| AspiringPhilosophe 20.05.2007 10:07 |
I know there are several people on QZ who are cat owners, and I am having a problem with my cat, Boots. Tuesday last week I took her to the vet because she had an eye infection, which they gave me an ointment for. They also said that she had tapeworms, so they weighed her (6.5 lbs) and gave her a shot to get rid of them. They call on Thursday to see how she was doing, and she's fine. It's Sunday now, and her eye is much better. But now there is another problem. Friday she began throwing up. I thought it was just a hairball or something, so I just dealt with it like normal. Saturday I didn't see her all day, come to find out she'd been laying under my bed the whole day. I heard her, periodically, throwing up around the apartment, but when I found her she had never actually thrown anything up. She also began having diarreah. I kept an eye on it all day, and I never saw her eat anything at all. I tried to feed her this morning, and she ate maybe three pieces of the food I put out (her favorite kind) and didn't even touch the treats I tried to give her. She just lays under my bed, awake, but looking at me like she's lethargic. She's already noticealy thinner, and since she's thin to begin with this isn't a good thing. I am taking her to the vet when they are open tonight (they are open for an hour), so I can avoid the ER charges. Do you think this is related to the tapeworm or the tapeworm shot? What can I do to help her, besides taking her to the vet? |
| magicalfreddiemercury 20.05.2007 10:42 |
Oh, I hate to hear about sick pets. My guess would be it's related to the medication they gave her, but it's just that - a guess. I don't think there's anything you can do other than what you're doing - watching her closely and getting her to the vet. Poor baby, she must feel awful. You'll let us know what the doctor says, yes? Please? |
| eenaweena 20.05.2007 10:46 |
^maybe it does have something to do with the medication... she might be "eliminating" the tapeworms.. |
| magicalfreddiemercury 20.05.2007 10:51 |
I just looked up treatment for feline tapeworm and one of the side-effects of the meds is diarrhea. Don't know about the other issues, but I'm leaning even more toward her problems being med-related. |
| Janet 20.05.2007 13:20 |
I'm sorry to hear your kitty isn't feeling well :-( I was wondering if it might have something to do with eliminating the worms too. I hope its nothing too serious. |
| deleted user 20.05.2007 13:24 |
I also think it's the medicine. When our cats took tapeworm medicine, they had some bad diarrhoea - getting rid of the wormies, I'm guessing. :P |
| Sergei. 20.05.2007 13:35 |
I'm sure it's only the medicine. If your kittie has recently had a tapeworm shot, that's probably the side effect. Keep us posted on how she is doing. :] |
| AspiringPhilosophe 20.05.2007 17:44 |
Well, I called the vets office. They said that one of the side affects is diarrhea, but if she's also vomiting and not eating at all, then it's not a good sign. They also said if it was related to the meds, it would most likely not have started Friday if she had the shot on Tuesday...it would have started sooner than that. They didn't discount the idea of it being the meds, but they said it sounded like something else. I can't take her in today, as the vet on call is in Clare (30 miles from here) and I can't afford the gas and the $125 emergency vet bill, plus the cost of whatever they'd do. I asked the vet assistant if it was ok for me to come in first thing Monday morning, and she said Boots would likely be ok till then, as she did eat a little food this morning (though she threw up about 2 hours later, but the assistant said she got some nutrition from that food for the time she had it in her). I'm taking her in tomorrow at 10:15am. She's emerged from under my bed, of her own will, and has moved to her other favorite spot, the top, back corner of the fridge; I can only hope this is a good sign. I'm also going to try to stop giving her the eye ointment...that really stressed her out this time, and if she doesn't have it done maybe she'll be more relaxed, just in case this is stress-related. The eye is all cleared up anyway; I realize this runs the risk of the strong survivor bacteria breeding with resistance to this antibiotic ointment, but I'm more worried about the rest of the crap than her eye, which looks normal now. |
| magicalfreddiemercury 20.05.2007 18:08 |
Why can't these things happen on a Monday afternoon instead of just before a weekend?! At least you were able to speak with someone in the know. If Boots has indeed come out from hiding, I'd also say that's a good sign. And I agree with you about not stressing her out with the eye ointment. I'm sorry you're going through all of this, and I'm sorry for Boots. Just a few more hours and you'll be at the vet. She'll be okay. <hugs> |
| The Mir@cle 21.05.2007 03:47 |
I'm sorry to hear this Maggie. I hope your kitten will be fine soon!!! I can't really give you an advice, other than that you're doing the right thing bringing him to the vet. All the best to you and your cat. |
| AspiringPhilosophe 21.05.2007 12:16 |
