Aa
rescued with problems
We rescued a starving stray. she was about 3 lbs and we thought she was a juvenile, however the vet says she is about 3yrs and has had babies. She was entirely emaciated, scraped-up on her hind legs and jaw. We had her defleaed, dewormed,demited, had shots and tested for diseases in november - and she has nothing contagious...however, they couldnt proceed with spaying because her bloodwork indicated a liver/pancreas problem. bilirubin was literally off the scale. ultrasound suggested but we cant afford 500.00 or more. Sliding scale clinic thinks its liver or pancreatic cancer. her abdomen was hard and distended, but they were very surprised that she was eating alot with no diarrhea, vomiting! She is now inside and up to 6 lbs, eats well, begs for treat food, her urine was orangey and gums yellowish, she now uses a box, so dont know about urine but gums are somewhat pinker now, and belly is still distended bit not so hard. could she have a liver condition from near starvation that is reversing itself? any way to tell? All we can really do is watch her and euthanize her when the time comes if we cant afford the ultrasound, per the clinic. (God bless them.) also, she has developed a black grainy something on her chin recently. i can rub in a lot of antibiotic cream and clean up the debris, but it comes back in a week or so. i dont think it is a parasite or flea debris as she had advantage and a flea pill, i cant see any on her white belly. caught her drinking from the toiletbowl despite 2 very clean water bowls and 2 running water sources. (cant keep the lid shut due to an elder human...) but could this be causing the problem? she has become increasingly unfriendly since coming inside, so i hate to put her thru too much. any help on these 2 issues gladly received.
Hi Linda! First, thanks for steering me to the Abby posts, i learned alot there and feel like i know PK after reading them all! I dont think you missed anything,
the last part of the post was about my Bengal cats that really like the water. Opus asked me about them cos i had mentioned that we leave 3 taps running a bit all the time for them. uh, i guess i did carry on a bit, LOL... seriously i am so lucky that 3/4s of my cats are so healthy!
We are taking Mini back for blood tests again in march, and see if things are getting better. she doesnt act sick at all today (except wanting to pee on the rug). It was interesting that in the Abby files they said liver damage from starvation is reversible, and my gut instincts say that might be whats up with mini... But im looking into selling our spare car to finance the ultrasound IF i can find a vet who will clear her for surgery if it turns out to be a tumor.
the last part of the post was about my Bengal cats that really like the water. Opus asked me about them cos i had mentioned that we leave 3 taps running a bit all the time for them. uh, i guess i did carry on a bit, LOL... seriously i am so lucky that 3/4s of my cats are so healthy!
We are taking Mini back for blood tests again in march, and see if things are getting better. she doesnt act sick at all today (except wanting to pee on the rug). It was interesting that in the Abby files they said liver damage from starvation is reversible, and my gut instincts say that might be whats up with mini... But im looking into selling our spare car to finance the ultrasound IF i can find a vet who will clear her for surgery if it turns out to be a tumor.
WOW...it could be a book, THE PRETTYKITTY POSTS. OMG. what they have been thru. i truly realized how lucky i am to have 3 such healthy, happy boys! Majik's feline hyperesthesia is a walk in the park on a sunny day all of a sudden.
one thing i learned is that this cat had surgery when he was in horrible shape, with twice the billirubin Mini has. the clinic left me with the impression that her liver was so bad that surgery - the anesthesia - would be very likely to kill her. so i saw no reason to go into debt just to hear she has a tumor but we cant knock her out to do surgery on it. But if Abby could have surgeries, surely my little girl could.
and thats what Dr Goldman suggested in his reply, that .exploratory surgery might be perfomed,so that implies she could have anesthesia. I imagine its just too risky for the clinic i go to. Maybe they didnt mean to leave me thinking that surgery was totally out of the question...im sure all of you know how keen thinking and unemotional we are at the vets office !LOL! but this opens up a lot of possibilities, and maybe i can keep Mini weeing on my rug for years to come!
(yep, i found her secret pee stash, three feet long up against the baseboard in the hall. Stepped too close to the wall last night and SQUISH! Soaking it up with towels and got the natures muracle out... gotta love her that she didnt go behind the couch, at least i dont have to move furniture to clean up.) She was actually RUNNING yesterday and playing with Bandit so she is still improving daily.
