Very sick cat

ccskitten

Hi all


I am in regular contact with my vet so not really posting for advice, more for moral support.


I have 3x 9 month old kittens. They have all been fine, regularly deflead and wormed. They get on really well although they have different personalities. Tao is a roamer, he loves being outside and getting up to mischief. We see him once or twice a day for food and a warm by the fire and he’s off out again. Mika is a typical female cat. Only wants attention when she wants it but will come for a cuddle now and again. She has made good friends with the hairdressers next door and can often be found in there at quiet times whilst they make a fuss. Blue is the ideal lap cat. He is so loving and affectionate and although he does go out, he can always be found not too far away and will be waiting on the door step every time we come home.


On Christmas day we noticed Blue was a little more clingy. Throughout the day his third eyelids started to appear. I did a bit of googling and read that this could be due to a stomach problem and realised they were due to be wormed so gave them some Panacur on 26th. The following day he started to vomit. I took him to the vets first thing on 28th. They took bloods which were all clear and gave him some antibiotics, anti inflammatory and anti sickness jabs. They talked to us about FIP, explained that it was fatal and that if we wanted him to be tested it would take 5 days to receive the results. They said that if it was FIP then he would deteriorate quite quickly and we decided that it wasn’t worth getting the test as there wouldn’t be anything they could do for him anyway. He was very subdued during the day and looked really sorry for himself. Later that evening he started being sick. When I got up on 29th he had vomited up a 3 inch round worm. I called the vet and they said that the wormer that we had used is very effective and not to worry. I was quoted FIP again.


By Friday 30th he had deteriorated rapidly. I came home from work and just cried looking at him. He was so weak. I took him back to the vets on Saturday morning and he had lost 10% of his body weight since the Friday. The vet gave him a shot of steroid and anti sickness. It was explained to us that as he was deteriorating so fast it was likely that he had FIP and we should consider putting him to sleep. We were advised to go home and think about it and we could call at any point over the weekend and they would see us. I asked whether there could be an obstruction as he is a bit of a chewer and will try to eat anything and he was regurgitating all food. Blue was acting like he was absolutely ravenous whenever there was food near. We had been feeding him a teaspoon at a time but he would bring it all back up within minutes. We were told it could be possible and they could do a scan. The conversation then went on to whether we were insured which we are not (worst decision of my life). We were told that they could refer him to a specialist centre but this could cost thousands and they wouldn’t be able to refer until after the bank holiday. He then went on to quote FIP yet again and the scan was forgotten.


The anti sickness jabs seemed to work really well and on Saturday he managed to keep down small amounts of food. Throughout the day he became a lot more alert and was even sat trying to purr and coming for cuddles. He continued to improve into the Sunday but was vomiting more frequently. On the Monday morning I called the vet and asked for more anti sickness and steroids. The vet came out to the house to administer the injections and was very surprised at how well he was doing. Throughout the Monday Blue was acting a lot more like himself. He let me clean his face and was stretching out in front of the fire. He was still vomiting and acting like he was starving and he has lost so much weight.


I set up some automatic cat feeders when I went to work yesterday so he could have small portions of food every 2 hours. When I got home they were untouched and Blue was very lethargic. I called the vet who was in clinic and they finally phoned back at 7pm (closing time). By this time Blue had eaten some of his food but had been sick. We think that because his eyes are covered so much by his third eyelids he couldn’t see that there is food available for him.


We have an appointment with a different vet at the surgery today. We are going to insist on scans and a referral to a specialist centre. I have called the specialist centre and they are happy to set up payment plans. It has been suggested by a vet friend that he could have Mega Oesophagus so I need to do all I can for him.


As I said at the beginning, I’m not really after advice. I don’t think we have had a good service from our vets as very little investigation has been carried out. My biggest regret has been not getting our cats insured. I believe that my vet would have taken a lot more interest in testing Blue for everything if he knew that money wasn’t an issue, not that we have refused any investigation and even suggested scanning him ourselves.


I just feel so sad for Blue and helpless. All I want is for him to get better and be the loving cat he was before. I hate seeing him suffer. It’s breaking my heart L

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

How sad for poor Blue.

However, they did suggest testing him for FIP, but you refused at the time. And they were prepared to visit or see him at short notice, which doesn't really seem like poor service to me - giving you the choice based upon their opinion to opt for having him PTS, rather than performing lots of additional tests, even saying the choices were very expensive, wasn't a moneymaking suggestion, either.


I hope he recovers, it must be awful for you to see him deteriorating, but as you've described it, it really doesn't sound to me as they've done anything wrong/given poor service.

Trina90

Are the kittens siblings? If so I would get the other 2 insured now. I lost one kitten to FIP in
November 2015. His sister seemed fine, until months later, and in July 2016, she too was put to sleep with suspected FIP (I say suspected as they can't 100% diagnose it, until after death if they do an autopsy). It is supposedly not common for cats to pass on FIP (I think it is 10% that are affected) but littermates can have it in their genes - as it seems my two did.

Best of luck. FIP is horrid. I hope it turns out to be something else.

ccskitten

I insisted that Blue had some tests done yesterday. He was admitted for IV fluids, xrays, scans and repeat bloods. Later in the evening I had a call. they had found what looked like a blockage in his oesophagus and had sent the image over to the specialists to comment on.


It was discovered that Blue had congenital Megaesophagus. This meant that he had a narrowing in his oesophagus that had got compacted with food. He could undergo surgery to remove the blockage which would have been very risky for a cat of his age and in the condition he was in. He had lost a kilo (30%) in weight in less than two weeks. Megaesophagus can be managed with a liquid diet and constant care. It can also mean that he would be prone to pneumonia as he wouldn't be able to control his reflexes in his oesophagus. He had a 20% chance of survival.


It was a heart breaking decision to make but we decided that his quality of life would be poor and he had already suffered enough. Late last night we were called to the vets where we said our goodbyes and put him to rest. My heart hurts.

Redacted

I'm so sorry for your loss. It is such a difficult decision to make and it is heartbreaking to let them go. But your post clearly shows you made the decision you did in Blue's best interest.

room512

What a sad story. I am so sorry for your loss. Your posts show that you obviously care about your cats and sometimes hard decisions have to be made. My thoughts are with you xxx

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I'm sorry this has happened to Blue.

This was always going to be a difficult thing to say, but, along with the suggestion for insuring the other two, after a while, it might be a plan to speak to a vet about whether it's possible they could have inherited a similar issue.

donnac2558

RIP Blue, you where loved so much in your short life.

fairy_lights

So sorry to hear this, I was hoping there would be a happy update but sadly not.
How are your other two kittens doing?
I've got a 9 month old kitten and haven't got round to insuring him yet, but I certainly will now. Your post has been the kick up the bum I needed to get it sorted out.

jhgkp

Poor wee mite, I am so sorry for you loss

rockey100

sorry for your loss...