sick kitty :(

Jeanie

S I'm so sorry about kitka. I guess these things are trial and error and educating yourself as best you can. Working out what works best for your girl. But you can do it! Muttley gets a lot of raw now, but I do suppliment with a quality dry food because that's what works best for him. It will be like a puss puzzle, but you'll work it out. Just keep trying till you hit upon the solution.

ForestBrain

GraySaturday wrote:

I know, I know, there will be someone who says something crude about "sick kitty" but please. I'm serious with this thread:

Anyways, as some of you know, I have three cats. Madeline, Aubrey, and Caitlin.

Aubrey is special needs, as she has IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). She spent the first 5 months of her life living in a glass box at Petsmart. I adopted her, from a shelter who was renting out space at Petsmart to show their cats. Anyways, they were feeding her some generic cat food for months, and she was subject to people starring at her all day, and people bringing dogs in, and such. When we first took her home, we noticed that there were blood spots on the floor. They were little round drips. Nothing like pools of blood. So I took Aubrey to the Emergency Vet. right away. Needless to say, I was told that she has IBS. She has to have special food, for the rest of her life. So I found the right food, I put all of my cats on it, so I wouldn't risk Aubrey eating anything bad for her.

So for months, she seemed to be doing well. Then that pet food recall hit, and lo and behold the one kind of Natural Balance cat food that was recalled was the special kind. So I researched, and came up with a new food that was comparable to the other kind. So, I put Aubrey on that. A few months passed and I started to see the blood spots, but this time they were a lot more frequent. It got so bad, that I refused to keep her on this food. So I called Natural Balance and they told me they released a new food that was the same formula as the old stuff.

Okay fast forward a week. Aubrey has been on the "semi-new" food for a week now, and the blood is still there, and now she is throwing up. It makes me sooooooo sad to see her like this. The doctor tells me this is how its going to be. For some reason I just can't accept that. She leads a stressful life. My other cats sorta pick on each other, but they both love Aubrey and they don't bother her. She never goes outside, ever. And she receives tons of love from us. But my heart breaks for her. She's getting skinny too.

I need some support or something. I don't know what to do for her.

That is soooo sad :( I'm sorry to hear that. My poor little kitty has terrible asthma attacks. Poor thing is extremely delicate and has punctured her lungs more than once. Sick kitties are a very heart-breaking thing to go through. :( Sorry about your kitty.

GraySaturday

Update:

Poor Aubrey bear has been getting worse.. More blood spots all the time all over the house. She uses the litter box like 55 thousand times a day and never goes much at all. I am convinced that this isn't IBS and I am seeking a third opinion. I actually think she is having kidney or bladder problems and I am worried sick because the blood is getting worse.

Tomorrow night I am taking her to the vet.. Please keep her in your thoughts :(

small town beck

GraySaturday wrote:

Update:

Poor Aubrey bear has been getting worse.. More blood spots all the time all over the house. She uses the litter box like 55 thousand times a day and never goes much at all. I am convinced that this isn't IBS and I am seeking a third opinion. I actually think she is having kidney or bladder problems and I am worried sick because the blood is getting worse.

Tomorrow night I am taking her to the vet.. Please keep her in your thoughts :(

GS,


Sorry to hear that. :( Let us know how things go.

stb

chiquimonkey

aw man, i'm sorry :( will definitely keep her and you in my thoughts. definitely let us know what happens

dcfaithful

GraySaturday wrote:

Update:

Poor Aubrey bear has been getting worse.. More blood spots all the time all over the house. She uses the litter box like 55 thousand times a day and never goes much at all. I am convinced that this isn't IBS and I am seeking a third opinion. I actually think she is having kidney or bladder problems and I am worried sick because the blood is getting worse.

Tomorrow night I am taking her to the vet.. Please keep her in your thoughts :(

i hope things go better, my grandmother had to take her calico cat to the emergency vet today and she's spending the night.

my thoughts are with your kitty.

Jeanie

GraySaturday wrote:

Update:

Poor Aubrey bear has been getting worse.. More blood spots all the time all over the house. She uses the litter box like 55 thousand times a day and never goes much at all. I am convinced that this isn't IBS and I am seeking a third opinion. I actually think she is having kidney or bladder problems and I am worried sick because the blood is getting worse.

