My cat is 12 years old. He is diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. T4=12.9. ALT (SGPT)= 106 high. Glucose=172 high. Calcium=11.6 high. NA/K Raio=42 high. RBC=10.2 high. Neutrophils= high 9072 Lymphocytes= 864 low.
I was looking at symptoms and signs of this and I can't believe I didn't notice. He has been asking for food 24/7, drinking a lot and peeing a lot & have this indention on the hip area, losing muscle mass for the past few years now or even more. I feel so guilty not realizing this and not getting his bloodtest done earlier. I only realized this because he is eating very little to now not eating and throwing up yellow liquid with foam & sometimes yellow thick mucus. Now that I looked back, he also sometimes make this groaning sound when laying down or resting/sleeping under the bed or in his box/house since 5-6 months ago which I didn't think much of. My bro & I thought he was snoring. But he does that a lot now even in front of me when he lays on my bed. Actually idk if he is groaning or his stomach is making the noise. Now I can tell he is uncomfortable since he shifts his body and he sinks his paw on the bed or couch & he purrs a lot even when he isn't being petted. Sometimes he will get up when he is laying down and just sit up. He licks his lips a lot. He shakes his head. He is feeling nauseous? Anyway that sound I was hearing is basically my cat in pain for all those months and I ignored it? He doesn't deserve to go through all this.
He started not eating much and vomiting on Jan 31. Now he isn't eating. He will sniff the food & lick his lips then walk away. I force feed him chicken & gravy food but its not enough. Sometimes he will throw up when I just show him food or when he licks water. He lost so much weight. He feels so bony. The doctor gave him Sucralfate & Metoclopramide. And he also gave him Tapazole 5mg (half in morning half in evening) to control his thyriod as well as Laxatone for hairball. He said it doesn't feel like he has any blockage or hairball, etc. Basically he said he looked fine physically. 2 different doctor said that. He will need to do Xray, ultrasound, other tests & looking in the stomach to really see what's going on. The doctor even said there is the chance he has cancer & kidney problems but his thyroid needs to be calmed down and take more tests to know. He said to come back in 2 weeks for another test to see his thyroid level.
He is still not feeling well and won't eat. And sometimes he is so restless and kept walking all over the house upstairs and downstairs. Then when he finds a spot to lay down he purrs or groans & look so uncomfortable & tired. He walks around so much more than before feeling restless. He will find different places to lay. Idk what to do. I don't have a job right now so financially I can't afford surgery, hospitalization or whatever else is needed. If I keep going to the Vet, it all adds up like medicines, office visits, tests. And I just don't have the money. At best if it will only cost less than 1k to make him feel better, I can probably afford that. But at the same time, if he is just gonna keep suffering, then what's the point if his quality of life is so poor. My cat will just hate me more and more.
My question is if he has had this thyroid for years now and I didn't do anything about it, what are the chances that this is late stage? I read late stage makes the cat lose appetite. I know thyroid can be controlled when treated early. But if it is late stage, is my cat suffering and dying? He probably has liver problems and kidney problems by now. He hasn't eaten properly in so many days now. He has no bowel movement. He barely pees. It will be a week soon with no proper nutrition/food.
Also just a lil background: he has been eating dry food for all his life because he didn't like canned food. And he is my first cat and first pet that I really took care of so I know nothing. He was my family's pet since I was young. My dad got him. He used to eat Whiskas for all his life until I finally read it was bad food and switched him to I and love and You poultry a plenty dry food because it was hard to make him eat canned food. He has been on that new dry food since 9/30/17.
I really don't want him to go through the suffering. Force feeding him, giving him all this meds, taking him to the vet, & doing the bloodwork is stressing him & making him depressed. So is the only option I have is to have him put down if I can't afford his medical bills? I'm not qualified for any credit so carecredit is out of the option. I'm also dealing with other personal issues in my life (depression, etc). But this situation is killing me. It's making me more depressed. I haven't been eating & losing appetite that my acid reflux returned. It's killing me more that my cat is suffering & it's my fault for not doing anything sooner. He is my best friend & family. But if the only choice I have is to end his suffering, then I don't really have a choice. Is it really time? I don't want to decide to quickly because I know I would regret that decision for the rest of my life. But then I'd rather he doesnt suffer anymore. I feel like a bad owner/friend/mom/whatever you wanna call it for making him go through all this.
More info:
1/29 at night: He didn't finish all his food. Left some.
