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Thread: My sick cat

  1. #1
    Kaylinn
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    Default My sick cat

    You guys know all bout my sick cat.

    Well...she won't eat now. At all. It used to be that she couldnt eat dry food cause the sores in her mouth were just to painful for dry stuff, so we fed her wet, and she would do ok. She still had a appitite, but it just hurt her.
    For some reson, the last few days, she turns her nose up to EVERYTHING!
    She asks for food, when I tell them its treat time, she stil meows and begs for it, but when I give it to her, she sniffs it and turns her nose up. I thought she was gettign picky, but she has turned down everything. Even baby food, which she really used to love cause it was so easy to eat. She is even turning up Tuna, which used to be a favorite.

    I dont know what to do with this cat.
    She seems to be feling ok tho, better than usual. She is cleaning herself again, which she had stopped doing for awhile. She is acting normal to( well, normal for her sick condition)
    She doesnt seem any worse, just refusing to eat.

    I bought a high cal suppliment, but I cannot force it in ehr mouth due to her painful sores, but I cant mix it in food cause she dont liek how it taste and wont eat it.

    I dont know what to do. There is no cure. I have 2 choices.
    1. Pull out all her teeth. May or may not work. I dont want to do something that drastic to a 2 year old cat that may not owrk. I dont want her to live her whoel life with no teeth if it wont even help.
    2. Put her on a drug that may cause blindness. I am ready to go this route, and take the risk, As I would ratehr have her blind and healthy than sick. However...I cant find a vet in this area who will give me this drug long enough for it to work. She has been on it before, and it does work, bt she only has been on a 2 week course, and it isnt long enough to help. They wont give it to me for more than 2 weeks, due to the possile side effects. I have researched extensivly, talked to many many vets about it, and knwo that is the route I want to take.
    It is also very expensive, and at this moment, I cant afford it.

    I personally feel if I cannot afford, or cannot cure her, she would be put down. I dont want her miserable. My bf doesn;t agree. He thinks she isnt sick enough to be put down, and we will be able to fix her soon. Bu tthere is still no gaurentee. What she has is supposedly uncurable. He dont think she is suffering that much.

    I just dont knwo what to do. Im also worrie dif I put her down, her sister would go into a depression or even die of heartbreak. They are very close.

    I feel soo helpless, because Im just not sure what the right thing to do is. Even with all the money in the world, I still wouldnt know what to do, or woudl try so many things that may not work.

    She has put on weight recently, which is odd, concidering she seems to not be eating, although maybe she is eating dry food when IM not watching. I dont know, cause they have dry food out all the time, but who knows if she is eating it or just her sister.

    I tried lockign her in a room to see if she was eating or pooping, but it stresses her out to much to even try to eat. She just crys at the door. I cant feed them seperatly, sicne I cant seperate them, because they get to worried about where the other is.

    I dont know what to do. She isnt dying....just sick. The onyl issue is the mouth sores. They are painful, and they bleed(not a lot, just like, ooze....)

    There is nothign I can do for her. Im at such a loss, and I worry so much..and its getting to the point where I hate to be around her, becaue I feel so helpless, and I feel guilty for being helpless....so I want to ignore her cause ti hurts me to be helpless. But then I feel guilty for ignoring her.


    Sorry this is soo long. I just wanted to rant. I wish someoen could just say to me, Oh...here is the problem, her eis what you do to fix it. I woudl do that in a heartbeat. But noone seems to knwo exactly what the right thing is to do, all they can do is speculate.

  2. #2
    Featured Member needtodance's Avatar
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Poor baby kitty!

    Hopefully something will work out for you-have you tried making your own baby food in a food processor? I don't know if it would help but you could make it with foods that are no or low salt, that might hurt less going down.

    Your kitty's lucky to have someone as concerned as you looking out for her. I know she appreciates it.

  3. #3
    cameron_keys
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    If the vets wont give you the meds she needs..what have they recommended??

  4. #4
    Kaylinn
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Most of the vets we've taken her to were clueless abotu what was wrong. They woudl prescribe drugs that did not work. Others have said pull her teeth, btu it may not help. One vet we really liked, she was aggressive in her treatment, and prescribed 2 different antibiotics, a immune booster and a pain med. One of thoes antibiotics works, and we see a ddefinate improvment. But this drug is contreversial becasue of the side effects.

