Vibes for my Tigger !!

I'm having totally dreadful intuition about our Tigger and a lot of guilt that we may have waited too long to bring him into the vets. He started limping out of the blue about 2 weeks ago - I don't jump on things like that at my house - I monitor them, he started doing better so I chalked it up to a bad leap off of something tall. Late last week he went into hiding. Rarely showed up, slouch walked when he appeared, nibbled his canned food at dinner then hid again. Not drastic behavior change, but something kept nagging me about the fact that he was in deep hiding.

I tried to examine him, but being who he is, a very feral-like cat, he wouldn't let me give him the home exam. Visually, he looked like he was losing weight so today I gave him no option - I caught him (trapped him in a bedroom and had to dismantle the bed to get him into a carrier) and brought him in.

My god - he's lost about 5 pounds in the last few weeks. My wild feral cat was completely tame as they drew blood (full shave and neck stick) and didn't flinch as the vet did a complete head to toe exam.

The vet doesn't think that whatever happened to his leg is related to what is going on with him. He looked at him and stated "he looks like a cat in the middle of a massive weight loss". His first guess was fatty liver, but isn't ruling out any blood born disease. For the first time ever, he was worried enough to not let me take him home and wants to observe him for at least overnight or a few days. Tigger goes balistic in an enclosed place (I can't even close a bedroom door without him trying to climb thru it).

So now I'm going to sit and worry until some of the tests come back on him. I'm freaking cause I know he is freaking and there's nothing I can do for him right now.

Send positive vibes for my Iggy-Wiggy Tigger boy please! Tonight I research fatty liver to understand options.

Oh Amy sending prayers and vibes for Tigger to have something that can be treated and reversed. Hissy's article is a good overall one, and you will find good articles quickly with a google search.

Poor Tigger! wishing you both the best and sending good healing vibes your way. Keep us posted.

I'm sorry to hear that. Keep us updated.

Oh how scary. I'm sending positive, healing vibes.

That sounds serious, but as you said, limping is something that can correct itself as I have seen before with my little feral guy Mike that I feed when he decides to come around. I am sorry that this cat has to stay in a place that is so unfamiliar for him, but he really doesn't have a choice right now Sending prayers his way !

Good vibes coming for Tigger. I do hope it's nothing too serious.

We had a bad storm last night after I posted this and my DSL is still not working this morning. Going to get into research this morning but what I've read thus far is not promising, particularly with the personality for this cat. He is one that doesn't take medicine very well, and I'm the master at giving cats meds. Here's a cat that has left permanent scars just trying to get him into a carrier.

The vet called me last night about 9PM and some of their preliminary blood tests where all negative. He was in the back of the cage, scared but sick enough to not be totally ballistic (as I thought he would be). I've warned them I'm going to call them all day long - stuck at work today.

It's going to be a long day.....

It's 4:30, the blood test results are not back yet. Bugged poor Donna at the vets all day long. He's eating and drinking, not typical with hepatic lipidosis, which is a very good thing, but he's running a high temp (down to 103.5 from 105 last night). I've got to sign off to run to a meeting and not sure if my internet will be up and running at home tonight.

I hate waiting on test results!!

i hope your baby's ok.
thinkin about you both.

oh - boy waiting sure is the worst - sending healing thoughts for your baby.

Be sure they check for a hyper thyroid!!!!

Any more news yet Amy?

Sending lots of healing vibes Tiggers way, fingers crossed for him too

I'm sending megavibes for Tigger!

anything yet???

Having my internet running sporadically at home is driving me nuts! It's up for the time being so will try to dash off a brief update.

The blood work came back this morning - everything is totally normal. While that is good news, it doesn't explain why he has lost weight and is running a fever. The good news is that while he is at the vets, they are injecting him with antibiotics and today he felt good enough to escape from his cage. He's eating and drinking for them, in spite of his terror at being there.

During his escape, the vet noticed his limp. Of course he wouldn't walk around for him the other day when I was there with them, so he didn't see it then. He is going to sedate him (now that he is feeling better he is on the wild side again) and get xrays run. They want to keep him thru tomorrow so that they can continue his injections - once he is home it is totally hit or miss for me to give him meds.

This is totally baffling - if it was his liver there would be some indication in his blood work that something was wrong. Usually things like cancer will make the blood values off center.

If it is truly his leg, I can tell you that when the vet did the exam on his leg the other night (full twisting/turning exam from tip of toes to hips), that this cat is the best con artist I've ever met. He never flinched, never blinked his eyes, just laid there perfectly still and didn't move a muscle. Most cats will at least flinch when you hit a sore spot. Not my Tigger! Is this just an extreme example of a feral cat with an injury who will go to any lengths for people not to see his pain? Was he just hiding and not eating normal because he was in pain from his leg?

I'm breathing a little better, but I hate when a cat gets obviously ill and you can't locate it. I'm bringing the boy home tomorrow one way or the other. He's about to become a nightmare for my poor vet!

Lots of strong healing vibes for Tigger!

Tigger...what is going on with you sweetie pie? Here are some positive thoughts & healing vibes.

Lots of vibes coming Tiggers way and some big hugs for you Amy!

I talked to the vet briefly today - he called while I was at work so couldn't talk long. Yesterday I talked to the vet tech who told me the blood work was normal (her interpretation). Today the vet tells me that his platelet count is low. Normally this is an indication of an immune deficiency disease, but he ran all of the blood born tests for that and they all came out negative. He is not ruling out cancer. The xray came out normal, but of course that doesn't show soft tissue.

His temperature is back to normal and the vet has started calling him the "wild child". That means he is clearly feeling better, but the vet wants to hold him overnight and give him one more shot in the morning before I pick him up. He now understands why it is so difficult to medicate him at home.

So now the difficult choices begin. My vet has limited services, so if I pursue additional tests like ultrasounds, biopsies, etc, he has to refer me to a specialist. The money is not a factor, but Tigger's personality and behavior now come into play. He is feral to everyone but me, and I even have my limits on what I can do with him.

This has been my biggest fear with all of my cats. What happens if Tigger ever gets really sick? How much do you compromise their spirit to keep them going? I know my cats on an intuitive level and know that there is something fundamentally wrong here. It will agonize him to go thru a deep level of testing on him - heck, it agonizes him to be enclosed in a room.

Opinions anyone?!?!?

It sounds like you need more info. about what might be wrong with Tigger.
A good specialist, if they need to do further tests on Tigger, might be able to do them under light anesthesia.

Another trip to a vet will be very stressful for him, but it might be worth it.