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Anonymous
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Ok I know this is going to be long, I'll try to keep it as short as possible. I have a female Himalayan mix that is about 13 years old. I've had her since she was 5 weeks old (abandoned, grrr), adopted from a shelter. She's spayed, never had kittens. She's never been an outdoor cat, is fed Blue Spa food, completely spoiled attention wise. Over the years, she's had a few mysterious but expensive illnesses. At about 2 yrs, she developed a HIGH (107) fever and was extremely sick and was under constant watch by our amazing vet for 4 days. No idea what it was, even though they tested for everything under the sun. She was healthy and fine from 2-9 yrs, indoor cat only, etc. At about 10 yrs she developed Fatty Liver Disease, again almost lost her. I tube fed her for a month, she pulled out fine and she stayed healthy for 3 years.
In July of this year she got sick again. We took her to a new vet that came highly recommended for various reasons. He said that she appeared to have some sort of neurological disorder called Nystagmus because her eyes can't focus. They shift back and forth rapidly. He said the only way to fully diagnose her would be through expensive MRIs, etc. and that at her age it probably wasn't reasonable to put her through all of that. She didn't have a fever, blood work and stool sample came back fine. She barely ate or drank, and had (sorry, TMI warning here - do not read if you're eating) REALLY disgusting smelling green bowel movements, one of which was a pale pink and lots of it. The vet gave her sub Q fluids for dehydration and sent us home with 14 days of antibiotics and special high calorie canned SD food, since the only thing he found was a gum infection in her mouth. She ate a little of it from the first day, and gradually ate on her own and recovered fully.
Well it's been almost exactly 2 months, and she's sick again. It seems almost identical to her illness in July, except this time she won't eat anything at all. I'm confused, and frustrated. 4 days ago she was acting totally fine - eating, interacting, normal.
FI took her to the vet yesterday for me because I couldn't get away from work, which was another crappy story for another day. Anyhow, our vet didn't run tests since it had only been 2 months. He said that her gums looked fine and that the Nystagmus might be causing her more trouble as she gets older. He gave her fluids and sent us home w/the medicine, food and nutri cal since this time she's refusing food completely. Yesterday, before her vet visit at 4:30 pm, she was VERY lethargic and just looked sick. This morning she is acting more normal (walking more, holding her tail up, hiding less) but she still refuses food completely. I don't get it, and it's really frustrating because she LOOKS fine, but I know she isn't.
I don't know what to do. I don't want to force feed her for the rest of her life, but I also don't want to give up on her. I know that no matter what, I'm going to continue to force feed her at least enough to keep her from getting the Fatty Liver Disease again and give her body time in case the antibiotics help this time like before. She didn't have a fever, and her gums are fine, so I am skeptical about the medication. I just don't know. I've had her pretty much my entire adult life and I can't remember or imagine life without her.
So other than venting all of that out, I guess I'm trying to find out if this sounds familiar to anyone, since we have a lot of pet owners on PS. I know that nobody can give me a definitive answer, but is this really signaling end of life transition for her? She seems so young and has lived such a sheltered life that it's hard for me to accept or believe that. Why is she acting better, but not eating? Are the fluids and force feedings of nutri cal & SD giving her energy but not fixing some underlying issue? I really worry that I'm just prolonging the inevitable and getting our hopes up. Ugh, such a mess. I'm sorry, I hope that makes sense.
In July of this year she got sick again. We took her to a new vet that came highly recommended for various reasons. He said that she appeared to have some sort of neurological disorder called Nystagmus because her eyes can't focus. They shift back and forth rapidly. He said the only way to fully diagnose her would be through expensive MRIs, etc. and that at her age it probably wasn't reasonable to put her through all of that. She didn't have a fever, blood work and stool sample came back fine. She barely ate or drank, and had (sorry, TMI warning here - do not read if you're eating) REALLY disgusting smelling green bowel movements, one of which was a pale pink and lots of it. The vet gave her sub Q fluids for dehydration and sent us home with 14 days of antibiotics and special high calorie canned SD food, since the only thing he found was a gum infection in her mouth. She ate a little of it from the first day, and gradually ate on her own and recovered fully.
Well it's been almost exactly 2 months, and she's sick again. It seems almost identical to her illness in July, except this time she won't eat anything at all. I'm confused, and frustrated. 4 days ago she was acting totally fine - eating, interacting, normal.
FI took her to the vet yesterday for me because I couldn't get away from work, which was another crappy story for another day. Anyhow, our vet didn't run tests since it had only been 2 months. He said that her gums looked fine and that the Nystagmus might be causing her more trouble as she gets older. He gave her fluids and sent us home w/the medicine, food and nutri cal since this time she's refusing food completely. Yesterday, before her vet visit at 4:30 pm, she was VERY lethargic and just looked sick. This morning she is acting more normal (walking more, holding her tail up, hiding less) but she still refuses food completely. I don't get it, and it's really frustrating because she LOOKS fine, but I know she isn't. I don't know what to do. I don't want to force feed her for the rest of her life, but I also don't want to give up on her. I know that no matter what, I'm going to continue to force feed her at least enough to keep her from getting the Fatty Liver Disease again and give her body time in case the antibiotics help this time like before. She didn't have a fever, and her gums are fine, so I am skeptical about the medication. I just don't know. I've had her pretty much my entire adult life and I can't remember or imagine life without her.
So other than venting all of that out, I guess I'm trying to find out if this sounds familiar to anyone, since we have a lot of pet owners on PS. I know that nobody can give me a definitive answer, but is this really signaling end of life transition for her? She seems so young and has lived such a sheltered life that it's hard for me to accept or believe that.
Why is she acting better, but not eating? Are the fluids and force feedings of nutri cal & SD giving her energy but not fixing some underlying issue? I really worry that I'm just prolonging the inevitable and getting our hopes up. Ugh, such a mess. I'm sorry, I hope that makes sense.
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