Poorly kitty...at wits end....can anyone offer any advice?

[hennas mammy]

Our 2 year old cat has been the picture of health until last Tuesday.....she vomited on our landing and on our bed but was still her usual self. Overnight she vomited twice more. She was generally out of sorts so we took her to the vets on a Wednesday afternoon....we got a young vet who gave an anti-sickness jab and gave me a tube of Catalax saying that as she was long haired it could be a hair all and the Catalax would help things along.

Trying to get the Catalax in her has been fun (not) can't tell if she has been for a poo as we have another cat and they share the litter tray. Thursday she still wasn't right and wasn't drinking so I was say ringing water into her, she wouldn't eat her food but had a few flakes of cod from our tea.

Friday she started drinking off her own bat but still not interested in food, she was tempted by some tuna tho' she brought most if it back up, she was a little more interested in things but preferring to just sit quietly. We took her back to the vets and this time the same vet said her tummy seemed a little tender and that it might be pancreatitis (??) so gave her another anti sickness jab and 2 painkiller jabs and said if no change to bring her back for xray and scans. (Temp was fine and no weight loss)

Seems to me the vet really hasn't got a clue what's wrong.

She's not even interested in tuna today tho' has had plenty of water, she's just sitting, wandering about and sitting again...and our other cat isn't really bothering with her at all. I'm concerned with her having an anaesthetic to have scans/X-rays.

Anyone had a similar issue that could help I'd really appreciate it. If there's no change she will go back to vets tomorrow.....I just don't want to put her thru' a whole load of stuff if outcome isn't going to be good. Is it worth asking for blood tests first? Can I ask to see another more experienced vet as I kind of feeling it's all guess work at the mo. We are insured so I'm not worried about finances.

Kitty is an indoor cat so can't have picked up anything nasty outside and as far as I know she hasn't eaten anything she shouldn't have.

Thanks for reading this far. Hoping someone can offer advice.

 

[denice]

Asking for a more experienced vet is usually a good idea but these things often defy diagnoses.  Given her age I think the first thing to look for is a foreign object which would involve some type of scan, be it ultrasound or x-ray.  Some vets give barium to see if it goes all the way through.  They will probably do blood work as part of an initial workup.

 

[siold]

I recommend you get your regular veterinarian to refer you to a specialist.

 

[reba]

Whenever I bring  I sick cat in I expect the vet to have a sense of urgency about what's wrong - instead it's almost always like you describe.

In the vets defense though, that does sound like the normal, give them a few shots and wait and see if they get better on their own.  Then go for the tests.

I do think you need to isolate her so you can see if she's urinating and defecating.   I would think that's very important to help the vet rule things out.

If it were me I'd insist they rule the foreign object thing out ASAP.

 

[siold]

My vet almost always knows what is wrong with my cats immediately upon seeing htem.

 

[catwoman707]

Given her young age, I would highly suspect these things.

The first one is of immediate importance.

She may have eaten a string, did you know that cats will quite often eat string or thread, not meaning to, but the little v shaped cups on their tongues won't let go so they end up swallowing it.

As it travels through all the twists and turns it will start getting tight at some point, and then cutting off blood flow to a portion of their intestines, which is big trouble if not found asap.

Sudden vomiting and loss of appetite without a fever makes me think of this, it is more common than people realize and requires surgery to remove it.

Then if not that, I would suspect intestinal irritation, inflammation in pancreas (pancreatitis) or intestines which is irritable bowel syndrome. 

I would stop any foods and feed her warmed up, diluted with water, chicken or turkey only baby food for a couple of days. Settle her tummy down so the vomiting stops. If she refuses to eat it on her own then you must syringe feed her, she will go into *HP (hepatic lipidosis/fatty liver disease) Then slowly get her back on food but a limited ingredient diet.

This will tell you if she is having a reaction to a food she eats. 

* HP happens when a cat suddenly reduces it's caloric intake by less than half of the normal calorie intake, their body starts turning to itself and stored fat to burn for fuel since there aren't enough calories coming in, and the liver is unable to process this fat quickly enough and decides to shut down. This is extremely dangerous, and can take only a couple days of not eating for it to occur.

As far as being a long haired, I seem to have good results from Petromalt, squeeze a strip onto her leg and she will lick it off.

Brushing regularly will help keep hacking up hairballs to a minimum, but honestly I doubt that's what's happening now.

 

[siold]

It sounds like she has probably eaten something that she shouldn't have.

 

[hennas mammy]

Update so far......we returned to vets in Sunday, temp still normal so they were going to take bloods however she went absolutely ballistic so we were asked to return yesterday so they could sedate her.

