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  • Prayers for my sick kitty

    This has not been a good year for cats. I lost Misty last June, followed by Joey just two months later. Last year, we lost Frisky, and the year before that, we lost our beloved Orange Bastard. I figured that would be it for awhile, since the cats we have left are fairly young. I may turn out to be wrong.

    Some of you may remember me posting about a pair of kittens that my friends found abandoned in some fiberglass insulation, which they nursed back to health, and talked me into taking them in. This is about Radar, the little orange one.

    We took a cruise last October, and when we came home, we found Radar was sick. He wasn't eating, had lost some weight, and was very congested. It was on a Sunday, so my regular vet wasn't open. My son thought he'd be OK if we waited until the next day and tried to get him to our regular vet, but I panicked and took him to the animal hospital, even though it would cost $100 just to even have him looked at. The doctor threw all kinds of scary possibilities out there, including feline leukemia or AIDS. He said he didn't usually see that sort of thing in adult cats, usually just kittens whose immune systems weren't fully developed. He also said he was dehydrated. He took him back in another room, pumped him full of fluids, and gave him an antibiotic shot that would be good for two weeks. The bill was $200, and I didn't have a lot of money to spare having just returned from a cruise. And the icing on the cake was, we hit a deer on the way home. It was a huge buck with an enormous rack, standing right in the middle of the damn highway at 2:30 in the morning. I swerved to the left to try to avoid it, but the stupid deer did the same thing. Took off my side mirror and antenna, and busted up a couple of the side panels pretty good. I remember looking up and screaming, "Shoot me now!"

    Luckily, my insurance covers that sort of thing, with just a $100 deductible. The repair estimate was about $2,200. I wasn't very happy with the rental company that my insurance company hooked me up with, but that's a whole other story. The antibiotic seemed to help Radar, and he started eating again and acting like himself. But as the two weeks came to a close, he started acting sick again. This time, I called my regular vet, and told him what was going on, and said I needed him looked at as soon as possible. He set me up with a time slot that isn't even when the office is normally open. That's one of the reasons I still go to him even though I no longer live in the area and it takes a good 40 minutes to get there. He gave us three different types of medicine, two oral and one to be injected. Thankfully, my wife knows how to give injections, having had a mother who was diabetic. This visit cost about another $200.

    We gave him the medication, but he still wouldn't eat or drink on his own. We resorted to syringe feeding him, which wasn't pleasant for any of us. Just when we started feeling hopeless, he started drinking water on his own. My wife looked up the medication, and one of the side effects was loss of apetite. So we figured it was from that. We finished off the medication, and hoped that his appetite would return. Around the same time, the kitten we took in last summer had appointment to be neutered. I tried to talk to the vet when I dropped him off, but he wasn't in at the time. I called him later to ask if I should be worried that he still wasn't eating on his own, and now he was worried too. Up until then, he had been pretty optimistic. Now that he was worried, so was I. He told me he'd look at him again if I wanted to bring him in. When I brought him in, he had lost even more weight, and his body temperature was low. Up until then, it had been normal. And once again, he was dehydrated. I guess the water he was drinking on his own wasn't enough. He offered to do some bloodwork, which I agreed to. Even if he wasn't going to make it, I wanted to know just what the hell was wrong, especially if it was something that could endanger the other cats. This visit cost me another $160 or so. The vet told me to call next day for the results, and to see if our kitten was ready to come home.

    I took him back home, feeling really hopeless. The next day, my son told me he was acting a little more like himself, and was even purring for him, but I wasn't getting my hopes up. I called later that day, fearing the worst with the test results. The good news was, he tested negative for feline leukemia and AIDS. A few of the numbers were a little off, but nothing really bad. The only one that concerned him was the calcium. It was little high, which he said could indicate a tumor, although he didn't see any evidence of that. The bad news was, he was still concerned that Radar wasn't eating. He told us there was one more thing he could try.

    A couple hours later, my wife called me with some amazing news. She got out the food and the syringe, and Radar stuck his face in the can and started eating on his own. When we brought Radar in and told the vet of this, he actually got excited, maybe even more excited than we did. He put him on another injectable antibiotic, to be given in small doses this time. Then his assistant brought our kitten in for us to take him, along with two bills, one for Radar and one for our kitten. The one for Radar was another $200, which made me cringe. But then the vet told his assistant, "No, we're not charging them for this one." That's right -- he cut us a $200 break, which was good because even without that, my credit card maxed out. But Radar was eating again and was getting better -- more active less congested, and acting a lot more like himself.

