Merry's problems too and mentioned that the specialist vet thought it might be a hernia. I think he wants to eliminate as many simpler explanations as possible before doing an x-ray.
One difficulty I have is that I don't drive and have to rely on friends to take us to the vet. I'm hoping that if he has to go back tomorrow, I can get a ride. I've never had such a desire to have a car before. Fortunately, the vet isn't too far away, only about 5 min drive or so.
After reading some other threads on this site, I'm also going to talk to the vet about how to get some calories into Pippin. This is going onto 5 days of him not being able to keep his food down. Does anyone know if IV fluids contain any nutrient support?
Thanks again all. I just read Bear's story about forced feeding and I'm hopeful that Pippin will have a good recovery too.

Dev

Originally Posted by jennyranson

My Persil had a hernia in her diaphragm, and almost died, but a wonderful vet offered to do very chancy surgery and so far (one month on) she is fine. The inner organs get sucked up into the chest through a hole in the diaphragm, and can completely rupture it. The condition can be genetic or can be caused by an accident. Persil's symptoms were losing weight, rapid shallow breathing and lack of interest in anything. She did not vomit, though I saw on the net that that can be a symptom, depending on how tangled the intestines get in the chest. But an Xray can tell if that is the problem, and it it often can be surgically treated. I do hope you find out what is wrong, it must be very frightening after losing his brother the same way.
 

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Hi there...I don't have much in the way of helpful stuff to say, just that i'm keeping you and your kitty in my thoughts. Keep us posted.
 

jennyr

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My vet felt the same way about trying everything else first, but in the end after spending Christmas weekend forcing fluids into what was obviously a dying cat, I took her to the emergency room for Xrays where they diagnosed the hernia. She had had two weeks of treatment for different kinds of worms and antibiotics for URI by then and none of it of course was doing any good. It may be quite different for Pippin of course, but I wouldn't waste too much time on what could be wrong and expensive treatments.
 
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devlyn

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Pippin threw up again this morning so I got a ride into the vet for some subQ to get us through the weekend.
The vet decided to do an x-ray and it appears he may have an intestinal blockage. I'm actually relieved. He's going into surgery as soon as his main vet gets in. I'm hoping that this is it and they can fix the problem.
On the x-ray it showed that he had stool in his lower colon and some about 10" further up the tract, but there was a big empty spot so that's where they think the blockage could be. I could have done a barium x-ray on him, but I'd rather just go ahead with the surgery and see if that takes care of it. I'm blessed to have a vet who really cares about Pippin and is willing to work with me on the costs involved. They helped me when Merry was sick too.
Keep your fingers crossed for my boy. He's a big strong kitty so I think he'll make it through just fine.
Silly kitties eating stuff that makes them sick!
If anyone has advice on what to expect when he gets home from surgery, I'd love to hear it. Even if they do remove a blockage, I know that he's still not out of the woods and that infection is possible.
Thanks again for everyone's helpful words and prayers.


Dev
 

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Thanks for the update! I was thinking about your kitty this morning. I hope they are able to fix the problem and Pippen can enjoy being a happy kitty again. I will continue to pray for you and kitty.
 

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I'm glad you have an answer...it's worse not knowing what may be wrong, but knowing that something seems to be, I think.

Wishing your sweet Pippin all the best, please keep us posted.
 
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devlyn

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Pippin is out of surgery. The culprit: Thread!!!
He was pretty lucky in that he didn't get tore up too badly inside. There was a knotted ball stuck in his bowels and attached to his tongue. The doctor got it all out and feels confident anything else in there will pass on it's own.
Merry, his brother, ingested thread as well. I did a search when he died of it to see if I could find where it was coming from and couldn't, so I'll be searching again this weekend.
I'm just so thankful my baby will be ok. He is staying at the vet overnight for IV fluid treatment and I should be able to bring him home tomorrow.
YAY! I'm so relieved.


Dev
 

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I'm just so happy to hear this!
You must feel so incredibly relieved, Dev! Bet you can hardly wait to have your precious baby back home with you!

No more eating thread, Mr Pippin!
 

pat

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Dev,

This is a credit to you being so observant and prompt in getting Pippin checked out...it likely saved Pippin's life! I am very happy for you that the surgery is over, the problem found, here's to a smooth recovery for him.
 
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