PLZ help, Tigger may die tonight

I noticed some strange ammonium smell. Not sure if it is the meds.

Originally Posted by kittycorner

I know that Tigger has to eat but please keep an eye on him, especially if he is vomiting, Tigger could have a seizure and vomit all at the same time and aspirate vomit into his lungs, yet another horrible problem. I am not saying this to scare you but just to inform you! Alot of animals are very vocal when having seizures, they are not in pain just frightned. Please let me know what else I can do to help. Sarah

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This is the most likely cause as of now:
http://www.vetcentric.com/reference/...ness&MODE=full

Is the strange ammonia smell coming from Tigger or his breath? When cats kidneys give out it gives off what we call a uremic smell. It is Tiggers kidneys backing up and then the urine is getting into the blood stream that causes that smell. I would suggest that if you can get him back to your vet it might be the best option, and although putting a beloved pet to sleep is the hardest thing we will ever have to do, it may be time to start thinking about your options. My thoughts will be heading yoru way.

Andre,

First of all, Tigger needs you to be calm. He has been through a horrendous stressful time and he needs you to be his balance here. If you are upset, he will be upset.

I can't remember who posted that a healthy cat will kill a sick one, but that is not true. That can happen if the cats live outside in a feral state, but not inside cats that are used to each other.

Tigger smells different to Tina at the moment, and because Tigger is upset, that causes the pheremones to take on a scent that Tina does not recognize. She thinks you brought another cat home.

I would keep them separated until Tigger is well. Keep Tigger in a room that is quiet and fairly dark. Provide a cave-like bed for him, a cardboard bed turned on it's side piled with soft bedding and draped by a towel, allowing for air to come through, is a good place for a stressed out cat to rest. Keep classical music playing softly in the room, so low you can barely hear it yourself, but Tigger will hear it. Of course provide food, fresh water and two litter pans in the room as well.

Cats are scent driven, so before you put the two cats together, when and if Tigger gets well- use pure vanilla extract on both cats. A few drops under their chins, between their shoulders and on the base of their tail, that will help.

I would also invest in two comfort zone room diffusers and plug on in where Tigger is staying, and one where Tina hangs out the most.

Tigger sounds to me like he got into something toxic. That substance could be anything from a poison plant to a spider, to household cleaner? Was a tox screen run?

I would also seriously look for a feline specialist in your area. If you go to www.meowhoo.com and look under Veterinarians you will find the Feline Specialist category and perhaps there is one in your area. I don't know about anyone else reading this thread, but it alarmed me that your vet worked your cat up into such a state to actually provoke a seizure. But that is just me.

Good luck with Tigger, keep your stress level down, when you are in the room with him speak to him constantly in a soft, reassuring tone. Talk about the weather, tell him about your day, just talk. Do not meet his eyes, and when you pill him be careful. A stressed cat is incredibly hard to pill and will bite. I find spray cheese to be a successful way to pill a cat. I pill many ferals this way.

Also read up on the side effects of the medication you were given so that you can be prepared if there are other problems that you encounter down the road.


Best of luck-

Toxoplasmosis is one of the diseases out there that is very misunderstood, first of all it is hard to test for and I am not sure that it is what Tigger is dealing with, could be wrong afterall I am not a doctor, but as I said before might be time to go back to the vet.

Originally Posted by kittycorner

Toxoplasmosis is one of the diseases out there that is very misunderstood, first of all it is hard to test for and I am not sure that it is what Tigger is dealing with, could be wrong afterall I am not a doctor, but as I said before might be time to go back to the vet.

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I know. The vet told me its just one of the possibilities. Unfortunately there are many possible causes. Thats why he got two different Antibiotics to fight a variety of diseases.
The vet won't be back until tomorrow morning. It all depends on how well Tigger is responding to the meds by then.

One other thing, does Tigger ever go outside, or has he "escaped" recently?

"word" to all of Hissy's advice.

A few other things:

It's important that Tigger eat -- any time -- but especially
while on meds, since food helps with the metabolization of the
meds. If Tigger is not interested in usual things, try the
unusal ones. My Tigger (yes, same name) went for all-meat
baby foods (Gerbers State 2 is best -- no spices, particularly
no onion, which is toxic to cats.) The point is to get
SOMETHING, ANYTHING down.

My Tigger also appreciated a heating pad set on low on her
bed, covered by an old towel to make sure she didnt'
burn. It meant she didn't have to exped energy heating herself,
and it was a cozy, loving thing for her.

If there is any chance of renal failure, make sure Tigger drinks.
Wet food can be made into a "soup." (I "souped" the baby food,
too) to get more water into her. Liquids act as an on-the-fly
dialysis.

Good luck! I feel for both of you! And Tina, too, who has to be
unsettled by all this!

Carol

Originally Posted by kittycorner

Is the strange ammonia smell coming from Tigger or his breath? When cats kidneys give out it gives off what we call a uremic smell. It is Tiggers kidneys backing up and then the urine is getting into the blood stream that causes that smell. I would suggest that if you can get him back to your vet it might be the best option, and although putting a beloved pet to sleep is the hardest thing we will ever have to do, it may be time to start thinking about your options. My thoughts will be heading yoru way.