Tomorrow night I am taking her to the vet.. Please keep her in your thoughts :(

:( oh poor baby! you must be beside yourself GS.

I'll be thinking of you both. ~positive kitty vibes~

mookie9999

GraySaturday wrote:

Update:

Poor Aubrey bear has been getting worse.. More blood spots all the time all over the house. She uses the litter box like 55 thousand times a day and never goes much at all. I am convinced that this isn't IBS and I am seeking a third opinion. I actually think she is having kidney or bladder problems and I am worried sick because the blood is getting worse.

Tomorrow night I am taking her to the vet.. Please keep her in your thoughts :(

Aubrey's in my thoughts. Let us know how it goes! Poor kitty. :(

halszka123

About the cat.
I'm vet.
I guess she had all necessary examinations (biopsy too?)
In our practice if animal with this disease getting worse, we try to make more simply its diet. As somebody already said - many times it showed that natural food (even it doesn't have all necessary ingredients) was better than vet diet for animal with this kind of problem. Yes, that's because commercial pet food has many ingredients which can irritate digestive system. But from the other side - they are specially prepared to be less irritable for bowel...
Anyway, beside the diet, if there is a problem such a blood with diarrhea - we use pharmacology - unfortunatelly - many drugs (steroids- first, and others, ie. relaxantia (sorry, not sure it's correct in english).
It's difficult problem, but, anyway - i have to say - the treatment depends on patient - some of them needs changes of diet, but some - need medical therapy too).

Smartypants

I'm so sorry to hear this :(

My kitty had serious GI problems a couple of years back and we went through all of the tests and food switching. For diagnosis puposes, it is OK to cut back to just plain chicken or turkey (I used the Whole Foods organic chicken when I did this). It's obviously not a balanced diet for long term, but it's fine for a week or even two to help diagnose the problem and give the intestines time to recover if they're inflamed.

Many - if not most - kitties show improvement on just plain protein. Although in some instances it is the protein they're sensitive to, in the vast majority of cases it's the grains or other ingredients. We cut back to chicken and then started adding in liver and then added in vitamins until we had a balanced recipe that worked. Let me know if you want the recipe and I'll dig it up.

Sending lots of good thoughts your way

GraySaturday

Okay...

So I am SO sad....

I just got home from the vet, and poor Aubrey bear is so sick.. She has a huge bladder stone! They took an x-ray and showed me and it was just horrible. The DR said, sadly enough they kept telling me the wrong thing, and it wasn't IBS. (This is a new DR) How can you confuse IBS with bladder issues!!!!!!!!

So she has to have surgery, and it will cost 1300.00. :eek: Poor poor aubrey.. he said she is in a lot of pain, and eventually she will no longer be able to go to the bathroom. He said that there is nothing they can do aside form the surgery and then the bios of the stone to see what causes it, and get her on the right food.

My husband was SOOOOO nice about it, and is giving up a lot of the money he has been earning while working 80 hours a week to have extra money. There truly are selfless people in this world. He is the best! I am trying to schedule the surgery for Friday. They also have to remove part of her bladder..

Send Aubrey your kind thoughts please.. she needs it so much :(

Brain of J.Lo

GraySaturday wrote:

Okay...

So I am SO sad....

I just got home from the vet, and poor Aubrey bear is so sick.. She has a huge bladder stone! They took an x-ray and showed me and it was just horrible. The DR said, sadly enough they kept telling me the wrong thing, and it wasn't IBS. (This is a new DR) How can you confuse IBS with bladder issues!!!!!!!!

So she has to have surgery, and it will cost 1300.00. :eek: Poor poor aubrey.. he said she is in a lot of pain, and eventually she will no longer be able to go to the bathroom. He said that there is nothing they can do aside form the surgery and then the bios of the stone to see what causes it, and get her on the right food.

My husband was SOOOOO nice about it, and is giving up a lot of the money he has been earning while working 80 hours a week to have extra money. There truly are selfless people in this world. He is the best! I am trying to schedule the surgery for Friday. They also have to remove part of her bladder..

