I cannot express just how disheartened I feel right now. I just don't think there are words to describe it.
Mika has been going up and down with this liver thing.
For those that don't know, she's been through the ringer, really. She came to me off the streets (clearly part of TNR, has a cut ear, but seemed to be healthy, no fleas, and was microchipped; I believe her original family dumped her) and has been my baby since. She stopped eating in May and me being a first time cat owner had no clue of the issues cat get when they don't eat. She was taken to a vet after a week with little to no eating. Obviously, she has terrible liver values and she's jaundiced plus her gallbladder is all out of wack. We do medicine for a while (veraflox and ursodiol) which doesn't work because she's terrible at getting medicated and I'm new to it. We take her to an emergency clinic when the vet tells me her liver is failing. They send me to TAMU (our university hospital) where she stays for 3 days; they aspirate her liver and gallbladder. They find gallbladder sludge and inflammation of both organs but no reason behind it. They send her home and she goes back 3 days later for a recheck where we find out her values have almost doubled since she went home. They suspect a blockage in the biliary system but turns out it's just really shitty (excuse my language) gallbladder sludge. She gets put on a crap load of new medications which only success is to make me insane and upset. I finally get good at giving her denamarin (liver protectant) and her ursodiol but the TAMU vet is nervous since she isn't eating well on her own (eating, but not her full calorie count). They want to do a feeding tube which I couldn't afford after her 3 day visit and all the stuff they did at her recheck (I'm a college student). So I force feed her to supplement her own eating all while freaking out because I think my cat is going to die. We finally get good at that to where she starts eating all her calories on her own. Her values haven't returned to normal nor has her jaundiced but she's acting better. Vet tells me that she looks good and we can take her off all the other medications expect the ursodiol, which is where we are now.
She was doing so well, eating, peeing normally and acting so much better. We were just going to figure out her weight thing and the vet really thought that she would just slowly put on weight. We talked about steroids and B-12 in case she has IBD or some other inflammation but again, all that was for weight, not her liver issues.
Mika has started peeing small portions again, a clear indication of a UTI. If it is, this will be her 3rd time fighting it off which makes me really concerned about her blocking or needing surgery. All the things I've read on here and from other places makes it seem like UTIs shouldn't be a regular thing, especially for a cat on an all wet diet (she's been eating kibble now but she was on all wet with her first bouts of the UTI).
On top of that, she's peeing yellow again which means that her liver isn't processing the bilirubin in her system anymore. The vet changed out her ursodiol to pills again in case the compounded liquid form she had wasn't working anymore (and I couldn't afford to buy another bottle of the compounded liquid form because of a credit card issue I'm having with my bank - whole other story). But I'm stressing again.
We did SO much to get her to where she was. The vet was thoroughly impressed I got this cat back to eating normally and so well on a daily basis without a feeding tube. They really believed that Mika was going to die. But she's clearly fighting; the vet said so herself! She wants to keep going and live (most definitely without medication but I don't know she'll ever get off ursodiol). Everyone I have talked to about this makes the comments that most people would never put this much effort into saving a cat like this; that obviously I'm very dedicated and love Mika - and I do! But I'm running on steam. There is only so much I can do financially. When I decided to take her in I was expecting her to be sick, coming off the streets but I could never have planned for all this. It's even more frustrating that NO ONE has been able to find a real reason for how all this started. We have no idea WHY Mika is so sick so the only thing we can do is treat the symptoms.
I'm frustrated. Mika is still eating well but I can tell its starting to slip a little. I don't want to force feed her again because she's gotten to the point that any towel she sees me with causes her to run from me. I know it's stressful for her. The medication is stressful. She hates it so much but there is nothing I can do. She's obviously going to need to get another round of antibiotics to clear up this UTI (and I fully expect to be told that Mika is going to need to be on some special regime of something to keep her from getting another one).
But then I worry about her liver and gallbladder. Why can't we fix this? It hurts me so much that there is probably some way that Mika would be able to live a normal life without medications and I just can't afford it. I've thought that if she had been found by anyone else on that street, she probably would be living a normal life. I know it's just self pity and that's the last thing she needs from me. I just feel so guilty and scared. She is the most loving kitty ever. So sweet, always head bumping, always cuddling. She sleeps on my chest with me and will follow me around a lot. She's the cutest, especially when she rolls onto her back for belly rubs or purrs (which aren't normally audible but I know she's almost always doing it by feeling her neck) when I scratch under her chin. She DESERVES to be healthy and happy.
I hope that we haven't gotten too far from where we were. Hopefully it won't take us another month to get her to stop peeing yellow and that she wont get another UTI. We'll keep fighting so long as there is hope for a better future. I just want my baby healthy and happy. I want her to play and eat and know she's loved beyond belief.