    ...until today. I got up for work, and found a note on the board from my wife, telling me that Radar wouldn't eat for her. I tried myself, and he wouldn't eat for me either. He hasn't eaten all day, and we had to go back to the syringe. Maybe the medicine started messing up his appetite again, I don't know. He's eyes are also pretty messed up, and we're not sure how much he can see, if at all. He made it downstairs twice over the last two days, which is a first, so I guess that's something. But we can't keep going on like this, emotionally or financially. Something's got to give.

    Please keep Radar in your thoughts.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by MadMike; 12-15-2012, 02:35 AM. Reason: Just noticed a typo
    Sometimes life is altered.
    Break from the ropes your hands are tied.
    Uneasy with confrontation.
    Won't turn out right. Can't turn out right

  • #2
    Sending prayers and hugs for Radar, Mike, hoping so much that he'll soon get better.
    Engaged to the sweet Mytical He is my Black Dragon (and yes, a good one) strong, protective, the guardian. I am his Silver Dragon, always by his side, shining for him, cherishing him.

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    • #3
      Sending prayers and good thoughts your way, that little Radar recovers quickly.

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      • #4
        Sending my thoughts and prayers your way. I hope he starts eating.
        "If your day is filled with firefighting, you need to start taking the matches away from the toddlers…” - HM

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        • #5
          Mike I am sorry to hear your kitty is still sick. Is Radar still congested? If he is still congested he may not be able to smell his food.

          Here is something you can try at home that will not cost you any money. Steam up your bathroom by running the shower with really hot water. Take Radar in the bathroom with you for about 15-20 minutes. This may help with the congestion. Sometimes cats will not eat when they can not smell their food.

          Also what are you feeding him? Perhaps you could try some fancy feast wet food. I used this to get my 17 year old cat to start eating again. It is really cheap wet food.

          Do you have any chicken in your house? You could also try cooking plain chicken for your kitty. I have also used this to get my 17 year old to eat again.

          I am going to send you a PM with some more information.

          Hugs to you and your babies during this difficult time.

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          • #6
            I'll be keeping Radar in my thoughts.
            Some oddball things to check - check his head very carefully for bite marks. My cat had a pretty bad one from what kind of fight I don't know, it healed fine, but forever after he had wicked infected sinuses so I would have to steam shower him to clear his nose - then he would eat fine. The alternative was an expensive surgery that my vet said may not work.
            You mentioned something about his eyes being messed up - what are the details on that?
            Is Radar under two and smaller than the other kitten you picked up at the same time?

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            • #7
              Is your kitty using the litter box?

              As for dehydration, if you're not feeding them wet food, it's almost a given that they will be at least marginally dehydrated - in nature, cats get most of their hydration in their food. Speaking of food, if the first two ingredients aren't animal-based, don't buy it. Ever.

              There are so many different things that can happen to cats, and as with any other small predator, they'll try to hide their distress so as not to become prey to larger predators, of which even their humans qualify.

              ^-.-^
              Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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              • #8
                I'll try to answer everyyone's questions. As far as his eyes being messed up, the one looks swollen, and the other one looks a little sore. The vet said the swollen one is most likely blind, possibly the other one too. I think he at least has some vision, because I don't think he'd jump down from the couch if he couldn't see the floor. We've been giving him eye cream that the vet gave us ($20 for a tiny little tube -- ouch!) Just one more thing for him to hate.

                He's been eating wet food, although when started eating on his own again, he'd eat a little of the dry food. I wouldn't mind giving him chicken, but strangely enough, he's never cared for people food. His brother, on the other hand, will steal your food if you're not careful.

                He'll use the box, if we take him to it at the right time, or if he can find it on his own. He made it downstairs on his own a few times, and I think the one time he may have used the box on his own.

                We've done the "steam bath" thing. It seems to cut down on him sniffling and snorting, at least for a while.

                Radar is six years old. The vet said his respiratory system is messed up from being in that fiberglass insulation when he was little. His brother was born into the same conditions, but he's perfectly healthy. Go figure. But then he was always the stronger of the two.

                The other cats are my son's cat that used to live at his girlfriend's until they broke up. He's about a year and a half.

                The kitten that my friend gave us is 7 or 8 months old, although you would never guess. He's already 10 lbs. My friend joked that he must be part mountain lion.