1/30 morning: He barely ate and drank water. He only had a tiny bit. And his pee and stool are a only a tiny amount
12:40pm: Still hasn't eaten much
1:25pm: He threw up 2 times (brown liquid. It had a bit of food & 1 tiny bit of plastic) After he started crying and went inside his bed crying & breathing weird. It looks like he is pain
3:44pm: Vomited a bit of white kinda foamy with red blood
1/31 In the morning: He ate some of chicken mixed with scrambled egg I made for him
12:30ishpm: He ate some fancy feast chicken feast classic
2/1 Noon: he threw up 3 times. Tan/light brown with fur
10:13pm: Vomit 3 times. Some with fur. Last one is a small amount with mucus or phlegm-like consistency. All light brown or tan in color.
7:37am: Peed. He went to litter box again. He even prepared to do so but he cried a bit then left. Maybe Constipated? Then he was asking for food. I gave him some. He went to it, put his head down as if he was about to take a few bites but sniffed it instead. He left then went to the other side of the bowl. He tried again and did the same but sniffed it only instead. Then left again.
He went to his food again trying to eat and licking the food. Then left. Then later he went to his litter and was moving the litter around. He stayed there wanting to go to the bathroom but didn't.
2/2: 5:30-6pm - he threw up 2-3 times while in vet inside his box
7:56pm: Vomited 3 times. Foamy yellow-white. looks like bile
11:49pm: Vomited bile 2 times again.
2/3 6:47am: Gave him some water with syringe. Then he threw up bile 2 times right after.
Noon: Vomited 2 times after giving him the 2 liquid meds
6:25pm: Drank some water
10:13pm: Vomit bile 2 times
2/4 10:40am: Vomit 2-3 times after drinking a lil water
1:20-1:27: Had 1/2 tsp laxatone
9:09-9:10pm: Vomited thick yellow bile 2 times
11:17pm: I syringed feed a lil grinded rice+water.
11:52pm He drank water. A lot more than before.
2/5 1:58am: Drank a lil
2:07am: He drank some more. A lot more than earlier.
11am: I forced feed him a lil rice+water. But he puked 3 times right after. His puke was less yellow. More light colored. Last one was a small white foamy with phlegm consistency.
4:37: He ate some chicken baby food
4:58-5pm: He drank some water
5:34pm: Drank some water
8:50pm: Drank some water (added pedylite)
10:30-34pm: Drank more.
2/6 4:50am: He drank some water
5:36am: He ate some warm baby food on his own but mostly just licked the gravy
5:58-59am: Syringed feed baby food. He ate at least 5cc
11:25am: gave him a lil baby food via syringe. About 2-3cc. He kept licking his mouth for a bit as if he is feeling nauseous.
12-12:04pm: Vomited 2 times (bile) after giving a lil laxatone in his mouth
Sorry for the long post & for being a bit emotional. Thanks in advance.
I was looking at symptoms and signs of this and I can't believe I didn't notice. He has been asking for food 24/7, drinking a lot and peeing a lot & have this indention on the hip area, losing muscle mass for the past few years now or even more. I feel so guilty not realizing this and not getting his bloodtest done earlier. I only realized this because he is eating very little to now not eating and throwing up yellow liquid with foam & sometimes yellow thick mucus. Now that I looked back, he also sometimes make this groaning sound when laying down or resting/sleeping under the bed or in his box/house since 5-6 months ago which I didn't think much of. My bro & I thought he was snoring. But he does that a lot now even in front of me when he lays on my bed. Actually idk if he is groaning or his stomach is making the noise. Now I can tell he is uncomfortable since he shifts his body and he sinks his paw on the bed or couch & he purrs a lot even when he isn't being petted. Sometimes he will get up when he is laying down and just sit up. He licks his lips a lot. He shakes his head. He is feeling nauseous? Anyway that sound I was hearing is basically my cat in pain for all those months and I ignored it? He doesn't deserve to go through all this.
He started not eating much and vomiting on Jan 31. Now he isn't eating. He will sniff the food & lick his lips then walk away. I force feed him chicken & gravy food but its not enough. Sometimes he will throw up when I just show him food or when he licks water. He lost so much weight. He feels so bony. The doctor gave him Sucralfate & Metoclopramide. And he also gave him Tapazole 5mg (half in morning half in evening) to control his thyriod as well as Laxatone for hairball. He said it doesn't feel like he has any blockage or hairball, etc. Basically he said he looked fine physically. 2 different doctor said that. He will need to do Xray, ultrasound, other tests & looking in the stomach to really see what's going on. The doctor even said there is the chance he has cancer & kidney problems but his thyroid needs to be calmed down and take more tests to know. He said to come back in 2 weeks for another test to see his thyroid level.
He is still not feeling well and won't eat. And sometimes he is so restless and kept walking all over the house upstairs and downstairs. Then when he finds a spot to lay down he purrs or groans & look so uncomfortable & tired. He walks around so much more than before feeling restless. He will find different places to lay. Idk what to do. I don't have a job right now so financially I can't afford surgery, hospitalization or whatever else is needed. If I keep going to the Vet, it all adds up like medicines, office visits, tests. And I just don't have the money. At best if it will only cost less than 1k to make him feel better, I can probably afford that. But at the same time, if he is just gonna keep suffering, then what's the point if his quality of life is so poor. My cat will just hate me more and more.