Send Aubrey your kind thoughts please.. she needs it so much :(

That' so nice of your husband!!!! Your kitty is in my thoughts! Give her a tickle under the chin for me! (If she likes that, that is! That's what my cats always loved. )

vedderfan10

Meow-Meow sends her warm kitty thoughts to Aubrey...

I also wish Aubrey a successful surgery and a speedy recovery...that's really a rough thing for her to go thru -- good for you for getting the third opinion....and that sounds like one heck of a hubby you've got there...

edvedder913

well the positive side is at least you know what it is! that's half of the problem. Glad you saw a different vet who knows what they are doing. I am sure it will go well and your kitty will be better soon

good luck!

_

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat's bladder stone! What a great thing that you caught it though. I don't know whether this will help you feel better, but my cat Nacho had a big bladder stone a couple of years ago which required expensive surgery and he's been doing fine ever since. He was in some pain after the surgery - didn't want to be picked up and couldn't jump up on the bed - but I just made a little bed and slept with him on the floor until he was feeling better and he was up and going in no time. Of course I still haven't paid off my credit card and the special food's not cheap, but that's another story! I'll keep Aubrey in my prayers.

GraySaturday

scb wrote:

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat's bladder stone! What a great thing that you caught it though. I don't know whether this will help you feel better, but my cat Nacho had a big bladder stone a couple of years ago which required expensive surgery and he's been doing fine ever since. He was in some pain after the surgery - didn't want to be picked up and couldn't jump up on the bed - but I just made a little bed and slept with him on the floor until he was feeling better and he was up and going in no time. Of course I still haven't paid off my credit card and the special food's not cheap, but that's another story! I'll keep Aubrey in my prayers.

Aw that does make me feel better.. Haha Nacho is an awesome name. How much is the food that they put him on? I have 4 cats and they are all going to have to eat the same thing! The food she's been on was 40 dollars a 10lb bag, so I am used to paying somewhat of a high fee..

I'm glad Nacho did well with it. I feel so bad for her, I wish it was friday so I could start to take away the pain for her..

_

GraySaturday wrote:

Aw that does make me feel better.. Haha Nacho is an awesome name. How much is the food that they put him on? I have 4 cats and they are all going to have to eat the same thing! The food she's been on was 40 dollars a 10lb bag, so I am used to paying somewhat of a high fee..

I'm glad Nacho did well with it. I feel so bad for her, I wish it was friday so I could start to take away the pain for her..

The food he's on now is about the same price as the food you've been buying, so hopefully that won't be any worse for you. The other difficulty is that it has to be purchased at the vet's office and they usually close right as I'm getting off work.

Two things though (and I don't remember all the details off the top of my head, so let me know if you'd like me to look it up in my records and PM you with specifics):

1. Nacho had a urinary blockage about 6 years ago, which is basically the same thing but worse since the crystals are small enough to get into and block the urethra. (My uncle is a vet, and he said this would have killed him had he not been taken to the hospital as soon as it became evident that he was in pain.) So they flushed it out without need for surgery and put him on special food for bladder problems. But then about 3 years later he got a bladder stone. It was the same kind of crystal, so we're not sure how that happened since the food was supposed to prevent it. It could have been that that food just didn't do the trick for him, so I switched him to a different food that's supposed to do the same thing. It could also have been the non-prescription treats I give him, so I stopped giving him those. I also only give him filtered water now. He's been fine since then, but I try to have him pee in the box before I put the litter in when I change it, because that's the only way I noticed the problem to begin with (when I saw him pee and hardly anything came out and what did come out was bloody). Also, I think it's possible to get some of those Ph strips and test the Ph of his urine periodically to see if the new diet is working, in case you want to try that.

