cat not eating, please help

podperson

Completely agree with JoJo - there's not much they won't have. Mine has had nearly all of hers out now, just has about two left bless her! But she still loves her biccies so they can still manage dry food if they like it, she'll have bits of meat, I just make sure I cut it up smallish for her.

BECKIN1507

Thats great, I thought he'd only be able to eat mushed up food. He's doing great today, he's had 2 small tins and is acting like he's starving. Wish I'd noticed sooner, he must of been in so much pain. He's booked in to the vets on thurs for bloods and to have a couple of teeth out.

Lavenderbee how's your cat?

LavenderBees

BECKIN1507 wrote: »

Thats great, I thought he'd only be able to eat mushed up food. He's doing great today, he's had 2 small tins and is acting like he's starving. Wish I'd noticed sooner, he must of been in so much pain. He's booked in to the vets on thurs for bloods and to have a couple of teeth out.

Lavenderbee how's your cat?

Sorry, not great news here, and I've had a little weep tonight...well, cried buckets actually.

The good news is that the vet thinks that Charlie's skin growth is benign. She can't be 100% unless we test it at a lab, but her experience says it's ok. I've decided not to have it tested. Really hard to decide, though.

BUT Charlie has also had a wee problem with his right eye, and I've been applying drops the last couple of weeks. The ulcer that was originally the problem has healed, but the vet can no longer see the back of his eye. She and 2 other vets looked at it while he was under sedation today, and feel it may be something serious. They've measured his eyes and think the right eye is being pushed out further than the left eye - he often sits with his right eye closed. They suspect a tumour.

Anyway, upshot is, I have to take him back tomorrow so they can do a further test that they couldn't do today due to the sedation. My vet says she needs the advice of an eye specialist on this as general vets don't have the specialist knowledge/expertise required. Then my vet will ring the eye specialist on Monday to go through the results, and I'll have to be referred to the eye specialist for him/her to see Charlie asap.

So, to say I'm upset is a complete understatement. I know at the moment, I have my poor boy written off before we've really got all the facts, and it may not be as dire as I'm thinking, but, I just keep looking at my sweet, gentle, loving little cat, who has put up with all kinds of indignities today, and never ever complains, and I feel so inadequate that at the moment, I can't make this right for him. As I've wept, he's cuddled into me, and patted me with his paw....

I almost lost him a couple of years ago when he reacted badly to some medication for hyperthyroid, and he was pulled back from the brink then by a fantastic vet. I really hope that I'm able to report better news in a week or two.

On the plus side, he ate like a horse tonight...told me the vet hadn't offered him any food...not sure I believe him...I think he's just making the most of the treats tonight after a horrible day :rotfl:

Sorry to hijack your thread with my woes. But I know you'll all understand how bad I'm feeling tonight.

LB xx

golfergirl28

Lavender, how I feel for you and Charlie. He's a lucky boy to be so loved. Keep positive. It's much too early to be anything but positive.

Dollardog

Sorry to hear the news of your cat LavenderBees. One of my dogs had a tumour on his eyeball, you could just see it as a black dot that looked like a wart. He had to have his eye removed. He did do ok with only one eye.

BECKIN1507

LB I am so sorry to hear that. I total understand what you are saying, I was in tears before I even knew what was wrong with Ice, and I honestly thought he wouldn't be coming home with me.
I really hope you get some good news about his eye, and he must be a little fighter as it sounds like the poor boy has been through alot. Let us know how Charlie gets on, your doing everything you can for him and he obviosly knows that too. I'll be thinking of you both tomorrow and monday. Take care xx

LavenderBees

Thanks, all.

Still a bit weepy but feeling more able to tackle this today. The good news is that he is generally fit and healthy for his age, so I am hopeful that, if treatment is available, he'll be fit enough for it. I don't have insurance so I'll need to find whatever is needed too, but that is a secondary (although obviously mega important) consideration. I also think he'll be fine if he has to lose his eye. He doesn't particularly wander outside, and the house is small, but everything remains in it's normal place, so he'll be fine, if that's what is needed. We'll see. (pun not intended )

He scuffed his little nose last night, misjudged a distance as his eyes were too dilated to see properly . We had an early night last night to get him settled down, and he slept beside me as usual, but if I moved, he shot off the bed and wandered around again. He's still a bit unsettled this morning, but has eaten well again, and had a little wander in the snow at the back door, with his "baby brother" (who isn't impressed that Charlie is getting all the treats :rotfl:).

I haven't told him yet that he's back to the vet later this morning.

Positive, positive, positive! Thanks so much for your kind support. :A

LB xx

LavenderBees

Well, after this morning's tests, we now seem to know what the problems are but they make my heart stand still with fright.

He has glaucoma in both eyes - the right eye that I've been saying has been bothering him has a pressure reading of 46 and the left eye with no visible symptoms is 34. The normal reading is between 10 and 20, so he's a poorly boy, and heading towards becoming blind. I've been given drops to try to relieve the pressure while we try to get an appointment with the eye specialist. I've looked it up in the internet, and Charlie will likely be suffering some pain at this level of pressure. It's been likened to a migraine.I also see from the internet that glaucoma is expensive to treat and most likely will still result in blindness, so I need to discuss with the eye specialist how to get Charlie comfortable with the least spend, knowing that he really isn't going to get better.

So, from that result this morning, the vet said we need to find out what is causing this as it was likely to be an underlying health issue. He's just rung me to say that Charlie is showing high results for Hyperthyroid, so his remaining gland is now rearing it's ugly little head as a problem. The vet wanted to start Charlie on medication but I've explained that the medication nearly killed him within 3 days a couple of years ago, and no way is he going on that.

Anyway, he's advised that, given Charlie's inability to take the medication, we need to concentrate on trying to relieve the pressure off Charlie's eyes, and then discuss potential treatment of the thyroid gland. I know all about the horrendous risks there, as well as potential costs (in the thousands), so I'm in despair that there is a solution to this that is workable, I know that the vet a couple of years ago warned me he was likely to become hyperthyroid again - she gave it 12 mths. Well, it's been 2 years almost, but now I know, I can see he's been showing faint signs for at least the last couple of months, if not a bit longer, and I did ask the vet a couple of weeks ago and she poo-poo'd the suggestion. I felt like I was an over-anxious mum.

My poor boy. I need to get all the information from these vets on what is possible v risk v money v longer term quality of life, and make a decision.

I feel completely numb at the moment. I knew this moment would come, but now it's here, I'm no more able to cope with it than I was 2 years ago. But I will gather all the "facts and vet opinions" and make a decision from there.

I've never had an elderly animal before and had no idea of the myriad of things that can befall them.Such a shame they can't all be fit and healthy and happy, and then one night just go to sleep....

Hope the tooth extraction goes well on Thursday for Ice, and that the blood tests don't reveal anything grot. I'm sure by this time next week, you and he will be feeling much better.

Take care

LB xx

Scrapaholic

Sorry to read about Charlie, Lavender . Know what it's like to be worried over a pet and what will happen . Nothing that I can write that will be helpful but sending best wishes .

LavenderBees

Just knowing I'm not alone in this, is a big help. There are so many ifs/buts/perhaps/ and unfortunately no definites so I'll never ever know if I ultimately make the right decision, and I think that's what makes this so hard.

But your support makes me feel a little more able to cope, so thank you!