My question is if he has had this thyroid for years now and I didn't do anything about it, what are the chances that this is late stage? I read late stage makes the cat lose appetite. I know thyroid can be controlled when treated early. But if it is late stage, is my cat suffering and dying? He probably has liver problems and kidney problems by now. He hasn't eaten properly in so many days now. He has no bowel movement. He barely pees. It will be a week soon with no proper nutrition/food.
Also just a lil background: he has been eating dry food for all his life because he didn't like canned food. And he is my first cat and first pet that I really took care of so I know nothing. He was my family's pet since I was young. My dad got him. He used to eat Whiskas for all his life until I finally read it was bad food and switched him to I and love and You poultry a plenty dry food because it was hard to make him eat canned food. He has been on that new dry food since 9/30/17.
I really don't want him to go through the suffering. Force feeding him, giving him all this meds, taking him to the vet, & doing the bloodwork is stressing him & making him depressed. So is the only option I have is to have him put down if I can't afford his medical bills? I'm not qualified for any credit so carecredit is out of the option. I'm also dealing with other personal issues in my life (depression, etc). But this situation is killing me. It's making me more depressed. I haven't been eating & losing appetite that my acid reflux returned. It's killing me more that my cat is suffering & it's my fault for not doing anything sooner. He is my best friend & family. But if the only choice I have is to end his suffering, then I don't really have a choice. Is it really time? I don't want to decide to quickly because I know I would regret that decision for the rest of my life. But then I'd rather he doesnt suffer anymore. I feel like a bad owner/friend/mom/whatever you wanna call it for making him go through all this.
More info:
1/29 at night: He didn't finish all his food. Left some.
1/30 morning: He barely ate and drank water. He only had a tiny bit. And his pee and stool are a only a tiny amount
12:40pm: Still hasn't eaten much
1:25pm: He threw up 2 times (brown liquid. It had a bit of food & 1 tiny bit of plastic) After he started crying and went inside his bed crying & breathing weird. It looks like he is pain
3:44pm: Vomited a bit of white kinda foamy with red blood
1/31 In the morning: He ate some of chicken mixed with scrambled egg I made for him
12:30ishpm: He ate some fancy feast chicken feast classic
2/1 Noon: he threw up 3 times. Tan/light brown with fur
10:13pm: Vomit 3 times. Some with fur. Last one is a small amount with mucus or phlegm-like consistency. All light brown or tan in color.
7:37am: Peed. He went to litter box again. He even prepared to do so but he cried a bit then left. Maybe Constipated? Then he was asking for food. I gave him some. He went to it, put his head down as if he was about to take a few bites but sniffed it instead. He left then went to the other side of the bowl. He tried again and did the same but sniffed it only instead. Then left again.
He went to his food again trying to eat and licking the food. Then left. Then later he went to his litter and was moving the litter around. He stayed there wanting to go to the bathroom but didn't.
2/2: 5:30-6pm - he threw up 2-3 times while in vet inside his box
7:56pm: Vomited 3 times. Foamy yellow-white. looks like bile
11:49pm: Vomited bile 2 times again.
2/3 6:47am: Gave him some water with syringe. Then he threw up bile 2 times right after.
Noon: Vomited 2 times after giving him the 2 liquid meds
6:25pm: Drank some water
10:13pm: Vomit bile 2 times
2/4 10:40am: Vomit 2-3 times after drinking a lil water
1:20-1:27: Had 1/2 tsp laxatone
9:09-9:10pm: Vomited thick yellow bile 2 times
11:17pm: I syringed feed a lil grinded rice+water.
11:52pm He drank water. A lot more than before.
2/5 1:58am: Drank a lil
2:07am: He drank some more. A lot more than earlier.
11am: I forced feed him a lil rice+water. But he puked 3 times right after. His puke was less yellow. More light colored. Last one was a small white foamy with phlegm consistency.
4:37: He ate some chicken baby food
4:58-5pm: He drank some water
5:34pm: Drank some water
8:50pm: Drank some water (added pedylite)
10:30-34pm: Drank more.
2/6 4:50am: He drank some water
5:36am: He ate some warm baby food on his own but mostly just licked the gravy
5:58-59am: Syringed feed baby food. He ate at least 5cc
11:25am: gave him a lil baby food via syringe. About 2-3cc. He kept licking his mouth for a bit as if he is feeling nauseous.
12-12:04pm: Vomited 2 times (bile) after giving a lil laxatone in his mouth
Sorry for the long post & for being a bit emotional. Thanks in advance.