2. I used to have 3 cats and I put them all on the same diet so Nacho wouldn't eat the wrong food. The vet said this would be fine. I always buy the food at a different vet though, since they're open later, and after a couple of years of this the vet tech one day said something like, "I hope your vet is doing regular blood tests on your cats because this food can sometimes damage their [kidneys? liver? I can't remember which organ she said]." Well I wasn't getting regular blood tests to watch out for any problems the food might cause; the vet I took them to said it wouldn't cause any problems. Then one day, out of nowhere, my 7 year old cat Kitty was running around jumping on counters, full of energy, acting normally, and I went into the other room and when I came back a few minutes later he was laying on the floor dead. Kidney failure. Cats commonly die from kidney failure, but usually they're old and have a prolonged illness and get really weak. I spoke to about 6 different vets about it, including my uncle and the vet where I bought the food, and every one of them said it wasn't the food and that I should keep my other cats on it. (I couldn't remember which tech had told me that or exactly what she had said, but no one seemed to know what I was talking about.) So, given the fact that another bladder blockage could kill Nacho, and he's been doing fine since he had his surgery and got on this food, and I have nothing but an off-hand remark I can hardly remember to make me think the food killed Kitty, I've kept them on the food. Zach's blood levels are fine. (The vet refuses to draw blood on Nacho for their own safety, but that's another story.) BUT I just wanted to tell you this completely meaningless anecdotal story just so you'll know to be extra-vigilant about monitoring your cats' kidney health - just in case.

So sorry for the long post. Ya got me talking about my cats and all...

GraySaturday

scb wrote:

The food he's on now is about the same price as the food you've been buying, so hopefully that won't be any worse for you. The other difficulty is that it has to be purchased at the vet's office and they usually close right as I'm getting off work.

Two things though (and I don't remember all the details off the top of my head, so let me know if you'd like me to look it up in my records and PM you with specifics):

1. Nacho had a urinary blockage about 6 years ago, which is basically the same thing but worse since the crystals are small enough to get into and block the urethra. (My uncle is a vet, and he said this would have killed him had he not been taken to the hospital as soon as it became evident that he was in pain.) So they flushed it out without need for surgery and put him on special food for bladder problems. But then about 3 years later he got a bladder stone. It was the same kind of crystal, so we're not sure how that happened since the food was supposed to prevent it. It could have been that that food just didn't do the trick for him, so I switched him to a different food that's supposed to do the same thing. It could also have been the non-prescription treats I give him, so I stopped giving him those. I also only give him filtered water now. He's been fine since then, but I try to have him pee in the box before I put the litter in when I change it, because that's the only way I noticed the problem to begin with (when I saw him pee and hardly anything came out and what did come out was bloody). Also, I think it's possible to get some of those Ph strips and test the Ph of his urine periodically to see if the new diet is working, in case you want to try that.

2. I used to have 3 cats and I put them all on the same diet so Nacho wouldn't eat the wrong food. The vet said this would be fine. I always buy the food at a different vet though, since they're open later, and after a couple of years of this the vet tech one day said something like, "I hope your vet is doing regular blood tests on your cats because this food can sometimes damage their [kidneys? liver? I can't remember which organ she said]." Well I wasn't getting regular blood tests to watch out for any problems the food might cause; the vet I took them to said it wouldn't cause any problems. Then one day, out of nowhere, my 7 year old cat Kitty was running around jumping on counters, full of energy, acting normally, and I went into the other room and when I came back a few minutes later he was laying on the floor dead. Kidney failure. Cats commonly die from kidney failure, but usually they're old and have a prolonged illness and get really weak. I spoke to about 6 different vets about it, including my uncle and the vet where I bought the food, and every one of them said it wasn't the food and that I should keep my other cats on it. (I couldn't remember which tech had told me that or exactly what she had said, but no one seemed to know what I was talking about.) So, given the fact that another bladder blockage could kill Nacho, and he's been doing fine since he had his surgery and got on this food, and I have nothing but an off-hand remark I can hardly remember to make me think the food killed Kitty, I've kept them on the food. Zach's blood levels are fine. (The vet refuses to draw blood on Nacho for their own safety, but that's another story.) BUT I just wanted to tell you this completely meaningless anecdotal story just so you'll know to be extra-vigilant about monitoring your cats' kidney health - just in case.

So sorry for the long post. Ya got me talking about my cats and all...

Thank you for taking the time to tell me!! We had a family cat growing up that had the crystal blockage. I guess thats way more common in males? At least thats what they told us.

So sorry about your other kitty! I will keep an eye out and for sure ask the vet about any food they think aubrey should have. I'm such a sucker for cats.. my cats are lucky! haha

_

GraySaturday wrote:

I'm such a sucker for cats.. my cats are lucky! haha

Yes, it sounds like they are lucky.

chiquimonkey

that's good you were able to get the 2nd opinion and get some good info. good luck on the surgery on friday!