    It is Baytril. It works. However..this vet will onyl prescribe it for 2 weeks at a time because of the side effects. All the other vets in her office disagre with her and will nto prescribe it at all, and think she is wrong for giving it to us. Everyoen else refuses to use it. But they dont knwo of anythign better to recommend.
    One vet we spoke with recommended this one antibiotic that she REFUSED to give us in shot form, even tho the other vet gives us everythign in shot form, as I was a nurse, I know how to do it. This vet INSTSTED she take it in pill form.
    Hello! The cat has terrible moth sores that are very painful. We could never shove a pill down her throat. She owuldnt allow us, and to be honest, I dont wnt to cause her that kind of pain.

    Noone really knows the best way to help her. Its been trial and error, we finally found what works, but has severe side effects and cant get it prescribed long enough.
    They disagree on the diagnosis. Mos tthink its calcivirus, but some think its some other autoimmune thing. The interesting thing is calcivirus is very contangous, but her sister is healthy. The vet said maybe sinc they have been together since birth, her sister just became immune to it. Who knows?

    I spoke to one vet, not in this area, who said that she needs a 1 month cycle of this drug, Batril. And that shoudl work, he says in 20 years of being a vet, he has never seen blindness in cats due to this drug. But he isnt in this area, and no vet around here agrees with that, and wont give it to me.

    They look at me like IM a piece of shit for wanting to give my cat a drug that could have such severe side effects. I feel that it's worth the risk. I have done my research. I think I should be allowed to choose what I think is best for my cat, as long as I am well informed, which I feel I am.

  5. #5
    cameron_keys
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Odd...when i worked for a vet, they used Baytril all the time and i never saw any adverse side effects. Could the vet who waswilling to do it long term write you a script that you can go fill/ (you can get baytril at a human pharmacy, it is made by Bayer...and there are several online pet pharmacies as well)

    If it is autoimmune I cant see how removing teeth would help. it may cut down a bit since her teeth may be contributing to mouth strewss...but it treating the symptom not the disease.

    there are several possibilities that come to mind of diseases that cause such oral lesions. If I remember correctly...they are all treated with a steroid(like prednisone) and antibiotics(like baytril)

    calcivirus usually shows additional symptoms of extreme upper respitory problems...lots of mucus discharge, trouble breathing,etc...

    sorry i cant really help more as it has been years since i was a tech...this is just what I remember

  6. #6
    Kaylinn
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Thanks.

    See, thats the thing, Im not so sure it is calci. She doesnt have any respiratory symptoms, just the mouth lesions. Thats it. Her glands in her neck are also swollen, but I was led to believe that was just because of whatever is going on in her mouth. The lymph fluid in thoes glands was tested, and came out normal. She has absolutly no other symptoms but the lesions. And she hasn't infected her sister, and they were both vaccinated as kittens. She has never been prescribed steriods, although I have read that may help.
    She has been on The Baytril ( the onyl thing that does work)
    Amoxacillin
    Clavamox
    Interferron
    Few other antibiotics
    Nothing works, or even touches it but the Baytril. We have even tried mixing the antibiotics, giving her a few at the same time, to cover a broader spectrum, but onyl the Baytril alone helps. I have also read lactoferrin can help, but interferron dont usualyl help. However, I cant find lactoferron anywhere. I have read that l lysine may help, but it didn't.
    and a pain shot....beunorephrine(sp? something like that)


    I have emailed the vet willing to prescribe, and aske dif he can write a script I can fill online, at like, 1800petmeds, I dont know if he will be willing, since he has never seen her.

    I really dont think it is calcivirus. She's been ill sicne she was a kitten, it just has gottne progressivly worse. Grr...I dont know what to do.

    Thanks for the help.....we'll figure it out sooner or later. Or I'll end up with a toothless, blind sick cat.....

  7. #7
    cameron_keys
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    I"m not sure if you need an outside script for 100petmeds. i've never ordered from them, but they say on the site that they have a vet staff.So maybe they write the script for you?

  8. #8
    Featured Member yogibear179's Avatar
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    maybe you an blend up food and get a syringe and put it in her mouth... sounds weird but my mom was a nurse that did this to old people that couldnt chew well... it dosent have to go deep, just in back of her mouth.. it kinda looks like a shot x 100 and no needle at the end... but def. talk to the vet...


  9. #9
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Has she been tested for FIV? She sounds FIV+ to me.

  10. #10
    Kaylinn
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    ^^ yep. Tested Neg.
    And isnt that contageuos as well? Her sister is prefectly healthy....

    And they were both vaccinated for everythign as kittens. She was sick, however, since we got her as a baby...but for the longest time, she just had swollen glands, and they wrote it off as an URI, would give a course of amoxi or clavamox. It just kept getting worse and worse to where it is today.

