I keep checking to see if there was news after the ultrasound - the poor little guy just tuggs on your heart strings..
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Tuffy is bleeding!!
- Thread starter tom w
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I've been reading this forum for a while, but hadn't posted before.
I just wanted to say that poor tuffy's story has really gotten to me. I am thinking of the little guy and hope he gets better soon.
Tom, it's obvious you love tuffy very much. He is a lucky kitty to have found you. Best wishes.
I just wanted to say that poor tuffy's story has really gotten to me. I am thinking of the little guy and hope he gets better soon.
Tom, it's obvious you love tuffy very much. He is a lucky kitty to have found you. Best wishes.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #143
I am sorry to say the news with Tuffy is not good. He is still at the hospital on IV fluids overnight and bloodwork. The ultra sound showed all kinds of problems. His liver is inlarged, his limpth nodes [sp?] are inlarged, he has a big thick mass in his colon, this is where the dr thinks his blood and now the clear goo is coming from.
She is still not sure what is the cause of all this yet, She is leaning towards FIP or lymphoma or maybe a real bad infection of some kind. She wants to get him stronger with fluids because he was so dehidrated and had a high fever by the time we got there today. She is hoping bloodwork will give her more clues and to see if his blood will clot well enough to do a needle biopsy of his liver and the mass in his colon to try and see what kind of cells are there. She don't want to do the needle deal until she is sure that he won't bleed to death from the needles.
They did not have to drug him for the ultra sound, he is so sick he pretty much just lays where they put him. He is till allert though and watches and listens to all going on around him, and I got to see him before I came home, he is in a "room" of his own that is huge with a nice soft cloth covered pad on the floor and a nice soft bed. This was after he some IV fluids for a little while and he was sitting up and acted like he was feeling much better already. I had enough brain working today to take his bag of cat food along just in case because he is so picky about what he eats, His nurse was real happy I did that, see is going to give him some of his food tonight to see if he still will eat. He was eating and drinking yet at 10:00 last night, but when we left this morning I tried to get him to drink some water and he wouldn't and I tried again after we got to the hospital before I took him in and he wouldn't then either.
It is amazing to me that everyone who has worked with Tuffy says that he is a special kitty, his nurse today told me that before I left tonight, I just said I know he is and he doesn't deserve all this hurting in his life. I was up there with him from 11:30 this morning till about 6:00 tonight when I said good night to him and I would see him in the morning. They told me I can call any time tonight to see how he is doing.
Needless to say I did allot of crying today and praying for Tuffy, and also how if he has not much time left at least he lived a year longer than he would have if I didn't take him in and help him and did the best we could for him and most of all loved him with all my heart.
I am building a garden tractor for garden tractor pulling next summer and I am going to name the tractor Tuffy if he don't make it. And if I can find someone able to I want a picture of him painted on the side panels or maybe the hood, it will be expencive for such a paint job but it will be worth it to me.
I knew this day would come some day but I had hoped not so soon. The hardest part is knowing when its time to throw in the towel and not put him through any more pain and suffering if he has something to bad to help him live a good life anymore. And I hate to say it but the cost of all this has to come onto play at some time. We just don't have the money to spend thousands of dollars on surgerys or cancer treatments.
His dr from at the hospital just now called me to say he is much better and his temp is coming down already from the IV fluids. There blood work shows he is more anemic than before at 21% but the vet in town said he was up to 30% on Monday on the same type of test, she said that being so dehidrated probably messed up the test numbers. She said most of his blood work is coming back pretty good except for the anemia and his red blood cells are real small so she is worried about to much bleeding from the needle biopsy's. She is going to get some iron supplement into him and check his blood again tomorrow and see if there is any improvement, so a little good news for me tonight to sleep on.
So this is the latest on my Tuffy. All I can do is pray that it is just a bad infection that can be treated and not FIP or cancer.
She is still not sure what is the cause of all this yet, She is leaning towards FIP or lymphoma or maybe a real bad infection of some kind. She wants to get him stronger with fluids because he was so dehidrated and had a high fever by the time we got there today. She is hoping bloodwork will give her more clues and to see if his blood will clot well enough to do a needle biopsy of his liver and the mass in his colon to try and see what kind of cells are there. She don't want to do the needle deal until she is sure that he won't bleed to death from the needles.