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Dunno. I guess its his breath though, as I smell it near is face. He is going to the potty several times (more than usual) to get rid of the injected fluid. So I think his kidney is still functioning. I clean out the potty more often to see if he is still going.

Originally Posted by hissy

One other thing, does Tigger ever go outside, or has he "escaped" recently?

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no he is an indoor cat. never even tried to escape

Originally Posted by hissy

Tigger smells different to Tina at the moment, and because Tigger is upset, that causes the pheremones to take on a scent that Tina does not recognize. She thinks you brought another cat home.

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Tina has become restless now.

Originally Posted by hissy

Tigger sounds to me like he got into something toxic. That substance could be anything from a poison plant to a spider, to household cleaner? Was a tox screen run?

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Don't really know. The link to the bloodtest results is in my original thread.
He does chase spiders and eats them. Never thought of this possibility. Otherwise there is almost no chance he could have reached a chemical.

Originally Posted by hissy

Good luck with Tigger, keep your stress level down, when you are in the room with him speak to him constantly in a soft, reassuring tone. Talk about the weather, tell him about your day, just talk. Do not meet his eyes, and when you pill him be careful. A stressed cat is incredibly hard to pill and will bite. I find spray cheese to be a successful way to pill a cat. I pill many ferals this way.

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He bit me this morning but that didn't bother me as much as him. He loves me and if he does this he must be in real pain. On the other hand he did not stay mad for long.

Originally Posted by hissy

Also read up on the side effects of the medication you were given so that you can be prepared if there are other problems that you encounter down the road.


Best of luck-

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He is on the bed now and is resting. After reading your post I turned the blinds. He seems calmer now. Haven't seen seizures in a while.
Believe me, the vet didn't "provoke" it. It came out during the tests due to stress and as the tests were done to see whats going on.
Thanks for your advice. I don't wan't to keep tina locked up in the tiny room for much longer. I may have to swap them out, but first I am going to spray some catnip.

Side effects are vomiting. He had some vomit attacks but nothing came out (at least I haven't found it yet).

Originally Posted by cflynt

"word" to all of Hissy's advice.

A few other things:

Carol

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Thanks Carol. I did provide for more comfort now. He is now on the bed while I am watching TV. We did this often so I will keep doing that. The room is warm, he didn't have a seizure in about 2 hours and seems to settle down a bit.
He is very weak and still twitching badly but seems to have settled. He is sleeping now, although he doesn't sleep long today, only minutes.

Andre,

I would not spray catnip, catnip can provoke aggression. If you don't have any pure vanilla extract then use your perfume, just spritz it around the room, not on the cats to try and mask the stress odor in the air.

Originally Posted by hissy

Andre,

I would not spray catnip, catnip can provoke aggression. If you don't have any pure vanilla extract then use your perfume, just spritz it around the room, not on the cats to try and mask the stress odor in the air.

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I see. I think I have vanilla extract.

I'm sorry to hear about your kitty .

When my cats come home from the vet they are usually met with hisses from the other cats and takes a while to reacclimate. The longer away the worse it is.

Two more seizures. I am not sure if I would actually call it seizures. The vet did and so did I. He jumps and then bites and licks his belly as if he had a stabbing pain or so. Not exactly shaking.

Seizures in felines are very strange. Sometimes it can be running erratically, sometimes into walls. My cat has seizures in the form of losing control of the limbs making her walk funny until she falls over with a sort of zoned out look and heavy breathing (not shakes). Seizures have many forms and this can make it hard to identify sometimes in cats .

I posted that a healthy cat will kill a sick cat. I'm sorry if I'm wrong, and Hissy definitely has more experience with cats, but in my experience its been true. So, just keep it in mind while theyre interacting and if they start fighting separate them. I didn't mean to scare anybody unnecessarily.

I hope Tiggs starts to feel better soon and that you find out what happened!

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

I posted that a healthy cat will kill a sick cat. I'm sorry if I'm wrong, and Hissy definitely has more experience with cats, but in my experience its been true.

So, just keep it in mind while theyre interacting and if they start fighting separate them. I didn't mean to scare anybody unnecessarily.

I hope Tiggs starts to feel better soon and that you find out what happened!

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Thanks. Don't worry about your reply. First off you are trying to help me and I appreciate it a lot and secondly it is always important to be careful.
Tiggs seems to be doing somewhat better now, but he has this strange ammonium smell which makes me worried that his kidney is getting worse.
He was up on the bed and slept for a while. I took the chance to buy some essentials for Dani and me and for the cats.
If it werent for the smell I'd say he is a little better. Hopefully the smell is due to him evacuating his poisons. He goes very often.

THANKS TO EVERYONE. IT REALLY HELPS A LOT TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT THIS. MOST NON-CAT PEOPLE WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND MY PAIN!

I do have a wallpaper of "Tiggs" for download:
http://www.aguntherphotography.com/w...allpapers2.htm
He is the pretty boy while Tina is the cutie.