Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: Mark on June 10, 2016, 19:52:05 PM
-
Some might remember that she had chronic diarrhea last year, which got worse. She ended up weighing 2.5kg (she was always a big cat - for years, she weighed around 6.5kg) but it improved a fair bit and she gained weight. Fast forward to about a month ago, she was walking on the flat of her left paw, instead of just the top part. The vet told me to give her Metacam for a couple of weeks and see how she was doing. Not sure if the Metacam triggered it, but the terrible liquid diarrhea started again and she has been losing weight. I took her in on Monday and the vet said she needs an ultrasound, which can't be done until next Wednesday. I also mentioned that her paw was looking worse, but maybe because she kept licking it. The vet tried to look, but Kylie wasn't being very cooperative. She said she would have a good look next week while Kylie is sedated. This morning, her paw looked much worse and I thought there was no way it could wait until Wednesday to be looked at. Also being a Friday (not to mention, that my vet, who usually opens on Saturday mornings, isn't this week as they are moving to new premises) I asked this morning if they could squeeze her in today. I saw a differnt vet and he said she has a nail-bed infection, butit could also be the start of mast-cell cancer. She is on ABs for 5 days and I have to bathe her paw in iodine twice a day. He said depending on how well the paw responds, he will need to do a biopsy on it next week.
She was always such a healthy cat, but seriously concerned about her now. She is coming up to 17
-
Oh Mark. I do hope that they aren't related. Everything crossed she is Okay, how old is Kylie? :care: :care: :care: :blow kiss: Kylie, and to you as well as well Mark as her devoted cat slave. Hoping the AB's do some good.
-
Thanks - Keeping our fingers crossed for our girl.
I'm pretty sure she is coming up to 17. When I adopted her from CP at the beginning of 2002, they were quite specific about her age. They said she was 2 1/2
-
Just :hug: :hug: :hug: Mark
-
So sorry to hear this Mark. Poor girl :( You will be going through the mill big time I know :hug:
Sending every possible good wish that the ABS do some good.
-
Very sorry to hear about Kylie'e paw and gut.
Hoping the treatment will clear up her paw condition without the need for further action :hug:
Will be good to get the ultrasound out the way too
-
Mark and Kylie :hug:
-
Thanks everyone. Maybe some wishful thinking going on here, but the paw doesn't look anywhere near as raw today. Oddly, we had no diarrhea overnight. She has been outside most of the day. Obviously I can't watch her all day, so not sure what or if she produced any in the garden. Her appetite seems pretty good. Thankfully she quite likes me bathing her paw - which I did twice yesterday and so far, twice more today - although she probably licks most off.
-
That sounds like good news Mark, hoping her paw and tum will settle down :hug:
-
Having a good appetite sounds good ;D :crossed:
-
Very much hope this improvement continues for your black beauty Mark :hug: :hug: :hug:
-
Sending you both lots of love and good wishes :hug:
-
I hope the ABs are all it takes to sort out Kylie's poorly paw and have everything crossed for the diarrhoea to resolve too, with nothing nasty showing up on the ultrasound. :hug: :hug: :hug:
-
Thanks all. Diarrhea not much better, although it is a possible side-effect with the ABs, (Nisamox) so hard to tell. Paw looks a bit better but she is still holdingit out whe she lies down.
-
oh Mark what a worry, hope your lovely girl starts of feel better soon :hug:
-
Thanks Dawn. Her poo sample results came back today. She has an overgrowth of Clostridium. She said it is quite a controversial subject, because some consider it to be a problem and others, not. She has recommended probiotics - but, Kylie already has them, although not for a couple of weeks, as she took them for ages, with no positive effects. I have been reading up and apparently, a high fibre diet is recommended, so I am going to look into that.
-
Thanks Dawn. Her poo sample results came back today. She has an overgrowth of Clostridium. She said it is quite a controversial subject, because some consider it to be a problem and others, not. She has recommended probiotics - but, Kylie already has them, although not for a couple of weeks, as she took them for ages, with no positive effects. I have been reading up and apparently, a high fibre diet is recommended, so I am going to look into that.
Glad it's something that can be treated with antibiotics Mark :) and not something a lot more serious!! I bet your happier now, knowing what is actually wrong with her.... Hope she gets better soon :Luv:
-
The problem is, antibiotics have limited success with it. They still want her in on Wednesday so they can feel for lumps and measure to see if there is any thickening of her intestines.
