Please get them to check lungs and other organsI have a tendency to write essays so I will try to keep this brief.
Back in April, I noticed my cat Amber (15) was eating less wet food than normal. I noticed she only wanted it fresh from the can, not leftover (even warmed up) from the fridge.
My original expectation was constipation, she's had issues before and needed an enema just over a year ago.
Day One
I took her to the vet in May. They found no abnormalities other than cranial abdominal pain. Her caudal colon was empty. Took blood & urine to send to lab. The blood/urine was NOT sent that day so we had no results the next day. That day, they gave her a Simbadol injection for pain. She had a bad reaction to it (ataxia, anorexia, restlessness, would not eat/drink). It was awful.
Day Two
The next day we brought her back for SQ fluids and Cerenia injection and Mirtazapine. We opted to do x-rays since her stomach still hurt. The x-ray showed abnormal intestines, appearing bunched similar to foreign object. Vet though possible cancer so then we did an ultrasound same day. Since the lab work was never sent, they did stuff in house (but neglected to do urine) and all results were normal.
The ultrasound showed all normal findings except for a benign liver cyst, they called it a cystadenoma.
After this, we brought her home and she still didn't eat for 48 hours following the Simbadol injection. I noticed when she finally did eat she had some trouble getting food in her mouth.
Day Three
Brought her back to have her mouth looked at. Vet thought everything looked fine but her jaw was tense so she thought she had TMJ or arthritis in her haw and Rx'ed 3-day trial of Onsior.
Amber did very well those three days and ate a ton of wet food.
But I was not very satisfied with the whole experience or diagnosis so last week I brought her to Vet 2 - a cat-only vet.
Last Monday
Their exam findings included a grade 4 heart murmur, cataracts and abdominal pain. She had lost some amount of weight from 8.9 to 8.5 lbs. Mouth/teeth looked good. Everything else was good. They did a very thorough exam as they found a scar on her tongue she's always had and dark gunk at her nailbeds that I have noticed but never worried about. (Vet thinks the gunk could be related to inflammation somewhere in the body)
Blood tests so far have been normal - includes T4, cardiac pro BNP (snap and external lab), Snap and Spec FPL, kidney/liver/CBC.
Urine test is pending
Vitamin D and magnesium levels pending
Fecal for lungworm pending - have not collected poop yet. (doing this because she snores, vet heard "wheezing" from her throat. she went outside until 2018)
I am feeling BEYOND frustrated and very worried about her. I've spent $2,000 and have no answers why her stomach hurts, why she has been periodically hiding under the bed since the Simbadol incident, why she still does not want to eat her wet food. She seemed to improve for a while in between the two vet visits, but the last few days have been bad - not eating much, hiding under the bed more, not pooping every day.
Could the liver cyst actually be causing her pain? (Vet 1 said this was not anything to worry about) What else could be invisible (not appear on tests) that could cause stomach pain?
Vet 2 (cat only) wants to treat her for biliary colic whatever that means and start her on heart supplements, but she doesn't want to add stuff to her food when she isn't eating it already. She recommended we start CBD oil last Monday and I started it, but today I stopped in case that is causing her to not eat.
I just feel I am at a point where I just don't even know what to do now. Does anyone have ANY ideas about what it could be?
Right now she is under the bed again. I sprayed Feliway and playing calming cat music for her in case she is stressed. I cooked up chicken thigh for her this morning, which she did eat but she has not pooped since Saturday and now I'm worried about constipation on top of everything else, butt she is NOT vomiting.
My vet couldn't find anything either til i requested an ultrasound of his abdomen
And they found the problem
My babys lungs were deteriorating
He passed away on 7/15/20
The vet put him to sleep
Sometimes things aren't what they seem