the poor Tasha, she be high

[Stefani]

She pretty much stopped eating.  At first she was coming for food, and eating a little, but soon she stopped coming.  After that, we had to hunt her down and show her the food bowl.  Soon she stopped coming out of her hiding place, so we had to pick her up and bring her to the kitchen to eat.  Then, she stopped eating even when we brought her.  She is old (I think 14), but we just had a blood panel done on her (about two months ago).  Everything is fine.  I thought maybe she couldn't smell the food.  She has horrible allergies.  She is on meds for this, has been for years.  Today, we stopped by the vet after my doctors appointment, talked with a vet tech, who then spoke to our vet.  Tasha was prescribed a prescription strength anti-histamine, which has hunger as a side effect.  Something we didn't want to try, because we used this med with Bryndal when she was old and wasn't eating, but it was try this, or watch her starve to death (something I was not going to do).  When we got home, I hunted for her, gave her the med, and we left for another trip.  We came home to a drunk cat.  She was walking around the house just howling.  I fed her, she ate, though was still hungry.  She started walking around howling again.  She is high.  But, she is eating, and I believe that she can breathe a bit better, because she wasn't snuffling like she has done for years.  I hope she gets used to the meds. 

[blkpanther0001]

sorry Tasha is not feeling well. I hope this med works. will sent healing thoughts and prayers for her.

[Kirsten]

Stef, the panel from two months ago can be used as a baseline, but it doesn't say the cat is fine right now.  Lots of things in a blood panel change on a daily basis.  Infection, for example, can cause a sudden increase in white cell count.

A cat who refuses to eat for more than a day should be taken to the vet.  Anorexia in cats can cause hepatic lipidosis which is fatal and painful if not treated.  I'm very concerned that any vet would prescribe allergy medication for a cat who isn't eating without even examining the cat.  This is especially the case when the cat is also hiding.  Sudden increase in hiding often indicates serious illness.

I am equally concerned at her reaction to the medication. 

I understand from what happened with Sylver that finances are an issue.  However, when we take on the responsibility of a pet we take on the responsibility of their veterinary care.  You're thinking about getting a puppy.  Is that fair if you can't afford to take care of the animals you already have?

Frankly, I'd change vets, too.

[Stefani]

I am not planning on getting a puppy any time soon.  I'm thinking over a year from now.  I am looking into things now, so when the time is right I'll be ready, but there is no way I'd bring a puppy into the picture at this point in time.

[Cera]

How is Tasha doing?

[Stefani]

We have been in contact with our vet ever this post was made.  She was doing somewhat better, but she has gotten worse since Monday.  Today we got even more blood work done and will have the results tomorrow (It is shocking on how quick the vet gets their results considering it goes to NEW YORK!).  It could be a few things, but we'll know for sure tomorrow when the results come in and can compare them to the previous.  Worse case, she'll be PTS.  Best case, she could live another year or two with home care. 

I don't know if I'll be online tomorrow or not.  I have class in the AM and PM, along with having to go the vet in between.  I'll update everyone when I can.

[Stefani]

This most recent blood work showed levels of something (I can't remember) that wasn't right.  Basically her kidney's aren't working like they should, and she also has an infection.  Because of the communication with the vet that we have had, we caught this issue early.  Depending on how fast her issues progress, and how she responds to treatment, determines how long she will live.  We spoke to a vet tech at the vet when we got her blood work done Wednesday, and it was after this conversation that we thought she would have to be PTS so soon. 

Her treatment is sub-q fluids each day (I'm doing them at home).  Along with a diet that is fit for this issue.  She's on antibiotics for the infection.  And she'll maintain on the medication that is an anti-histamine and appetite stimulant.  They thought that the lack of eating (which wasn't an issue after we put her on the anti-histamine/appetite stimulant) that started again Monday was because of the infection and issues with her kidneys.  The bladder infection was probably caused by the food that she had been given, just to get her to eat the few weeks ago (so, no more of that). 

My mom (it is her cat) and I have decided to give Tasha two weeks to see where she is.  If she shows improvement we'll continue to help her live in anyway we can.  If she starts to decline more, we will put her to sleep.  There is no reason to have her this way for us to just get extra time with her.