    ETA: IM reading up on FIV now..it seems tests arent always accurate, I think I will ask them to retest her, just in case. Can't hurt.....Thanks, Yek.....

  11. #11
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    FIV is contagious the same way HIV is, through blood and sex. Since she's not having sex with her sister and presumably her mouth hurts too badly to fight her, it's unlikely her sister would be infected.

    It really sounds like FIV to me. Possibly her mother had it and she was one of the unlucky ones who picked it up during birth or nursing (it can be transmitted this way, but isn't always). It's also possible her sister has it and it just hasn't manifested yet - look at how so many people with HIV are healthy for years and years before it begins to manifest as AIDS. And when it does, mouth lesions are one of the first symptoms.

    You should have her tested again, and get her sister tested as well. I hope she doesn't have it, but that's what it sounds like to me.

  12. #12
    Kaylinn
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    I find it unlikely that her sister wouldn't catch it, I mean, her mouth bleeds constantly, they share a food bowl, water bowl, bed, they clean each other....

    But....this really sucks. When they were babies, her sister was the sck one, with constant sneezing, col dliek symptoms. I read that FIV has 3 stages, like HIV. First they are sick, then they get better for years even, then it goesinto an AIDS like thing....
    So i suppose it is possible that Butter has it as well, it is just dormant right now, and for whatever reason, Peanut was hit harder, and is progressing faster.
    I would be very upset if both my babies had it.

    BUt....Baytril is an antibiotic, and that does help, if she had FIV, how woudl an antibiotic help improve her?


    I will take them both in to get tested this week regardless. Maybe the firts test as kittens was wrong or something.....

    Keep yrou fingers crossed it isnt that.

  13. #13
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Well... FIV and HIV are viruses, but they work by weakening the immune system. You don't actually get sick from HIV, you get sick from whatever else infects you because your immune system can't fight it off like it normally would. For example, many people infected with HIV/AIDS actually die of a rare form of pneumonia; healthy people are also exposed to this pneumonia, but don't get sick because a healthy immune system just kills it straightaway. (And pneumonia is bacterial.)

    So if Peanut has FIV, it's entirely possible that the antibiotics are killing whatever bacterial infection her immune system is too weak to kill on its own. Lots of bacterial infections cause lesions and sores, from syphilis to impetigo. The Baytril might be killing those, but as soon as she stops taking the Baytril, the bacteria come right back. Antibiotics are meant to help a healthy immune system, not replace it.

    It's definitely a possibility that both Peanut and Butter are infected, and Butter's immune system is just stronger right now. Like I said, they might have gotten it from their mother.

    I really hope it's something else, but they should both be tested. Let me know what the test says, and whatever it is, we're all here to support you.

  14. #14
    Kaylinn
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    ^^ yeah...all makes perfect sence. I knew everythign you told me, I'm having a brain fart.

    I really really hope it isnt that.

    The first cat we got when we got out here lived 3 days, and died of panleukopenia. What are the chances we got more sick cats? I NEVER had a sick cat before I lived in vegas.

    I'll call the vet in the morning.....

    fuck.

  15. #15
    Kaylinn
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Christ. I called the vet to find out the price.
    Me: How much is the FIV test?
    Stupid receptionsit: Umm..you mean the leukemia?
    NO, I mean the FIV.
    HEr: Umm...I dont think cats can get that...uhh,they can onyl get leukemia
    me: NO, Feline immunodeficiency virus. Like hiv, for cats, ever heard of it?
    Her: yeah...but I think its the same thing as Feline leukemia, the test is $40.
    Me: transfer me to someone who knows what the fuck they are talking about please.
    Her: Oh, I knwo what Im talkign about.
    Me: Oh really? Im reading a website right now, " Although related, FeLV and FIV differ in many ways, including their shape: FeLV is more circular while FIV is elongated. The two viruses are also quite different genetically, and their protein consituents are dissimlar in size and composition. Although many of the diseases caused by FeLV and FIV are similar, the specific ways in which they are caused differs.
    Her: Oh......
    Me: Transfer me to another receptionist.


    Long story short...the test is $40 each, plus a $30 office visit charge.
    That's $140 for both cats, just to test them. That dont include the drugs I want, that I KNOW help her. Thoes drugs are expensive! Our last visit came to over $300 for just meds!
    Guess I better make some money this week at work.....

    fuck. I hope it's not that. I dont knwo what I'll do if both my babies are sick.....

  16. #16
    Featured Member xbloodydewdropx's Avatar
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    I hope your kitty feels better....
    "Seeing the landscape at this superficial level only captures its boring uniformity, not allowing you to immerse yourself in the spirit of the place; for that you must stop at least several days."

