Hi there, I'm new to this site. I'm going to start off by giving some background.
About 8 months ago, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is only 26. She is in a very bad way. The chemo just takes so much out of her. She had to quit her job and struggles to do basic household chores, including caring for her 2 cats. She had considered giving them up at that point; she didn't think it was fair for me to work a twelve hour day (I'm picking up extra shifts to pay the bills with her not working) just to come home and scoop litter boxes. I of course don't mind doing it. I'd do anything to make her happy. But it was her oncologist who convinced her to keep them. He told her that in order for her treatment to be successful she needed to limit her level of stress, and that cat owners statistically have less stress than their non-pet-owning counterparts. So she took that information and ran with it. A few days later I came home from work to find that she had added a tiny little furball named Flower to our family. Flower, for my wife, is the pure essence of hope. She loves the other 2 cats very much, don't get me wrong, but this kitten is extremely special to her.
Flower is about 5 months old now. For the past couple of months she has been having very bad diarreah, sometimes with blood in it. She goes poo on the floor but still pees in the litter box. My wife has noticed the poo but not the blood. Not wanting to stress her out I haven't told her about the blood and I let her believe her own theory that it's Princess (our 16 year old) going on the floor because she has a hard time getting in and out of the box. Now, the diarreah is constant but I only see blood in it once a week to once every other week, and when it happens there's about half an ounce of blood to about 5 or 6 ounces of poo. With money the way it is, we can't afford a vet visit. I have applied for a Care Credit card (one of our friends had suggested getting one to help out with co-pays for wifey's treatment, so I had already done my research) but I am waiting on approval. If I am approved I will have Flower seen ASAP but there isn't anything I can do until then.
Our cats eat Whiskas dry food and Friskies wet for snacks. Flower does get bullied a bit by Oliver (the third cat) and my fox terrier Roscoe, but I don't know if that has anything to do with it.
I'm just looking for some answers. I need to know how bad it is, and what it could be. Is there anything I can do to help Flower without a trip to the vet, even just to make her more comfortable in the meantime? My poor wife will be devestated if anything happens to her.
About 8 months ago, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is only 26. She is in a very bad way. The chemo just takes so much out of her. She had to quit her job and struggles to do basic household chores, including caring for her 2 cats. She had considered giving them up at that point; she didn't think it was fair for me to work a twelve hour day (I'm picking up extra shifts to pay the bills with her not working) just to come home and scoop litter boxes. I of course don't mind doing it. I'd do anything to make her happy. But it was her oncologist who convinced her to keep them. He told her that in order for her treatment to be successful she needed to limit her level of stress, and that cat owners statistically have less stress than their non-pet-owning counterparts. So she took that information and ran with it. A few days later I came home from work to find that she had added a tiny little furball named Flower to our family. Flower, for my wife, is the pure essence of hope. She loves the other 2 cats very much, don't get me wrong, but this kitten is extremely special to her.
Flower is about 5 months old now. For the past couple of months she has been having very bad diarreah, sometimes with blood in it. She goes poo on the floor but still pees in the litter box. My wife has noticed the poo but not the blood. Not wanting to stress her out I haven't told her about the blood and I let her believe her own theory that it's Princess (our 16 year old) going on the floor because she has a hard time getting in and out of the box. Now, the diarreah is constant but I only see blood in it once a week to once every other week, and when it happens there's about half an ounce of blood to about 5 or 6 ounces of poo. With money the way it is, we can't afford a vet visit. I have applied for a Care Credit card (one of our friends had suggested getting one to help out with co-pays for wifey's treatment, so I had already done my research) but I am waiting on approval. If I am approved I will have Flower seen ASAP but there isn't anything I can do until then.
Our cats eat Whiskas dry food and Friskies wet for snacks. Flower does get bullied a bit by Oliver (the third cat) and my fox terrier Roscoe, but I don't know if that has anything to do with it.
I'm just looking for some answers. I need to know how bad it is, and what it could be. Is there anything I can do to help Flower without a trip to the vet, even just to make her more comfortable in the meantime? My poor wife will be devestated if anything happens to her.