My Bengal boys are nuts about water. Maj has a LONG tale behind him, but the short version - he was dumped by a breeder at 4 weeks because his tail was too short. breeder didnt want faulty kitty seen in litter of 600.00 kittens. Teen steals kitten, then abandons him on church steps across the street, he cries LOUDLY and i find him 5 minutes after he was dumped.Meanest dam kitten i ever saw, i didnt know what he was but i knew he was something unusual-minky fur, green green eyes and getting in the shower with me, helping me do dishes. Then he jumped in the Kiddy Pool (the mother said he was going for her child face and fell in) and swam around a bit before getting out. so i googled water cats and found a picture of a tabby up on a shower curtain rod with his head in the shower that looked EXACTLY like my boy.-and it was a bengal.. so i thougt he was a bengal and then later one of the kids in the neighborhood told me the story about how he was dumped and how the kids would check him out in the window after school. Another kit showed up a few months later that looked like Maj but couldnt be caught. She would always bring her babies to the feeding station next door and i watched her with much interest for several years, She presented me with Myrrh The Purr, my seal lynx point marble tabby love cat.he looks like a delicate cream with gray points siamese with bold brown stripes, swirls and dots and a black and silver tail.(he got it at Walmart, worls largest retailer!) wish i had pictures because he is a very unusual looking boy. he is a little more conservstive about water than Maj, but likes to get his head, ears, neck and shoulders soaking wet then find me to wipe it down so he can then tongue-bathe. its okay except at 4am...when i get an insistent little wet cat in my bed. LOL my godson once said "God sent Myrrhy to make up for giving you Maj." Myrrh is lovey, sweet and gentle and ppl always assune he is a she. Biggest purr i ever heard. Maj has a stealthpurr. they are yin and yang!
Bandit, my husbands tuxie, doesnt PLAY in water, but will go armpit deep to get thawing shrimp out of the sink and onto the floor. Once he starts fishing, he wont stop till he has most of them!
one thing i learned is that this cat had surgery when he was in horrible shape, with twice the billirubin Mini has. the clinic left me with the impression that her liver was so bad that surgery - the anesthesia - would be very likely to kill her. so i saw no reason to go into debt just to hear she has a tumor but we cant knock her out to do surgery on it. But if Abby could have surgeries, surely my little girl could.
and thats what Dr Goldman suggested in his reply, that .exploratory surgery might be perfomed,so that implies she could have anesthesia. I imagine its just too risky for the clinic i go to. Maybe they didnt mean to leave me thinking that surgery was totally out of the question...im sure all of you know how keen thinking and unemotional we are at the vets office !LOL! but this opens up a lot of possibilities, and maybe i can keep Mini weeing on my rug for years to come!
(yep, i found her secret pee stash, three feet long up against the baseboard in the hall. Stepped too close to the wall last night and SQUISH! Soaking it up with towels and got the natures muracle out... gotta love her that she didnt go behind the couch, at least i dont have to move furniture to clean up.) She was actually RUNNING yesterday and playing with Bandit so she is still improving daily.
My Bengal boys are nuts about water. Maj has a LONG tale behind him, but the short version - he was dumped by a breeder at 4 weeks because his tail was too short. breeder didnt want faulty kitty seen in litter of 600.00 kittens. Teen steals kitten, then abandons him on church steps across the street, he cries LOUDLY and i find him 5 minutes after he was dumped.Meanest dam kitten i ever saw, i didnt know what he was but i knew he was something unusual-minky fur, green green eyes and getting in the shower with me, helping me do dishes. Then he jumped in the Kiddy Pool (the mother said he was going for her child face and fell in) and swam around a bit before getting out. so i googled water cats and found a picture of a tabby up on a shower curtain rod with his head in the shower that looked EXACTLY like my boy.-and it was a bengal.. so i thougt he was a bengal and then later one of the kids in the neighborhood told me the story about how he was dumped and how the kids would check him out in the window after school. Another kit showed up a few months later that looked like Maj but couldnt be caught. She would always bring her babies to the feeding station next door and i watched her with much interest for several years, She presented me with Myrrh The Purr, my seal lynx point marble tabby love cat.he looks like a delicate cream with gray points siamese with bold brown stripes, swirls and dots and a black and silver tail.(he got it at Walmart, worls largest retailer!) wish i had pictures because he is a very unusual looking boy. he is a little more conservstive about water than Maj, but likes to get his head, ears, neck and shoulders soaking wet then find me to wipe it down so he can then tongue-bathe. its okay except at 4am...when i get an insistent little wet cat in my bed. LOL my godson once said "God sent Myrrhy to make up for giving you Maj." Myrrh is lovey, sweet and gentle and ppl always assune he is a she. Biggest purr i ever heard. Maj has a stealthpurr. they are yin and yang!