They did not have to drug him for the ultra sound, he is so sick he pretty much just lays where they put him. He is till allert though and watches and listens to all going on around him, and I got to see him before I came home, he is in a "room" of his own that is huge with a nice soft cloth covered pad on the floor and a nice soft bed. This was after he some IV fluids for a little while and he was sitting up and acted like he was feeling much better already. I had enough brain working today to take his bag of cat food along just in case because he is so picky about what he eats, His nurse was real happy I did that, see is going to give him some of his food tonight to see if he still will eat. He was eating and drinking yet at 10:00 last night, but when we left this morning I tried to get him to drink some water and he wouldn't and I tried again after we got to the hospital before I took him in and he wouldn't then either.
It is amazing to me that everyone who has worked with Tuffy says that he is a special kitty, his nurse today told me that before I left tonight, I just said I know he is and he doesn't deserve all this hurting in his life. I was up there with him from 11:30 this morning till about 6:00 tonight when I said good night to him and I would see him in the morning. They told me I can call any time tonight to see how he is doing.
Needless to say I did allot of crying today and praying for Tuffy, and also how if he has not much time left at least he lived a year longer than he would have if I didn't take him in and help him and did the best we could for him and most of all loved him with all my heart.
I am building a garden tractor for garden tractor pulling next summer and I am going to name the tractor Tuffy if he don't make it. And if I can find someone able to I want a picture of him painted on the side panels or maybe the hood, it will be expencive for such a paint job but it will be worth it to me.
I knew this day would come some day but I had hoped not so soon. The hardest part is knowing when its time to throw in the towel and not put him through any more pain and suffering if he has something to bad to help him live a good life anymore. And I hate to say it but the cost of all this has to come onto play at some time. We just don't have the money to spend thousands of dollars on surgerys or cancer treatments.
His dr from at the hospital just now called me to say he is much better and his temp is coming down already from the IV fluids. There blood work shows he is more anemic than before at 21% but the vet in town said he was up to 30% on Monday on the same type of test, she said that being so dehidrated probably messed up the test numbers. She said most of his blood work is coming back pretty good except for the anemia and his red blood cells are real small so she is worried about to much bleeding from the needle biopsy's. She is going to get some iron supplement into him and check his blood again tomorrow and see if there is any improvement, so a little good news for me tonight to sleep on.
So this is the latest on my Tuffy. All I can do is pray that it is just a bad infection that can be treated and not FIP or cancer.
Tom,
Just saying a prayer for you and for Tuffy. All we can do is love them, and do the best we can...you've given him the greatest gift you could have given him - your love and care.
Just saying a prayer for you and for Tuffy. All we can do is love them, and do the best we can...you've given him the greatest gift you could have given him - your love and care.
I'm sorry to hear this
It's great that they found *something* and hopefully it's a step in the right direction of figuring out what's causing it.
Best of luck, big hugs to you all, and give Tuffy big scritches from us all.
Best of luck, big hugs to you all, and give Tuffy big scritches from us all.
Hi Tom. Not much to add, except I've been following Tuffy's story, and I am praying it's something easy to heal.
Hugs to you and Tuffy.
I Am sorry that you still haven't got any definite answers, but at least there is somethign for the vet to work on,and I do hope that it isn't his time just yet. will be thinking about you.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #148
Well as of about 1/2 hour ago Tuffy came home with me tonight. He did great on the needle biopsy deal. The dr looked at the cells they got out but she isn't a expert on reading such things but nothing for sure jumped out at her so she is sending samples in to be looked at or tested or whatever they do with them. He was on IV fluids yesturday and most of today and he is pretty much back to his old self. I just hope he don't go down the tubes over the weekend before she gets the tests back on Monday. She said there was no point in keeping him another night because they can't do anymore for him right now and he is a million percent better than on Wednesday. So I am still praying its not cancer or FIP.
i have everything crossed for positive news for him - IBS has been ruled out, hasn't it?