Update: I took Boots into the vet this morning, where they took X-rays and blood work. I just came back from there. They said the blood tests were normal, so everything is ok there. But they said her small intestine was pulled way to the back of her abdomen, which is not normal. The vet thinks she may have eaten a piece of string. He said as string goes through the digestive tract, it pulls the intestines out of place. If that is the case, she needs surgery to remove the string, piece by piece, since they can't take it out at once because that will pull the intestines tighter out of place. If the string or whatever stays in there, it will saw holes into her intestines, and fluid will leak out, leading to septicemia and eventual death. He said the only way to know for sure if this is the case is to do exploratory surgery. If he goes in there and doesn't find anything, he said he'll spay her while he's in there, and I will just have to pay for that, which I can take financially. Then, he says, the problem is that she just has gastrointeritus, and he'll give her medicine to help with that. But if he finds out there is string in there and has to take it out, it can be up to $1,000 for the surgery, depending on how many times he has to make holes to get the string out. He said he's going to give her fluids for a few hours, and he said we did have some time to wait, but since this started on Friday, we didn't have much time to wait. "If there is something in there, the longer we wait, the less the odds of survivability are." So I told them to go ahead and do the surgery...there isn't much else to do at this point. I'm still hoping it's nothing, and she'll just get spayed and then medicine will help. They let me see her before they took her to give her fluids and get her prepped for surgery, which will be this afternoon. They have my cellphone number, and are calling me when they start to make sure I still want to do it. Nothing much else to do now, other than wait.... |
| Micrówave 21.05.2007 12:31 |
Geez, CMU, I really feel for you. I hated cats until I got mine, and I can't imagine going thru what you're going thru. My Miles had a similar reaction to ear mite medication, but after a week or so, was back to normal. I hope yours bounces back as quickly, cause she's got a great owner. Take care. |
| magicalfreddiemercury 21.05.2007 12:43 |
Oh wow. I know about this string eating thing. My Adams thought of rubberbands as a delicacy. He had exploratory surgery, too, when he was just a kitten. It went well, though it was stressful for all of us. I so hope it's simple for Boots, and spaying and medication is all the vet has to do. btw - I know it's too late in this situation, but if Boots is young enough, you can get health insurance for her. From what I recall, it's not too expensive but it certainly does help when/if situations like this come up. Just a thought. |
| Janet 21.05.2007 12:51 |
Its so awful when they are ill, isn't it? You'd do anything to help them but sometimes we just have to wait, and that is the hardest of all :-( I hope all goes well for Boots and that she is back to her old self very very soon! |
| AspiringPhilosophe 21.05.2007 19:15 |
I must have aged a full year today, with all the stress I've been through. But at least it's done! They gave Boots fluids and antibiotics before I left the vet, because she was too dehydrated to operate on. Not half an hour later, I got a call from the vet's assistant. She said that the vet had started the surgery, and, thank goodness, there was nothing in her GI tract. This means it was just GI swelling, but he was still in surgery with her as they were going to go ahead and spay her. I was very relieved to hear these words. I called just before they closed (on a break from work) and they checked on her for me. They said she's doing great, she's awake and alert and seems to be doing fine after the surgery. She did say that with everything that has happened to her lately, they aren't going to give her any food just yet. They were going to give her some water tonight, and in the morning the vet was going to come and look at her and probably then they'd try to re-introduce food to her. The doctor said the GI swelling was either stress related (possibly because of her eye and the ointment and crap) or it's viral. It's not bacterial, because she'd be running a fever, which she wasn't, and her blood work came back normal. They are also giving her anti-inflammatories tonight, which will bring the swelling down in her GI tract and make it so that she is able to eat. Hopefully she will be able to come home tomorrow, but I have to call in the morning for sure. She scared the CRAP out of me today, but the first thing I'm doing when I get to bring her home is giving her a big hug and all the treats she wants! Thank you all for all of the kind wishes, and I'll keep you posted as to how the recovery is going! You guys rock! :-) |
| deleted user 21.05.2007 19:28 |
All I can say is that I hope your cat gets better ! |
| magicalfreddiemercury 21.05.2007 21:38 |
CMU HistoryGirl wrote: She scared the CRAP out of me today, but the first thing I'm doing when I get to bring her home is giving her a big hug and all the treats she wants!LOL! Great news, HistoryGirl!!! Great news. :-) |
| AspiringPhilosophe 22.05.2007 13:12 |
She's coming home tonight! I tried to get her this afternoon, but the Vet wanted to keep her until about 4 to make sure she kept the food down she ate this morning, so I'm getting out of work a few minutes early and and going to pick her up. I went back to see her while I was there, and she looks great! She was purring like crazy, and was rolling around like crazy while I was petting her. |
| Janet 22.05.2007 13:22 |
Awesome! I'm so glad its a happy ending for you and Boots. :-) |
| Micrówave 22.05.2007 13:26 |
That's great news! |
| Mr.Jingles 22.05.2007 13:54 |
CMU HistoryGirl wrote: She's coming home tonight! I tried to get her this afternoon, but the Vet wanted to keep her until about 4 to make sure she kept the food down she ate this morning, so I'm getting out of work a few minutes early and and going to pick her up. I went back to see her while I was there, and she looks great! She was purring like crazy, and was rolling around like crazy while I was petting her.Very happy to hear that, Maggie! |
| The Mir@cle 23.05.2007 02:50 |
Great Maggie!! :) |