                The weather has been really crazy over here. It got really warm, then cold again, and it rained for three or four days straight. He seemed to get congested again when the weather started acting up.

                It's also possible that the medicine is messing up his appetite. He started eating again just after we finished the last batch of medicine, so maybe he'll be OK once we finish with this one. My wife called the vet to see if we should still be giving it to him, and if he doesn't start eating again, to call him. He said not to wait too long after this medicine runs out. So we might have to take him over there again. Not sure how I'm going to pay for it. I just got paid, and things are already pretty tight.
                Sometimes life is altered.
                Break from the ropes your hands are tied.
                Uneasy with confrontation.
                Won't turn out right. Can't turn out right

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                • #9
                  Oh Mike, Radar, I am sending you good thoughts and hugs.
                  In my heart, in my soul, I'm a woman for rock & roll.
                  She's as fast as slugs on barbituates.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth MadMike View Post
                    He's been eating wet food, although when started eating on his own again, he'd eat a little of the dry food. I wouldn't mind giving him chicken, but strangely enough, he's never cared for people food. His brother, on the other hand, will steal your food if you're not careful.
                    One of my "street kittens" was that way - people food was garbage to him (as in scrounged from) so he would only eat "fancy" cat food - he wouldn't even eat tuna from a can. Any chance you can get CatMilk - it is like Ensure for cats? In my experience you can get even low/no appitite cats to get that down.
                    This vet seems to know you really well, any chance they can put you on account?

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                    • #11
                      Have you tried different kinds of food to give him? Our cats (one girl especially) sometimes get sick of eating the same thing all the time. Also, you might ask your vet about a canned food called A/D Feline Critical Care: http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-...re-canned.html
                      I don't normally recommend Hill's food because a lot of it is crap, but this stuff is supposed to taste really, really good and be high in calories, so it's good for sick or injured animals that need to put on or keep on weight.

                      I hope your kitty gets better soon. Sending positive thought and kitty cuddles.

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                      • #12
                        Teh kittehs and I send along happy thoughts, and hope that Radar gets well soon.
                        Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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                        • #13
                          Quoth MadMike View Post
                          He's been eating wet food, although when started eating on his own again, he'd eat a little of the dry food. I wouldn't mind giving him chicken, but strangely enough, he's never cared for people food. His brother, on the other hand, will steal your food if you're not careful.
                          Try baby food, single ingredient, chicken, beef, or turkey, if he won't eat that on his own it would be easier to syringe feed. Also nutircal is good(concentrated for cats off their food-I mix it with catmilk, or KMR), or catsure.

                          All of these should be obtainable at most larger commercial pet stores
                          Honestly.... the image of that in my head made me go "AWESOME!"..... and then I remembered I am terribly strange.-Red dazes

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                          • #14
                            Re: the congestion, how is your house heated? If you have a furnace, you might need to change the filters, especially if Radar likes to hang out next to the furnace vents.

                            It is certainly possible that the insulation could have messed up his lungs. One of our old cats, Rocky, had respiratory problems all his life due to being very, very sick when he was a kitten. He had to have a combo of metronidizole and (I think) zithromax every few months to clear up a chronic cough. There is a chronic respiratory thing that cats get that does muck up the eyes, too.

                            I'm praying hard for you and Radar.
                            When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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                            • #15
                              Quoth BlaqueKatt View Post
                              Try baby food, single ingredient, chicken, beef, or turkey, if he won't eat that on his own it would be easier to syringe feed. Also nutircal is good(concentrated for cats off their food-I mix it with catmilk, or KMR), or catsure.

                              All of these should be obtainable at most larger commercial pet stores
                              I 2nd the suggestions above.

                              Also is it possible that he is having a hard time seeing his food because he can not smell. Is he being fed out of a bowl? Maybe try putting the wet food on a paper plate. Will he let you hang out with him alone in a room while he is eating. It seems like you were saying one of the other cats may be a bit of a food hog. Is it possible that one of the other cats is getting in his way while he is eating? I deal with that issue daily with my 17 year old's wet food meals. My kitty insists on eating out a bowl on my coffee table so I have to sit there and keep everyone else out of his way or he will not eat.

                              What wet food are you currently feeding? If there were any changes the manufacturer made recently perhaps he does not like the food anymore. Have you tried different flavors in that type of wet food or a different wet food?

                              Fancy Feast is considered junk food but it may be worth a shot. There are plenty of people who feed high quality grain free wet foods that have turned to fancy feast as short term way to get a sick cat to start eating again.

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