Sick Cat Part II

Hi all,
I posted here some months ago about a kitty of mine named Shido. This is what I wrote:

>>>>Hello everyone,
I have a young, unneutered male cat named Shido, just a little over a year old. Since he was probably about three to four months old, he's had a problem with persistent vomiting. We've played with his diet, taken him to the vet on more than one occasion, and put him on meds, but nothing really seems to help longterm. As a kitten he actually played the part of the aggressor and the explorer, but since he started getting sick all the time, he's become largely inactive and retiring. He's also considerably smaller than his larger, healthier littermate. The vet has told me several things. He said that due to his symptoms, he could have any number of conditions from Irritable Bowel Syndrome, to food allergies, to lymphoma. He also noted that my cat *and* his brother both have one undescended testicle each. He said that the only real way to tell what's wrong would be to have a biopsy done on him (we did rule out hyperthyroidism, though), but I'm afraid that I just don't have the excess cash to pay for that. To top things off, I recently had to send him home to live with my parents since he started urinating (on top of the vomiting) all over my apartment. His vomiting seemed to get a little better when he was on canned food and his budesonide meds, but even then it would still happen every now and then. I would just really like to find out what's wrong with my cat and see if maybe anyone else has experienced anything like this. I'd really like him to be healthy and happy instead of being sick all the time. If anyone has any suggestions for me they'd be hugely appreciated.<<<<

Several helpful members responded to me, and I know that thread is really ancient, but I wanted to ask some more questions concerning this cat. My cat really needs a number of veterinary procedures done (neutering, biopsy, urinalysis, general checkup, etc) but I am 20 years old, in debt, and am currently searching for a job. Shido has been staying with my parents for several months, and they have finally decided to have him put to sleep. I told them that I will take him back instead and either try to find a way to get him veterinary help or find someone who is willing to care for a special needs cat. I'm moving in with some friends this month who already have a cat that is very hostile towards other cats, and I honestly don't know what to do, but I'd like to at least try to keep some food in my cat. He's always hungry and crying for food, and my parents say they try to feed him as often as they can, but he throws up so much it doesn't seem to help. One member (June) suggested that I try him on a raw food diet, but I had some concerns regarding salmonella since the recipe included raw chicken. I had trouble locating one of the other ingredients (slippery elm?).
I know I probably sound like a bad cat mom, but I'm kind of at the end of my rope. My parents keep telling me the cat is in pain and should be put down, but I believe that if I can just find out what's wrong with him, he wouldn't need to die. I just don't have the money to find out what's wrong with him, and I don't want him to die, but I don't want him to suffer unnecessarily, either.
Does anyone have any suggestions for food for a cat that just can't seem to keep anything down? Or maybe any places that might take a special needs cat?

Thanks,
Sol

My Merry had a very similar problem. He constantly vomitted and power puked all over the house for about 8 months. He lost a ton of weight, but he generally wanted to eat, just couldn't keep it down. He was also quite lethargic. He showed improvements during some of his treatments, but they only lasted for a week or two until he started losing weight again. Unfortunately, he passed away (from other causes) before he was diagnosed. My vet and I tried many many things to try to "fix" him. I even took him to a specialist.
As far as food, Merry did his best on Iams canned food.
I can ask my vet for his records to see if there's anything I tried with him that you could try on your own.
I know that someone had a list of places with low cost neutering and vet. Maybe you can get his neutering taken care of at least.
I hope he gets better!! I know how hard and frustrating it is to work with them to eat, and then watch them barf it all over the floor.
Hugs to you and Shido!

Dev

Hi Devlyn,
Thanks for sharing your story with me. I'm truly sorry that your Merry passed away and I sympathize with your situation as it sounds almost identical to what's going on with my cat. I've tried Shido on Iams before, so I may try him again. Thanks for the tip!

Amy

You are in a bad place. You have a cat that clearly needs specialized treatment. A feline specialist, but even if you could find one then you couldn't afford the treatment. Many specialists do make payment arrangements with clients. But they expect in return that the client do all the after care work that is needed to get the cat well. He is urinating for several reasons. He isn't neutered so he is spraying (marking) his territory. He doesn't feel well, so he is spraying the walls. He is under stress, so he is urinating. Keeping him intact will lead him to be an agressive cat and your parents could be bitten by him. He would need an ultra sound, blood work, fecal and urine tests, and a thorough physical exam that will not be inexpensive. Some people expect cats to be easy to keep up with. Nothing could be further from the truth. They require good food, clean water, sanitary living quarters and they still can fall ill and because they can't talk there has to be a system of tests ordered to find answers.
Perhaps this article will help you?

http://www.thecatsite.com/content/view/167/27/

What kinds of food have you tried? When we have a client with a cat that can't keep any food down we use Science diet Z/D or the Waltham Sensitivity. As for the neutering because of the undescended testicle it is definately going to cost more that a standard neuter, and in cats those silly little things can hide very well.