    ~Che Guevara, "The Motorcycle Diaries"

  17. #17
    AlexxaHex
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Oh wow - this is so sad. It's giving me flashbacks to when Siren developed this awful sinus thing, where I had to give her steroids (prednasone) because she wasn't eating. She didn't have mouth sores though, so I'm not sure if the problems are related. But usually when cats don't eat it's because they can't smell their food. I really have no serious advice, just letting you know I've been there too - scared to death that my cat was going to die. It's the most helpless feeling...ugh.

    Hope she's okay.

  18. #18
    Yekhefah
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    What a dumbfuck receptionist. "They only get FLV"? WTF? So cats are magical creatures, immune to every disease but that one? What the hell does she think all the sick cats that come through her office are infected with? Grrr...

    Anyway, talk to your vet. Most vets aren't like doctors; they actually care about their patients and are willing to work with you. If you explain to the vet that you're really afraid your cats might be infected with FIV, but you can't afford $140 for the tests to find out. They might waive the office visit charge or even the whole thing, or work out a payment plan. And it makes sense from a financial standpoint as well; if they do have FIV (and it sounds crass to say this, but it's true) then the vet stands to make that $140 back many times over in meds. Don't say that last bit, just know he's thinking it and plead accordingly.

    You have the advantage of being a very pretty young girl with a very sick kittycat. Anyone on Earth will be eager to help you however they can. Just bring the cat in and ask to speak to the vet for a moment before booking an appointment. Oh, and you can also probably swing it by just testing Peanut first. If Peanut is FIV-, then it's a pretty good bet Butter is too, so you only have to test Butter if Peanut comes up positive.

    Adorable names, BTW!

  19. #19
    Veteran Member scarletfang's Avatar
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    i'm currently workign as a vet tech, and we frequently prescribe longterm courses of baytril in cats - as long as you keep the dosing to no more than 5mg/kg, there is only a very slight chance of retinal damage and blindness...we still have clients sign a waiver, but if it's the appropriate drug, the doctors have no problem using it...

    also, if she's interested in the dry food, but can't eat it because her mouth hurts, you can try soaking it so that it's mushy (i find it really really gross, but some cats like their dry food better than anything else)...

    for pain control, rather than pills, you can ask for transdermal codeine - it's a gel/paste that is applied to an area of skin with minimal hair (usually inside the ear, although i've known pet owners who choose to shave a small spot as a reminder) two or three times a day...we use it almost exclusively in patients who have had major dental work done (there are also transdermal fentanyl patches, but even the smallest ones tend to be a little bit too much for most cats, and they don't stay on very well so most vets are reluctant to send them home)...

    feel free to pm me anytime...
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  20. #20
    Kaylinn
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    ohh....good point, I will test just Peanut first and see how it goes.
    And, I asked abotu payment plans they said no way, but I may have a better shot askign the vet directly, she is a nice woman, cares abotu my cats, knows our constant battle with ehr illness, and she has cut us tremendous breaks before....

    I'll let ya knwo what hapens.

    ( and thanks, but I cant take credit for their names, they came to me that way!)

  21. #21
    Kaylinn
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Peanut & Matt
    And Butter, Peanut and Matt
    Last edited by Kaylinn; 07-05-2007 at 05:04 AM.

  22. #22
    cameron_keys
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaylinn View Post
    ohh....good point, I will test just Peanut first and see how it goes.
    And, I asked abotu payment plans they said no way, but I may have a better shot askign the vet directly, she is a nice woman, cares abotu my cats, knows our constant battle with ehr illness, and she has cut us tremendous breaks before....

    I'll let ya knwo what hapens.

    ( and thanks, but I cant take credit for their names, they came to me that way!)
    You can apply for Care Credit...every vet I've ever worked for accepted it..it's basically a credit card for vet payments.

  23. #23
    Kaylinn
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    yep, they told me to apply for that, but we wont get approved.
    I'll just dedicate a night of work to them. and bf gets payed thursday, so we will be able to get them tested this week, and while they're there get a round of baytril, while we wait for results.

  24. #24
    cameron_keys
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    ^^ yeah..it IS difficult to get approved for. Have you heard anything fro mthe other vet? The one who was willing to give baytril long term?

  25. #25
    Kaylinn
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    Default Re: My sick cat

    Nope...he might take a few days, it was just a vet I searched for and found online, that specializes in calici, and I sent him an email in hopes he could offer advice, and we ended up trading emails back and forth several times, he was quite helpful...I dont even know what state or country he is from....

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