Ironically, I was watching The Food Show tonight and they featured fecal implants (in humans) to cure diarrhea caused by Clostridium Difficile overgrowth. I googled to see if it is available for cats - it is, but only in America it seems - and with a very low (if at all) success rate in cats, unlike in humans, where the success rate is 94%
-
Just wanted to wish Kylie all the best for today's tests Mark :hug:
-
Just wanted to wish Kylie all the best for today's tests Mark :hug:
Seconded. :hug:
-
Hope all goes well today :)
-
Thanks all. Just a waiting game now. Fasting wasn't a problem, but for the wrong reasons. She ate really well during the day yesterday, but after being on her bed outside on the deck all day yesterday, she came in and flopped on the floor just inside the back door. She refused to eat and also seemed to be spaced out or blind for a while. She recovered pretty quickly. They are going to check her eyes and BP too. The vet said she isn't an ideal candidate for sedation, but they are between a rock and a hard place as they need to know what is going on. She said on the bright side, there are going to be 3 vets available to do tests. Mark, who is a cardiac specialist, another vet who is a radiologist and Jane, my vet.
-
what a shame, I know she is such a character :hug:
-
Sending lots of love and 'Get well' wishes :hug:
-
Thanks all. Ultrasound is showing nothing untoward,although not 100% - the vet said given how long she has had the diarrhea, if it had been cancer, she would have expected to see at least thickening of the bowel wall. She said there was a lot of gas in there and some formed poo - she thinks to high-meat, grain-free food is helping.
As for the paw, she called earlier and said there is a hard lump. One of her toes is misshapen and was probably what was causing the lameness. The infection was also showing in her bloods (raised white cells) she said even if they get rid of the infection, the toe is still likely to cause her pain,so asked if it was OK to remove it.
She called back a while ago to tell me Kylie was awake. She is quite anxious, so Jane said she will be better off at home with me than in a pen overnight. She wants to send the toe off to the lab to be sure.
So all in all, it all seems a lot better than it could have been.
She has been given an AB injection and will also have ABs for her gut and more for the paw.
-
I'm so glad the the news about Kylie is positive, I'm sure you with both be happier when she is back home ;D
-
Phew that's really good news, glad they didn't find anything nasty. Bet she will be glad to be home :Luv:
-
She will undoubtedly be very much happier at home with you and OH Mark as will you two :hug: :hug: :hug:
Sounds unlikely that anything will come of test on her toe but good idea to check to be safe. All in all does sound much more positive than you feared. Just hope your girl finds her appetite again soon and poos respond to ABs and firm up :hug: :hug: :hug:
-
The vet said her gut feeling is that it was a soft-tissue tumour. She said showed me the x-ray of the bones and it doesn't seem to have spread to them. She also did a chest x-ray and there are no visible tumours - just a few dark patches that are common in older cats.
She is struggling to walk. I don't know what will happen when she wants to use the tray or get to the fountain. She has a bowl of water. One problem we have is that the wood floors are really slippery
http://i.imgur.com/fEMlO0w.jpg
-
aww thats a lot of bandage on her leg. Hopefully she will be able to adjust and walk around okay. I remember a good few years ago I had a rabbit who had an infection in his toe, the vet removed his toe as infection went into the bone, and later he then had half of his foot removed due to the bone infection. He lived a good few years after that.
-
So glad Kylie is home again safe and sound with some good news. Wishing her a speedy recovery and a gentle hug :hug:
-
she looks pretty relaxed all things considered, shocking about the toe, I'd always thought they were the sort of things you didn't have to think about
-
Same here Dawn. Hopefully it was caught in time and we can get her gut issues sorted out. She has a few other issues, such as anaemia, caused by malapsorption, which should resolve once her gut issues are under control and various high white blood cell counts due to infection of the paw (which the vet thinks is probably secondary, due to the tumour) -butas for her general bloods, EVERYTHING is within normal range, which is pretty good for any older cat, especially one coming up to 17
-
It has been confirmed that the tumour was Adenocarcinoma, which is malignant and agressive.
She said that she is confident that she removed a good margin, but this type of cancer spreads from lungs to paws, or vice versa. Although there was nothing she could see on Kylie's chest x-ray, it doesn't mean that there is nothing there. The lab have given a 'guarded prognosis' - she said all I can do is keep an eye on her and measure her resting respiration rate once a week. If it starts to increase, the kindest thing would be to PTS
However, there is a chance that it hasn't spread, but she can't make any promises. She said she is concerned that the diarrhea might be down to intestinal tumours, but as we can't biopsy... (I'm not so sure,as she has had problems with it for a couple of years)
Jane has offered for me to go down so she can go through the technical terms on the report line by line and explain them all, but I'm not sure that would achieve anything.
As for paw healing, I took her for check up this morning and it is healing well. All being well, she can have the stitches out next Monday.
