Please send good thoughts for my sick kitty

[Merriweather]

My 7year old black, part Siamese kitty is sick. She suddenly stopped eating a day or so ago, and today stopped drinking.

I took her in, nothing obvious was found, but upon weighing her, it's obviously something that's been slowly going on for a while, she's lost a lot of weight (she is a kitty you simply do NOT pick up, so it's harder to notice she's getting smaller when she's never picked up).

They drew blood for a ton of tests, injected fluids to hydrate her, and injected some antibiotics. The vet said her heart & lungs sound ok, there's no obvious masses or anything, so we just have to wait for the blood tests results (will get them back tomorrow sometime)

It isn't likely to be anything simple, more likely to be either long term condition or nothing to do.

I'm freaking out a bit, mainly about losing my sweet little kitty, but also about what we can afford on major conditions - the tests and treatments today alone cost us $250, which is hard to manage right now.

And on top of it all, I'm coping with it on my own, hubby is working out of state (long, sad, story no one wants to hear).

So think good thoughts fo rme, please, and for my kitty.

[Mytical]

Good thoughts for both you and kitty, and *hugs* for you. Hopefully something that can be fixed..might just be something has changed and freaked kitty out..

[Sonoma]

Sending head bonks & kitty hugs that she starts feeling better soon.

[Caffienated_Caramel]

Nooo kitty! Hope she'll be ok

[Marmalady]

Sending cuddles for both you and kitty. I hope she soon starts getting better.

(and as for the 'long sad story no one wants to hear', one thing you can be sure of - on this site, if you do want to share anything, there will be lots of people to support, advise or just listen if you need to just vent )

[Merriweather]

I've been holding her as much as she'll put up with, and cuddling her - something that just does not happen when she's herself, the most I can usually do is when she's somewhere she feels safe, like on the bed, I can rub her behind the ears, and under the chin, and even kiss the top of her head. But no peting her body, and no picking her up. Only very, very rare exceptions to that. Unless you want scars. She gets scared very easy, even by us, and when she's scared, she attacks.

But what's really killing me is that she feels like she's been being starved for months, she's skin and bones. I still feel like it's my fault, I should have realized (though as I said, when you don't pick them up, you can't tell as well, but still.... the guilt is overwhelming). The vet thinks most of it was gradual, then a sudden drop the last couple of days that made it all really apparent.

The thing is, even last night, she was playful. I'd have had her at the vet long ago if she'd been lethargic or had other symptoms, but last night she was playing a bit with the light on the flashlight, and even this morning, she was sitting on the window sill looking out at the view. She hasn't been full of energy, but she's been pretty normal, except for suddenly not eating, and realizing now she's been losing weight steadily.

She's still not eating or drinking, and seems so weak she can barely walk across the room. I'm honestly afraid she won't make it thru the night. I just keep telling myself that if she were that far gone, surely the vet would have kept her over night. But she seems to have gotten weaker even in the time after we got home. Maybe I'm paranoid, and she's just worn out from everything, plus sore from the shots.

The vet just seemed so confident that we'd get the test results back tomorrow and go from there, she talked about a few things it could be, the severity, etc. but never sounded at all like she was in immediate danger - she was honest that it could be sometthing with grave consequences, but never even mentioned danger right this minute.

I hope I'm just overreacting, but when you can cuddle a kitty more in one night than you've been able to cuddle her in at least the last five of her seven years (she could be cuddled as a kitten), then you can't help but feel she's in really bad shape. In fact, when I called hubby out of state to tell him I had her at the vet's, his response, was that if I could manage to get her into the carrier by myself, she must really be in bad shape.

Anyway, thank you for your nice thoughts, if she can just hang on til the results come back tomorrow, she can hopefully get some help.

And to add to it all, every now and then, out of the blue, she just gives these totally heart breaking plaintive meows, like she really wants me to do something, but I've no idea what.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Damn... I love cats.

I hope the tests come back quickly and treatment can be started right away. You have my best positive vibes coming.

[Kristev]

May the vets learn exactly what is wrong, and have a cure that will save her, and that you can afford.

[Pixilated]

to you and the sick kitty. Hope everything turns out OK.

[Crossbow]

I hope you're overreacting as well. I'm hoping and praying for her as well.

[MaggieTheCat]

Sending many hugs and kitty cuddles from our kitties here. I hope the vet is able to identify the source of the issue and work with you on getting treatment for her. Definitely talk to him about some kind of payment plan if it's going to be something you can't afford all upfront.

[Merriweather]

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the kind words.

Keela died in my arrms this morning.

Long story short, it was kidney disease. It had advanced with either subtle signs or no signs at all on some matters. Options were a hospital stay with extensive treatments, very expensive, and with at best a 25% chance she'd come thru, and only that if several things worked out perfectly. And if she beat the odds on all that, and would eat a special diet & allow us to inject her with fluids almost every day, she might live a few months more. That's all best case scenario. And very stressful to a cat who doesn't even like to be picked up, who freaks out over a simple vet check up. So that left the decision of treatment or not, and if not, let it go it's course and add more discomfort, or hasten it.

After talking to the vet, I wrapped the kitty in a soft blanket and sat and held her, not knowing what to do, and within half an hour or less she peacefully died in my arms. As my sister said, someone higher up realized I just couldn't make those decisions, and stepped in to take care of it.

Thanks again to all of you who sent kind words.

[Marmalady]

Oh Merriweather, I'm so sorry for your loss *gives hug*
At least when she was called home, she was being cuddled by you.

[retailworker7]

Merriweather,

I am so sorry for your loss. Cats are really good at hiding illnesses. Please do not beat yourself up over this. It is very difficult to notice a cat is losing weight just from looking at them.

In 2003 I lost one of my babies when she became blocked and stopped going to the bathroom. She had stopped eating suddenly on me and was living on my bed. Like your cat my Baby T was not big on being held so I did not notice she had lost a bunch of weight either. My hubby noticed she was not eating and she was really thin. I did take her to the vet and they had a hard time figuring out what was wrong. They had to x-ray her to find the blockage. She died while they were trying to fix her. Even having the money to spend at the time was not enough to save my baby. It took me along time to stop blaming myself for not noticing she was not actually going to the bathroom. It is really difficult to do this with 3 cats and 3 liter boxes.

Please do not blame yourself. You did everything you could. All the money in the world may not be able to save a kitty with advanced kidney disease. It is obvious to me how much you loved your baby. She is no longer in pain and is enjoying a peaceful exisistence while waiting til you two meet eventually at the rainbow bridge. Sometimes there is nothing you can do to change things. Hugs to you during this difficult time. Please allow yourself the time you need to grieve for your baby.

[HYHYBT]

However she might have felt when healthy, I have no doubt that in her condition there was no place she'd rather have been than in your arms.

And the answer to "how long do cats live?" is STILL "never long enough."