Bandit, my husbands tuxie, doesnt PLAY in water, but will go armpit deep to get thawing shrimp out of the sink and onto the floor. Once he starts fishing, he wont stop till he has most of them!
Well, welcome to the cat forum, girl! Opus is right, Pretty Kitty has had a real time of it with Abby but he is coming along quite well. It would be great if you could get her feedback. I bet this cat will bounce back because of its age. If its eating well, I think that's a real good sign. Keep us posted. Linda
oh poor little mini sounds as if shes had a rough life....she has now found such a good home and I do hope her health will improve for you....you deserve a huge hug for being such a wonderful mommy. don't ever feel bad, what you are doing for Mini is beyond what most people would do.....it will take her a long time to trust ppl again but she will and in return give you back tons of affection.
her chin problem is most definitely feline acne, sounds exactly what my Bailey had..I think it was a steroid ointment that I used for her, that was a few years ago and I'm sorry my I just cannot remember...I know it was a constant problem with her....I hope you can get some answers on the ASK A VET FORUMS...
The acne is very itchy for them thus the rubbing, vaseline and washing may only further irritate the area....sorry I'm not more help here.
Your bengals sound like very interesting kitties! I had no idea they liked the water so much, you really do allow them to indulge!...must be so cute to see...do you have pictures to post?
her chin problem is most definitely feline acne, sounds exactly what my Bailey had..I think it was a steroid ointment that I used for her, that was a few years ago and I'm sorry my I just cannot remember...I know it was a constant problem with her....I hope you can get some answers on the ASK A VET FORUMS...
The acne is very itchy for them thus the rubbing, vaseline and washing may only further irritate the area....sorry I'm not more help here.
Your bengals sound like very interesting kitties! I had no idea they liked the water so much, you really do allow them to indulge!...must be so cute to see...do you have pictures to post?
Thanks, Opus!
i am going back into those posts from Prettykitty tonight, as i have never had a kitty so starved as Mini was when she came in. i am sure i will learn alot there. thank you so much for pointing me that way. This is a WONDERFUL community and i am glad i wound up here!
the toilet thing really has me confused because i am an absolute water nut! they have a bottled water only bowl in a bedroom, tap water bowl changed up to 4 times a day in the kitchen and one in the time-out area (fresh as needed) that are all ceramic crocks. Maj & Myrrh are suspected Bengals and demand water to play in, so we let our bathroom sink rapid drip cold and the tub slow drips hot water.because Myrrhy takes 3 or 4 hot showers every day (then finds me to wipe him off!) AND the kitchen faucet drips, too. they let me know about it if i turn one all the way off! ! 2 of the dry food dishes on the "all night all day kitty buffet" are plastic, and that you can consider GONE as of now! i dont know anything about kitty acne so thanks for a great lead. i could use vaseline to get the gunk off instead of the ointment because i dont want her to process anything thru that liver that she doesnt have to. thats a good point if the antibiotic isnt doing anything. Cortisone?? her skin isnt red under the crustys, but she rubs her chin excessively which tipped me off to the problem. Mini HATES to be picked up and hides out for 3 days after each treatment, altho she doesnt fight me and sits quietly and almost seems to enjoy the rubbing and pulling and wiping the gunk out.. debris is not flea mess cos it doesnt tinge red when it gets wet. its small spot - less than the size of a dime all together,, and it moves around to different spots in the hair near her gumline and on the point of her chin.
Mini is turning out to be quite a challenge. She was much friendlier before she got in the house, and now hides alot. My other cats are 12, 18 & 20 lbs to her 6, but actually treat her rather respectfully on the whole, but she still hides out, but is very BOLD in the kitchen! when weve been gone, we come in to find hand her sleeping on the couch with the biggest cat, so i guess its us she is hiding from. We can assume she came from a bad home. i live in a semi-rural area by a river and ppl dump animals here often (neighbor has had up to 60 odd found cats and is under supervision) but Mini looks like she was thrown from a fast car by the scrapes she had. She is so afraid of being picked up, yet once caught practically plays dead , limp and passive, purrs nervously-cant be pleasure, and its the only time weve heard a purr. She had a silent meow upon arrival but has now managed a few tiny squeeky ones and responds to her new name mini-mouse!
thanks for all the great leads. i feel more optimistic about the whole deal today, i was really feeling bad when i found this forum. ;-)
i am going back into those posts from Prettykitty tonight, as i have never had a kitty so starved as Mini was when she came in. i am sure i will learn alot there. thank you so much for pointing me that way. This is a WONDERFUL community and i am glad i wound up here!