I am trying to be realistic, but at the same time, they said Alice's cancer could return and it never did
-
Wishing Kylie all the best. I think as long as she is eating and quite active that is a good sign :hug:
-
I'm sorry to hear that Mark, nobody knows her like you do and I'm sure if you thought she wasn't happy you would take appropriate action. Our Oscar had an aggressive stomach tumour, they said he wasn't in pain so we took him home and let him carry on until we were sure he wasn't enjoying himself, he loved his food and for us when he stopped eating well we knew
hopefully they have managed to remove it all, I'm still shocked to hear that paw cancer exists though
-
Mark and Kylie :hug: I have my fingers firmly crossed that your girl will have a long and happy life ahead of her.
-
:hug :hug: :hug:
Can't live in fear of it coming back, or getting worse. Just enjoy your time with her - she won't have any of those worries so don't you take them on.
-
Thanks all.
She isn't supposed t go outside until her stitches come out on Monday, but she was miserable being indoors. As it was dry yesterday, she has a thumb cut off of a glove, taped on with elastoplast tape + I gave her an extra cover of a baby sock for as long as she is in the garden. I just take the top layer off when she comes back in an plan to give her a fresh one each day :)
http://i.imgur.com/rPUMN4m.jpg
-
oh bless her!!
-
Another one I took tonight. She seems a lot happier :Luv2: http://i.imgur.com/bd9D4Nr.jpg
-
oh her little naked tummy poor girl :Luv2:
-
I took Kylie to have her stitches out yesterday. Sadly, in the brief time she was in a lampshade, cat litter had got into her wound and the skin had healed over it. They had to clean it out, which involved cutting the paw a bit - she had one stitch put in and rebandaged. She is back on Thursday to have that out. Also more ABs
https://goo.gl/photos/sPJtKqNfKThZxAGYA
-
Poor baby! :hug: How are her gut issues?
-
Amazingly, yesterday she did a solid - although quite thin one - I can't remember the last time I saw one from her. Nothing overnight, but she is outside today. Obviously I can't watch her 24/7, so she might go in one of the borders - hopefully not, as we have a gardener in today putting down topsoil and planting :evillaugh:
-
Sounds as if that might improving :crossed:
-
I was out on the deck. Kylie flicked her arm (leg?) and the bandage came flying off :evillaugh:
https://goo.gl/photos/bVLC2sCMTRB5KXf9A
She now has another one of my home made ones on
-
Oh Mark! That is funny, yet the sight of that little empty bandage gave me such a tug at my heartstrings. Gods love her. :hug:
-
It was a bit odd, as only the top 1/2" was sticky. They had put some kind of non-stick band in. I assue it was Rosie, the head nurse who did it, as that is who I saw. I am taking it as evidence as she thinks I am the type to not follow rules - I suppose she is right, but there was no need to make Kylie stay in, despite her telling me not to :evillaugh:
Luckily I had the bottle of iodine ready and gave herpaw a good wash before using my 'thumb cut off of a pair of Primark (2 pairs for £1) gloves, elastoplast taped to the leg, followed by a baby sock, taped on with stretchy elastoplast tape, but not taped to the fur - patent pending! - it is much more comfortable for Kylie that the vet one.
-
We got the all-clear for Kylie to go without her bandage today :D https://goo.gl/photos/xeNf5Z2oHyx2URbj6
Now it is a case of watching her breathing ans hoping that the cancer hasn't spread to her lungs.
Also trying to manage the diarrhea, which in turn should help her anaemia/B12 deficiency. I am also supplementing B12
Anyone that remembers how big Kylie used to be will see that she is a shadow of her old 6.5kg self :(
-
She looks like she has one gloved paw and one without. Got to say though Mark, She's still a beautiful lady. :Luv:
I know what you mean. I have a photograph of Paddy when he was about 8 years old and in his prime. He was playing with our dog, Tess. You could see how muscular and powerfully built he was, yet the contrast with the frail little old man he became was so marked. Still, he's the only cat we've ever got to old age, so I look back on the two photos with much fondness.
-
Very glad to hear that your little lady is doing well - and that you no longer need to try keeping a dressing on! ;D
-
She is a beautiful girl and I sincerely hope that the cancer hasn't spread to her lungs, whatever the outcome, I know that you will do your best by Kylie :hug: :hug: :hug:, you obviously love her so much.