Mika has been going up and down with this liver thing.
For those that don't know, she's been through the ringer, really. She came to me off the streets (clearly part of TNR, has a cut ear, but seemed to be healthy, no fleas, and was microchipped; I believe her original family dumped her) and has been my baby since. She stopped eating in May and me being a first time cat owner had no clue of the issues cat get when they don't eat. She was taken to a vet after a week with little to no eating. Obviously, she has terrible liver values and she's jaundiced plus her gallbladder is all out of wack. We do medicine for a while (veraflox and ursodiol) which doesn't work because she's terrible at getting medicated and I'm new to it. We take her to an emergency clinic when the vet tells me her liver is failing. They send me to TAMU (our university hospital) where she stays for 3 days; they aspirate her liver and gallbladder. They find gallbladder sludge and inflammation of both organs but no reason behind it. They send her home and she goes back 3 days later for a recheck where we find out her values have almost doubled since she went home. They suspect a blockage in the biliary system but turns out it's just really shitty (excuse my language) gallbladder sludge. She gets put on a crap load of new medications which only success is to make me insane and upset. I finally get good at giving her denamarin (liver protectant) and her ursodiol but the TAMU vet is nervous since she isn't eating well on her own (eating, but not her full calorie count). They want to do a feeding tube which I couldn't afford after her 3 day visit and all the stuff they did at her recheck (I'm a college student). So I force feed her to supplement her own eating all while freaking out because I think my cat is going to die. We finally get good at that to where she starts eating all her calories on her own. Her values haven't returned to normal nor has her jaundiced but she's acting better. Vet tells me that she looks good and we can take her off all the other medications expect the ursodiol, which is where we are now.
She was doing so well, eating, peeing normally and acting so much better. We were just going to figure out her weight thing and the vet really thought that she would just slowly put on weight. We talked about steroids and B-12 in case she has IBD or some other inflammation but again, all that was for weight, not her liver issues.
Mika has started peeing small portions again, a clear indication of a UTI. If it is, this will be her 3rd time fighting it off which makes me really concerned about her blocking or needing surgery. All the things I've read on here and from other places makes it seem like UTIs shouldn't be a regular thing, especially for a cat on an all wet diet (she's been eating kibble now but she was on all wet with her first bouts of the UTI).
On top of that, she's peeing yellow again which means that her liver isn't processing the bilirubin in her system anymore. The vet changed out her ursodiol to pills again in case the compounded liquid form she had wasn't working anymore (and I couldn't afford to buy another bottle of the compounded liquid form because of a credit card issue I'm having with my bank - whole other story). But I'm stressing again.
We did SO much to get her to where she was. The vet was thoroughly impressed I got this cat back to eating normally and so well on a daily basis without a feeding tube. They really believed that Mika was going to die. But she's clearly fighting; the vet said so herself! She wants to keep going and live (most definitely without medication but I don't know she'll ever get off ursodiol). Everyone I have talked to about this makes the comments that most people would never put this much effort into saving a cat like this; that obviously I'm very dedicated and love Mika - and I do! But I'm running on steam. There is only so much I can do financially. When I decided to take her in I was expecting her to be sick, coming off the streets but I could never have planned for all this. It's even more frustrating that NO ONE has been able to find a real reason for how all this started. We have no idea WHY Mika is so sick so the only thing we can do is treat the symptoms.
I'm frustrated. Mika is still eating well but I can tell its starting to slip a little. I don't want to force feed her again because she's gotten to the point that any towel she sees me with causes her to run from me. I know it's stressful for her. The medication is stressful. She hates it so much but there is nothing I can do. She's obviously going to need to get another round of antibiotics to clear up this UTI (and I fully expect to be told that Mika is going to need to be on some special regime of something to keep her from getting another one).
But then I worry about her liver and gallbladder. Why can't we fix this? It hurts me so much that there is probably some way that Mika would be able to live a normal life without medications and I just can't afford it. I've thought that if she had been found by anyone else on that street, she probably would be living a normal life. I know it's just self pity and that's the last thing she needs from me. I just feel so guilty and scared. She is the most loving kitty ever. So sweet, always head bumping, always cuddling. She sleeps on my chest with me and will follow me around a lot. She's the cutest, especially when she rolls onto her back for belly rubs or purrs (which aren't normally audible but I know she's almost always doing it by feeling her neck) when I scratch under her chin. She DESERVES to be healthy and happy.
I hope that we haven't gotten too far from where we were. Hopefully it won't take us another month to get her to stop peeing yellow and that she wont get another UTI. We'll keep fighting so long as there is hope for a better future. I just want my baby healthy and happy. I want her to play and eat and know she's loved beyond belief.