the toilet thing really has me confused because i am an absolute water nut! they have a bottled water only bowl in a bedroom, tap water bowl changed up to 4 times a day in the kitchen and one in the time-out area (fresh as needed) that are all ceramic crocks. Maj & Myrrh are suspected Bengals and demand water to play in, so we let our bathroom sink rapid drip cold and the tub slow drips hot water.because Myrrhy takes 3 or 4 hot showers every day (then finds me to wipe him off!) AND the kitchen faucet drips, too. they let me know about it if i turn one all the way off! ! 2 of the dry food dishes on the "all night all day kitty buffet" are plastic, and that you can consider GONE as of now! i dont know anything about kitty acne so thanks for a great lead. i could use vaseline to get the gunk off instead of the ointment because i dont want her to process anything thru that liver that she doesnt have to. thats a good point if the antibiotic isnt doing anything. Cortisone?? her skin isnt red under the crustys, but she rubs her chin excessively which tipped me off to the problem. Mini HATES to be picked up and hides out for 3 days after each treatment, altho she doesnt fight me and sits quietly and almost seems to enjoy the rubbing and pulling and wiping the gunk out.. debris is not flea mess cos it doesnt tinge red when it gets wet. its small spot - less than the size of a dime all together,, and it moves around to different spots in the hair near her gumline and on the point of her chin.
Mini is turning out to be quite a challenge. She was much friendlier before she got in the house, and now hides alot. My other cats are 12, 18 & 20 lbs to her 6, but actually treat her rather respectfully on the whole, but she still hides out, but is very BOLD in the kitchen! when weve been gone, we come in to find hand her sleeping on the couch with the biggest cat, so i guess its us she is hiding from. We can assume she came from a bad home. i live in a semi-rural area by a river and ppl dump animals here often (neighbor has had up to 60 odd found cats and is under supervision) but Mini looks like she was thrown from a fast car by the scrapes she had. She is so afraid of being picked up, yet once caught practically plays dead , limp and passive, purrs nervously-cant be pleasure, and its the only time weve heard a purr. She had a silent meow upon arrival but has now managed a few tiny squeeky ones and responds to her new name mini-mouse!
thanks for all the great leads. i feel more optimistic about the whole deal today, i was really feeling bad when i found this forum. ;-)
Oh bless your soul for taking in this poor little creature and trying to help her. sometimes the costs are beyond what we are able to do even though we'd like to.
Go back into the archives on this forum, there were many posts from PRETTYKITTY about her cat ABBY...who didn't eat for a time and went through liver failure..he ended up on a feed tube, but all the treatment was very costly.
I don't think the extend of your kitties liver problems will be able to reverse, but than again I am no Vet either...I suggest you go to the ASK A VET forum and they can answer some of your questions at no cost..
to do this click on FORUMS at the top of this page, than scroll down all the forums until near the bottom on the right hand side you will see ASK A VET...I have used this resource many times and they are all very helpful.
Also to try and answer your other question abt the black grainy areas on her chin, this sounds like feline acne....antibiotics aren't usually very effective.
I had a kitty once with this and it was very stubborn to treat.
Are you using metal or ceramic dishes for her to eat/drink from?..and do you keep them washed regularly?...DO NOT USE PLASTIC.
I really can't understand why she should want to drink water from the toilet?..habit maybe?...I don't think it would contribute to the feline acne NO.
hopefully the VET forum or other posters can be of more help to you...also Welcome to our forum!!
Go back into the archives on this forum, there were many posts from PRETTYKITTY about her cat ABBY...who didn't eat for a time and went through liver failure..he ended up on a feed tube, but all the treatment was very costly.
I don't think the extend of your kitties liver problems will be able to reverse, but than again I am no Vet either...I suggest you go to the ASK A VET forum and they can answer some of your questions at no cost..
to do this click on FORUMS at the top of this page, than scroll down all the forums until near the bottom on the right hand side you will see ASK A VET...I have used this resource many times and they are all very helpful.
Also to try and answer your other question abt the black grainy areas on her chin, this sounds like feline acne....antibiotics aren't usually very effective.
I had a kitty once with this and it was very stubborn to treat.
Are you using metal or ceramic dishes for her to eat/drink from?..and do you keep them washed regularly?...DO NOT USE PLASTIC.
I really can't understand why she should want to drink water from the toilet?..habit maybe?...I don't think it would contribute to the feline acne NO.
hopefully the VET forum or other posters can be of more help to you...also Welcome to our forum!!
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