-
yes there is a bit less of her but she still looks very alert and in great condition mark
-
She looks very well, hope she has a good few more years to enjoy with you :Luv:
-
Wishing Kylie all the best :hug:
-
Sorry to report that Kylie went downhill over the weekend. She went off her food, began breathing heavily and was very weak and lethargic. The vet managed to do a non-sedated digital x-ray this morning and there were patches showing that her lungs were filling with fluid. One lobe had already collapsed. Jane got a 2nd opinion from one of the other vets and they agreed that it was almost certainly where the cancer had spread - even if if was something else, it couldn't have been managed. They thought it wasn't fair to drain it, as it would almost certainly get worse again.
We will miss our Kylie. I adopted her from CP early in 2002 (She was previously called Minty) So she just about made it to 17, as she was 2 1/2 at the time.
http://i.imgur.com/mpLs2q7.jpg
-
So sorry to hear this Mark. :care: :care: :care: You did the very best you could have done for her.
Play hard on The Bridge Kylie :( :RIP:
-
Am so sorry Mark. Rest easy, beautiful Kylie xxxx
-
So sorry Mark. RIP Kylie.
:hug:
-
Oh Mark, I'm so sorry! :hug:
You loved your little girl so much and you did everything you possibly could for her - including doing her the final service of letting her go gently when you so badly wanted her to stay with you.
Rest easy sweet Kylie, run free at the bridge little girl
:candle:
-
Mark so sorry to hear the news :hug:
Thinking of you both :hug:
Run free beautiful girl :candle:
-
So sorry to hear your sad news Mark :hug: :hug: :hug:
-
So sorry Mark :hug: :hug: rest in peace Kylie :Sad Bye:
-
Hugs for you and Dennis Mark on the loss of your darling baby girl x
-
ahh so sorry to hear that, we all hoped she would have a lot longer with you :( RIP Kylie :Luv:
-
Mark I'm so sorry for you and Denis, hugs to you both
-
Thanks all - still trying to come to terms with it. One from when she was about 4, when we lived in London.
-
Wow, look at the sheen on her coat! :Luv2: :Luv2: Oh she's a handsome girl and no mistake. Mark, I ache for you both. Losing a beloved friend leaves behind such a gaping hole. :hug:
-
Lovely pic of your gorgeous girl. Understand what you are going through :hug:
-
Oh Mark :'( :'( :'( How awful for both you and Dennis. Am so very sorry to hear this.
Kylie was such a very beautiful girl with such devoted slaves. Can imagine how low you're both feeling but thank heaven we have a way to ensure our much loved felines are relieved from any discomfort :hug: :hug:
You're both in my thoughts.
RIP darling angel Kylie :catluv:
-
Thanks everyone. :hug: Just all the little reminders now. I felt a bit guilty clearing things away, but she doesn't need them any more :'(
I found a little dish yesterday morning, that she had a lick-e-lix from on Monday morning (with B12 mixed in) and a few hairs - I guess it won't be the last thing. Even today I have been putting litter trays in tidy, rather than convenient spots - I'm sure many on here know the score.
It seems this lung-digit syndrome is something that only affects cats.
-
:hug: :hug: :hug: Mark and Dennis. Thinking of you both.
(Sorry to you both, I couldn't remember the name of your partner, Mark. :-[)
-
Mark, clear away if you want to. If you're not ready yet, then it's not hurting anyone where it is. I moved most of Cleo's things out of sight but it's rather different for us cos we still have Alfie.
-
Thanks everyone. Kylie's ashes are ready to collect and I am going on Monday for them. I have to say that insuring with Petplan and the vet dealing direct with them, made things a lot easier. Given that we only took the policy out last year with several exclusions (including gastro) I was pleased with how much of the bill was covered - especially given that there is an excess + owner is liable for 20% of remainder. I was just given the net amount after Petplan settled with the vet. Out of a total £1,050, we are liable for about £420.
Still missing our girl, but the other 3 are making it bearable as they still need us :Luv2:
-
Hope everything went OK and wasn't any more upsetting than it had to be, at least Kylie is back home with you both. :care: :care: :care:
-
Missing our girl. I collected her ashes and put them away with the others. The house just feels odd without her. It is so long since I didn't have a high-maintenance oldie around. The other 3 are happy as long as there is some food and they get a fuss when they want one. I'm sure most know how it is. You are OK and then get a flashback and it comes in waves. I'm sure she had a happy life here and we were lucky to have her.
-
Only a month since she left you Mark so early days and yes I remember losing my last high maintenance oldie and what a huge hole he (Fred) left behind :hug: :hug: You know it gets easier but doesn't help much does it? I do feel for you :(
-
oh mark yes we all know how you feel :hug: I'm sure she had a wonderful life there and none of us can ask for more than that
-
Understand what you are going through :hug: Missing Parki like crazy too and very quiet here