Another sick pet post

Luckystar2

What's going on with all our animals lately! I may not have posted to the other ones but read them and have been thinking about everyone's pets. Hoping for some good thoughts for mine too.

Our 10 year old cat seems very sick. We noticed Saturday that she was very lethargic, seems to have lost weight, has thrown up water. She hasn't eaten or drank anything since at least yesterday. We really don't know how long it's been going on since she does seem to have weight loss. She hides a lot because of our dog so we don't see her a ton. And she is super fluffy/furry so you can't tell she has lost weight just by looking at her. Also We have another cat so it's hard to know who is eating/drinking, etc.

We called emergency vet yesterday and they said to just isolate her for 24 hours to figure out if she is eating/drinking. She hasn't eaten or drank anything since we isolated her yesterday morning.

Dh is at the vets with her right now.

egpitt22

awww, sorry to hear that! I hope she's better soon.

amyjoy18

I'm so sorry to hear that.  That sounds a lot like what happened to my kitty.  She seemed to be doing OK, then one day I just picked her up and she was as light as a feather. She seemed to stop eating, but she did drink a lot. 

I will keep her in my thoughts and hope for the best!

ryanthegirl

I'm so sorry. I hope she's better soon.

lala5507

I'm so sorry.  I hope you get some answers soon.

Luckystar2

Thanks. The vet said she is in liver failure. They can try to reverse it...keep her and give fluids. Said she has about 50/50 chance of making it. They don't know yet what the cause is so that could change everything. Think it could be stress and she just decided to stop eating. Cats can go into liver failure easily after not eating. Or could be something else underlying. If it's just stress she obviously has a better chance.

Going to see her this evening and waiting to hear back from vet on any results

Luckystar2

Another update...in addition to liver failure is that her platelets are horribly low. The vet said that unfortunately it's either put her to sleep or try to be aggressive to hope to have a chance, which means going to emergency vet.

And unfortunately dh and I have differing opinions. I've watched my parents spend thousands of dollars and so much emotions into trying to save a couple of their dogs...only to get nowhere. The one dog died at the E vet and they weren't there to get a chance to say goodbye.

So I wanted to take her home for the night to say goodbye and take her in to be put down tomorrow. Dh wants more answers so off to E vet where we spent hours agonizing over more decisions. Trying to get a few answers to we can feel a little better about either decision. Having some more blood work and possibly plasma transfusion and ultrasound in the morning. It could be cancer or something else serious that caused the liver failure (at which point we will stop) or she could have just stopped eating for no reason and then she would need a feeding tube for a while although still doesn't guarentee she will be ok.

Sorry so long! So hard making all these "adult" decisions and particularly hard when there are 2 of you that don't really agree

lala5507

I'm so sorry you have to make this decision.  Sending hugs to you!  Some times being an adult isn't all it's cracked up to be.  I hope you and dh can come to a decision you are both comfortable with.

amyjoy18

I'm so sorry.  The decision to have a pet put down is very, very hard.  We've had to think about it twice very recently and had a different decision for each.  One thing I tried to focus on was their quality of life during and after treatment. 

With our cat we could have tried IV fluids to extend her life with her failing kidneys.  There was no guarantee that it would work.  While the fluids wouldn't have been too expensive, she would have hated getting poked daily.  She hated trips to the vet and I just couldn't see her being happy.  The reality was the treatment wouldn't have made her better, it was just a band aid.  She was 10, so not old/not young for a cat.  We just tried to keep her comfortable, letting her eat whatever seemed to taste good to her that day, and within a few weeks we definitely knew it was time.  Hardest decision I ever had to make, but in the end, I knew it was the right decision and instantly felt at peace.

With Deuce--his treatment was significantly more expensive and required emergency surgery.  However, he is young (only 4), and after the the surgery/recovery period, there is no reason he shouldn't have a long healthy life.  They gave us the option to have him put down, but really only because of the expense.  He had bladder stones that were preventing him from urinating, but nothing inherently "wrong" with his body. 
And while the vet can't guarantee that he won't get bladder stones again, with the surgery that was preformed, he will be able to pass them.  If we had had him put down, I don't think I would have been able to feel at peace with that decision because his quality of life will continue to be great moving forward.  

While trying to make the decision with Pixie, I wanted someone to tell me what was right, but the reality is, there is no right or wrong answer.  Whatever you decide will be the right answer for you, your family and your pet.  Good luck with your decision.  It's not easy.

waltsgirl102503

I'm sorry you have to deal with this.  I hope you're both able to come to a decision that is best for all of you.  

Luckystar2

Thank you! It's really nice to hear others stories.

So she had the plasma transfusion and seems to be making clots now which is good. Ultrasound didn't show anything definitive for cancer. Showed pancreatitis which could have caused the no eating which threw her into liver failure.

So now I feel like we are even in more of a tough spot. Last night I felt at peace with letting her go. Now i feel like dh has forced out hands that we have already started some treatments. But she would still need surgery for a feeding tube. They need to aggressively feed her in hopes that her liver can recover. Even with that, it's about 50/50 chance she will make it. If she can survive the next few days then she has a good chance of making it and having good quality of life. But we don't know that the pancreatitis wouldn't come back again.

Ugh! Dh pretty much wants to pursue things despite being expensive and not great odds. I feel backed into a corner that we have already spent a lot of money and have give her some treatment that I feel like we are forced to try more. I think dh is going to stop in person and talk with them more about if she is in pain now, how much pain/recovery will be involved with the surgery for feeding tube.

Luckystar2

Another update if anybody is reading. Dh went to see her yesterday and talk with the vet while I was at work. At that point he came to the decision that we should put her to sleep. So we ended up doing it later in the afternoon after I had gotten there and we spent some time with her.

I'm not as confident in the decision as I would have been that first night but I guess it is what it is.

Thanks for reading and the replies