[Stefani]

We have great news.  This morning, I woke up and went to the bathroom.  Before I was even getting the door closed, Tasha had come into the room begging for food.  I had other things to do (get dressed, wake up my mom, potty RD, take meds, feed RD, feed the fish) before she could get fed.  She was talking and talking and talking.  She was saying FEED ME!  My mom pilled her and fed her and around 1:00 it was time for her sub-q fluids.  I went to get her, and she walking over my mom (including her face) and pawing her face to say GET UP AND FEED ME!  I got her some food.  She ate, begged for more, I fed her more, and she still wanted more, so more she got.  Then, for her mid afternoon snack she ate some dry that the vet had given us (she has been on wet).  And when she finished what I gave her, she came to me asking for more.  By golly, we are thrilled.

[Cera]

Yeah!

[BlindMag]

Good!!  I wrote you a post about the Sub Q fluids but cant remember in what thread, you might look for it if you havent seen it already. 

[Stefani]

I've given some updates, but I figured I'd write more while I can't sleep.

I have been reading SO much lately about cats and kidney disease and other things.  One thing I read today about the medication that started this post was that it is causes cats to become very vocal.  It is also common to be given with the type of illness that Tasha has. 

The vet was not worried about the "hepatic lipidosis" that Kirsten mentioned, because Tasha was not overweight, and she did not go without any food for a lengthy period of time (two days).  With the research I did on this disease, I read that it normally occurs after a week of not eating, and in overweight cats (I questioned the vet on this).  What happens is the fat on the cat starts to break down in the body (because they aren't eating), and overloads the liver with the fat cells.  It causes liver failure.

When the vet opens Monday, we have to go get more food for her, and either we'll talk to the vet then, or we'll go back Tuesday for the appointment we already had set up.  There are many things I want to discuss, like the possible acid build up in her stomach, possibly starting her on some vitamins and supplements to help her just feel better, and help her body cope with the issues.  From the reading (Like I said, there has been a lot of it), she could live a few years depending on how proactive we are with her care.

[Stefani]

Tasha is doing semi-okay now.  She gain a full pound in a very short time.  Though recently she got really bad diarrhea from a medication that we started her on.  With the vet's direction, she was taken off this medication.  We're to up her sub-q fluids a little, just to make sure she isn't dehydrated (When I pulled her skin it popped right back into place, like it should, but just in case).  She is eating still, three to four meals a day.  And she seems to be feeling well.

[BlindMag]

Thats good to hear; thanks for the update!

[Stefani]

Tasha got bad again late last week.  The diarrhea got really bad, so the doctor saw her again, prescribed something for the diarrhea, and something else for the UTI (which was the reason she was on the antibiotics that caused the diarrhea).  They said that one of the medications can cause ulcers in the throat if the pill does not go down all the way, so after each pilling, we had to put water down her, and will have to continue this for awhile.  With all of this stress, she stopped eating again, so we force fed her for two days.  Though, today, she ate lunch on her own, and yesterday she had soft, not liquid, poo (gross, sorry!).  We are hoping when the UTI gets cleared up, and she gets off of the other meds, that she'll start to eat more on her own. 

[Stefani]

After the last post she got past the diarrhea (by using a medication), but still had the UTI so we continued the antibiotics.  Friday we took her in for a recheck on the UTI.  It was still really bad, so we were told to stop all medications except her nasal drops (for her sinuses) and bring her in Monday for a sample to send for a culture.  Sunday evening, she had diarrhea again, and so we dropped her off this morning for both the urine collection (for the culture) and the diarrhea.  She is back on medication for the diarrhea, and we will have to wait until Friday for the results on her urine to come back.  She is to restart her antihistamine as well.  One thing we found out, from Friday's visit, is that she eats more when she is closed in with her food.  She ate half of her daily food amount (the amount of food she HAS to have) while there.  This caused us to crate her during feedings this weekend.  She ate REALLY well.  Better than she has in weeks.  I guess she can't forget that she was eating or get to distracted.  We don't know, but she is eating well.