They sedated her and Bloods have been taken and have gone to lab off-site, should have results this morning. They X-rayed her but nothing showed up other than her tummy looked a little gassy and a small amount of un-passed poop (she did poop night before so bowels appear to be working ok), with nothing showing in X-ray they decided to do ultrasound and they have found her pancreas very slightly inflamed so are treating her for pancreatitis. Ideally they would have kept her in last night on a drip however both myself and vet felt this would stress her totally so I said I would keep an eye in her at home and if necessary syringe feed her water. They gave her methadone so she was spaced out last night and we've got 4 days of an anti acid for her tummy (trying to get the first one down her last night was fun...I shall bear the scars for a while I think) but the fact she is now willing to fight seems to me a good sign????

No sign of appetite returning as of this morning [emoji]128542[/emoji] but I guess it could still be a few days before her appetite returns, trying anything to tempt her to eat. She's moving about more freely when she wants however is returning to her bed on the stairs as soon as she can, she's not attempting to clean herself but has allowed me to brush her (avoiding the big bald patch from ultrasound) and has even purred.

So in short, still not fully sorted but hoping we are making steps forward. Will keep you posted

 

[catwoman707]

Please re-read my post #6, mostly regarding calorie intake and it's importance.

If she is not eating on her own you really must syringe feed her enough calories to keep away from heading towards HL, otherwise it can be a nightmarefor both of you.

Has your vet recommended a high calorie gentle on her digestive system canned food at all?

You can surely go the baby food route but sounds like she is not very cooperative, which is often the case when a cat doesn't want to eat on their own, they sure as hell do not want it forced on them, but regardless, she MUST have calories coming in, like it or not.

It helps to wrap her snugly in a towel, or better yet with an adult or older cat, put her in a pillowcase, keeping it snug around her neck to keep those paws from scratching you to no end.

THEN wrap a towel over that so her claws don't go through the thin pillowcase.

Glad it's not an obstruction or string, but this can be as difficult and dangerous as that would be too, if she doesn't get her calories.

Good luck!

 

[hennas mammy]

I've syringe fed her oxtail soup last night and water, she's back at vets this morning with the aim of IV drip with fluids and diazepam to try and kick start her eating if not I honestly don't know what we are going to do. Feel physically sick at the thought of her not pulling thru' this [emoji]128546[/emoji]

 

[catwoman707]

I've syringe fed her oxtail soup last night and water, she's back at vets this morning with the aim of IV drip with fluids and diazepam to try and kick start her eating if not I honestly don't know what we are going to do. Feel physically sick at the thought of her not pulling thru' this [emoji]128546[/emoji]

Yes it's most definitely very worrisome, but she is very young and has been a picture of health so she has that going for her.

Let's hope the next visit with fluids, etc gets her rolling in the right direction again.

If not, then on to the next plan of attack.

Stay in positive thoughts.  

  

 

[hennas mammy]

Hi, I just wanted to update you in Henna.

We returned to the vets last Wednesday and after a day in their hooked up to fluids and painkillers they recommended we send her to their out of hours practice for overnight care. Min the event she stayed for 2 nights and was well enough to return home to us on Friday evening armed with painkillers and antacids (think that's what they are)

She's continued to do very well over the weekend...she's eating, peeing, pooping, wanting lots of fusses and we are to return to the vets in Thursday for her to have a vitamin B12 injection which she will have to have for 4 weeks.

The only fly in the ointment is that the out of hours vet told me that our normal vet must have nicked a nerve whilst taking blood from the jugular as one eye was constricted. Hand on heart I never noticed any issues with her eye before dropping her off at the out of hours vet and it seems to me they were quite quick to pass the blame onto our normal vets. He said he had put eye drops in and it should return to normal. However it's not returned to normal as yet and the third eyelid is covering part of her eye too. So if this needs further investigation where do we stand?

Obviously I'm thrilled to bits that Henna is doing great (touch wood) but I'm concerned now about her eye problem.

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• hennas mammy
• Feb 3, 2015

 

[catwoman707]

What?! I am clueless about this happening, but I would surely be drilling the vet who mentioned this as a cause for her eye issue now, ask how temporary this is, and if it's common or rare, etc.

I am very happy she is doing much better. Granted things can happen, animal is giving them a hard time, struggling, needing extra restraint, etc but find out as much as you can from the vet said this likely happened.

Quite concerning.............

 

[di and bob]

I would call another vet and see if that is at all common, I have never heard of it. Is her mouth affected, drooping, saliva, etc? Why would it be her eye? My cat had a pupil that dilated different from the other caused by an infection somewhere in the body. Usually the third eyelid appears from feline herpes virus, or a cold in the eye. I don't blame your concern, I would want some answers. I'm so glad she is doing better, I'll pray for her complete recovery, eye and all!

 

[catwoman707]

Several nerves as well as the jugular vein run from the eye down, so it doesn't surprise me the eye can be affected, but I would sure want to know the how's and why's of it happening!

 

[riley1]

Never heard of this either but I believe Cat Woman knows what is going on.  Don't know where you live but my vet checks in with me several times following problem visits.  Hope you find out how to get your Kitty well again. 

 

[catwoman707]

@Hennas Mammy  how's your kitty's eye doing?