February 16, 2004: Sick Kitty
Thompson got really sick last night and we had to bring him to the vet again. He's always had health problems- ringworm, bad stomach, upper respitory stuff- but this was the first time he seemed dangerously ill. It was so sad- he was staggering around the apartment throwing up for like the entire night, and he couldn't keep anything in his stomach. They rehydrated him at the vet, but he's there overnight for observation. He'll need a kitty ultrasound tomorrow, and then they'll reevaluate his drug regime- he had been on Cipro, for a possible stomach infection, but it looks like the drug's side-effects were too much for his system. It's just terribly sad- I mean, we've already spent a couple of thousand dollars on vet bills, and we'd be happy to spend more if it will help- but there is a limit, and I'm scared what might happen if we get to it. Anyway- after tomorrow we're taking him off all the drugs, letting his system reboot, and hopefully that will lead to a good recovery- but I'm nervous about it. It's hard to be so attached to such a sweet kitten when you know the future is uncertain.
Comments
i thought you were holding a baby bear when i saw the first picture.
Oh man that sucks. Here is hoping that the best damn kitty in NY gets better soon. This week I need to drive my girlfriends cats to the vet to get neutered. She has made two appointments but chickened out and didn't take them because she was afraid of traumatizing them.
poor baby! that third picture is heartbreaking. thinking of thompson and praying for the best.
Did you try installing the latest service packs?
oh no! poor thompson. ringworm is a bitch to get rid of. could he possibly have a blockage or something? I am really good at worrying about other people's cats...what are you feeding him?
oh no! poor thompson. ringworm is a bitch to get rid of. could he possibly have a blockage or something? I am really good at worrying about other people's cats...what are you feeding him?
Poor Thompson! Get better! Friends of mine in billyberg have tried acupuncture for kitties with mixed results. It seems especially good with the respiratory stuff.
karen just got off the phone with the vet, and the vet said the ultrasound was normal. that is, thompson has all the required cat parts. they didn't see his adrenal glands, but that's normal in cats, and since his bloodwork is normal, they think they are just too small to see. the vet also reported that he was eating, and was "perky"- so that's good. karen is going to get him now, and when he gets home we're stopping all drugs, and putting him on a new hypoalergenic vet catfood diet. in the middle of the week he has to get recultured for triconosis bacteria, which is hard to spot- if it comes back positive, he goes back on flagyll, which is good for that. otherwise, we're keeping him off all drugs for the next couple of months, just to get a baseline- as long as he doesn't deteriorate, hopefully that will be enough. thanks for all the good wishes!
hooray! glad to hear the bloodwork and ultrasound came back okay =) crossing fingers that the hypoallergenic diet works. I have a cat allergic to corn, and know a few others allergic to herring. cats are just as weird as humans sometimes.
have they thought about IBD (irritable bowel disorder/disease) at all? or is that the next step, after the drugs?
i think it would be hilarious if both me and my cat had IBD- b/c, and this is seriously TMI- i've had it since I was 8. just one more reason me and thompson were born to be together!
but seriously- do they make cat citrucel? do cats even need fiber? i mean, i'm not sure!
glad to hear things are relatively ok. sick kitties are the worst, as evidenced by waking up this morning to find my cat had thrown up on my blanket. yech.
Give Thompson a get well kiss from us (me and my two kitties).
Hope everything is well with Thompson! He's got to be the cutest cat I've ever seen.
Get better little one! You are much loved!
haha! you have IBD? well, they do say that pets get to be like their humans after a while...
cats do need fibre...I've heard you should give them a tablespoon of pumpkin (plain, canned - no spices, like what's in that pumpkin pie filling) in with their wet food every week for fibre. that said, mine have never eaten the pumpkin. my cats like their wet food un-tainted, thankyouverymuch. but maybe thompson would eat it.
I hope for your sake that thompson isn't allergic to corn. just TRY to find a dry cat food that doesn't have corn in it. it's virtually impossible.
My cat, Charlotte, had the same problems as Thompson when she was about nine months old; the vet [Dr. Aspros of Bond Animal Hospital in White Plains -- I know it's a haul from NYC, but Aspros is the former president of the NY State Veterinarians' Association] treated her with a course of Metronidazole, and it worked wonders. Two pills twice a day, with fewer miserable side effects than Cipro. Pilling a cat is no fun (for you or the cat), but the stuff works. Like you two, my husband and I were running out of cash for veterinary treatment, but Dr. Aspros worked wonders. Hope that helps.
v, thanks for the good advice! as a matter of fact, the vet said that if he comes back positive for any of the cultures, we'll use flagyl, which is a brand name for metronidazole! thompson seems to be doing better- he's eating, hasn't thrown up yet, and (TMI alert!) his poop seemed well formed today. so that's good- we'll get the new cultures on thursday, so he'll have at least until sunday to rest before we have to start flagyl.
No such thing as TMI when it comes to pets. Information and advice from a fellow cat person can make all the difference. It's so hard to see a pet suffering, especially when they can't articulate (at least in ways we can understand) what precisely is ailing them. (Particularly Thompson, who is the doppelganger of my mother's cat, Sammy.)
The fact that Thompson is pooping suggests that he is keeping at least some food down; our Charlotte wasn't. She was down to 5.5 lbs. while her brother and littermate -- our other cat, Archie -- was nearly 9. After a course of treatment with Metronidazole (and a few years), she's waxing fat and happy at twelve and a half pounds. Maybe a little too fat, but we'd take that over lethargic and dyspeptic any day.
One last pointer: we've found that coating pills in butter helps them go down better.
Im praying for the little guy.
sorry to hear.... get better!
So sorry to hear about your poor kitty Thompson. He's such a cutey. I just came accross your site as I was searching for more info. on Metronidazole before I give it to my cat, Ghost, who's been sick with diarrhea. My Vet thinks he has some some kind of food poisoning from a bad batch of meat as he's on a raw food diet. Anyway just wanted to let you know that you can get a flavoured liquid form of Metronidazole instead of the pill form which makes it way easier to administer. It comes in Chicken, tuna and beef I think. I'm from Canada though, so I don't know if you can get it in the States. Also, Have you ever tried Thomson on a raw food diet? I know I'm not a great advertisement for it as my cat is sick at the moment but this is the first time he's been in ill in the three years he's been on it and before that he was constantly plagued with cystitis and IBS. I'd tried practically every commercial and veteranary petfood available, wet and dry, with no relief and only tried raw out of desperation after he nearly died from a bladder blockage, but the results have been amazing. He hasn't had any trouble with either problem since! Is Thompson a purebread? Ghost was given to me by a roommate and is a mixed bread but I'm sure he's got a lot of burman in him. From what I've heard, pure breads are often plagued with health problems. It can get pretty exspensive sometimes but a sick pet is like having a sick child - You'd do anything to end their suffering and keep them with you. Goodluck with Thompson, I hope he continues to feel better.
Well how is the little guy doing? Don't keep us waiting?
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