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- Jul 24, 2013
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Hi everyone,
I would appreciate any advice you have about this. I'm so worried about my youngest cat, Aries. He is 3 years old. Here he is sitting on my husband's shoulder (which he loves to do).
Over the past month, he has lost a good deal of weight. He's only 5.5 pounds now. His stomach gurgles constantly. He is eating normally and using his litter box. He does have occasional diarrhea.and vomiting, but not every day. He is as active and lovable as ever and does not seem to be in distress. I know that cats are very good at hiding pain, but he doesn't seem to be acting any differently at all.
We took him to the vet twice in the last few weeks. The vet thought that she felt something in his stomach. She tested his stool (normal) and did an xray (inconclusive - couldn't see any mass in his stomach). She said that the next step would be an MRI, but doesn't know if it will yield any more answers (obviously). It would be at least $500 and we have already spent our vet budget plus a lot more (we have a cat who is being treated for severe anxiety also, and her tests and visits over the last year were expensive). Of course, I understand why an MRI is at least that much - the machines are expensive! I will be asking about a payment plan, but I've never been able to find a vet who would set one up, so I'm not optimistic.
The vet gave us chewable prednisolone to give him for the next two weeks. I am slowly changing his diet to a limited ingredient food (Blue Buffalo Basics Fish). Hopefully he will gain some weight back, although I realize weight gain due to the steroids would probably be temporary.
In my non-vet opinion, it sounds a lot like IBD or a food sensitivity. I don't know if there is a mass in his stomach though, or why if there is it wouldn't have shown on the x-ray. Basically, I would like to know - what would you do if it were your cat? Would you try to see if you could sell your stuff (of which I don't have much) or something to come up with the money for an MRI? Trust me, I'll do anything in my power to make sure my baby Aries gets well, but I want to make sure we don't go totally broke. We are already behind on bills and my husband is currently looking for a job. :-/
EDIT: I just realized this is my first post and I didn't even introduce myself. Sorry :-( I'm new here and looking forward to talking with other people who love cats. I'm from Southwestern PA.
I would appreciate any advice you have about this. I'm so worried about my youngest cat, Aries. He is 3 years old. Here he is sitting on my husband's shoulder (which he loves to do).
Over the past month, he has lost a good deal of weight. He's only 5.5 pounds now. His stomach gurgles constantly. He is eating normally and using his litter box. He does have occasional diarrhea.and vomiting, but not every day. He is as active and lovable as ever and does not seem to be in distress. I know that cats are very good at hiding pain, but he doesn't seem to be acting any differently at all.
We took him to the vet twice in the last few weeks. The vet thought that she felt something in his stomach. She tested his stool (normal) and did an xray (inconclusive - couldn't see any mass in his stomach). She said that the next step would be an MRI, but doesn't know if it will yield any more answers (obviously). It would be at least $500 and we have already spent our vet budget plus a lot more (we have a cat who is being treated for severe anxiety also, and her tests and visits over the last year were expensive). Of course, I understand why an MRI is at least that much - the machines are expensive! I will be asking about a payment plan, but I've never been able to find a vet who would set one up, so I'm not optimistic.
The vet gave us chewable prednisolone to give him for the next two weeks. I am slowly changing his diet to a limited ingredient food (Blue Buffalo Basics Fish). Hopefully he will gain some weight back, although I realize weight gain due to the steroids would probably be temporary.
In my non-vet opinion, it sounds a lot like IBD or a food sensitivity. I don't know if there is a mass in his stomach though, or why if there is it wouldn't have shown on the x-ray. Basically, I would like to know - what would you do if it were your cat? Would you try to see if you could sell your stuff (of which I don't have much) or something to come up with the money for an MRI? Trust me, I'll do anything in my power to make sure my baby Aries gets well, but I want to make sure we don't go totally broke. We are already behind on bills and my husband is currently looking for a job. :-/
EDIT: I just realized this is my first post and I didn't even introduce myself. Sorry :-( I'm new here and looking forward to talking with other people who love cats. I'm from Southwestern PA.
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