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #150
As of right now I don't think anything has been ruled out. At first 3 vets thought it was a form of IBD. But after he got so sick and dehidrated with such a high fever the dr at the animal hospital is thinking something much worse, but so far she can not say it is this or that for sure is the problem. We are really hoping the biopsy's will give us the answer, if not, about the only option left is to do a exploritory surgery, but his normal vet and the specialist at the hospital do not want to do that, they are both affraid it will cause more problems than he already has.
But at the same time she don't know what to do right now for him because she don't know what the cause of his problems are. She don't want to blast him with prednisone or antibiotics if it won't do any good, He is eating good and drinking good so for the next few days I just have to watch that he don't go down the tubes again. His hospital stay and all the tests were big dollars, but I could not just leave him die without at least doing what we could for him. His 2 days at the hospital came to almost $1250.
But at the same time she don't know what to do right now for him because she don't know what the cause of his problems are. She don't want to blast him with prednisone or antibiotics if it won't do any good, He is eating good and drinking good so for the next few days I just have to watch that he don't go down the tubes again. His hospital stay and all the tests were big dollars, but I could not just leave him die without at least doing what we could for him. His 2 days at the hospital came to almost $1250.
hello,
i'm really sorry to hear this, i know exactly how you feel and i totally agree with your money issue thing.
i remember when my lil baby was sick it was $3,000 for surgery and i couldnt aford it, but my mom paid for it because she said that nomatter how much or how expensive it was we had to give her a chance.
just remember that there's always hope nomatter how screwd up the world seems and never give up until the end of the world.
Good luck to your tuffy, God bless and cheer up because tuffy woldnt want you upset!
i'm really sorry to hear this, i know exactly how you feel and i totally agree with your money issue thing.
i remember when my lil baby was sick it was $3,000 for surgery and i couldnt aford it, but my mom paid for it because she said that nomatter how much or how expensive it was we had to give her a chance.
just remember that there's always hope nomatter how screwd up the world seems and never give up until the end of the world.
Good luck to your tuffy, God bless and cheer up because tuffy woldnt want you upset!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #153
He is starting to act like he did before, and he feels warm so I tried to take his temp with a digital thermometer but by myself I could not get him to hold still long enough for it to beep, but it had slowed down climbing, I think it was almost ready to beep. It was up to 103.6 when he moved and the thermometer came out so I think it would have topped out at about 103.8 or maybe 104.
I am waiting right now for his vet to call me back as to what to do for him. He is eating and drinking but he was before also and still got so dehydrated.
What is the normal temp for cats? Is it 100 to 102? If it is I assume if he is at 104 thats getting up there pretty good?
I am waiting right now for his vet to call me back as to what to do for him. He is eating and drinking but he was before also and still got so dehydrated.
What is the normal temp for cats? Is it 100 to 102? If it is I assume if he is at 104 thats getting up there pretty good?
104 is a high temperature in cats. I think the norm is around 101 (i'll see if i can double check that. If you can, try adding a little gastrolyte (electrolyte powder found at the pharmacy) or some gatorade to his water. They can still get an electrolyte imbalance when sick even if they are drinking water. If he starts to sit with his head hung down a bit, then that's low potassium.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #155
Tuffy is staying at his local vet this weekend. They aren't going to charge me much to watch him. I just took him down there and his temp was up to 104.6. They are going to do what they can to try and bring it back down. They are set up to give him IV fluids if need be. I feel alot better now than have to worry if he crashes in the middle of the night or something and not being able to help him. He is still eating and drinking good so that is a good sign. I really hope we have some news one way or the other on Monday, I cry when I think of what he is going through and the thought of loosing him so soon.
Aww, I do hope that he feels much better by Mon, and that you have some positive answers.
I am a professional artist. If you can send me a photo of Tuffy I can do an illustration for you that you can have made into a decal and put on your new tractor. There will be no charge. Contact me offlist.
I certainly hope that Tuffy gets better soon.
I certainly hope that Tuffy gets better soon.
Just checking to send Tuffy lots of healing prayers and vibes and also to see how he is doing!!
You and Tuffy are in my thoughts and prayers.
Tuffy I hope you are feeling better by now!!!!
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