|
Post by tonib on Sept 27, 2015 12:52:28 GMT
Fingers crossed smilesbetter for a good vet visit, I can just imagine how worried you must be. They may have wanted to see her today to maintain continuity of the vet if one was off yesterday.
|
|
|
Post by smilesbetter on Sept 27, 2015 13:03:44 GMT
tonib no they originally wanted me to come in tomorrow after seeing the blood test results to have another look and see whats wrong as they felt there was another problem. The vet in today hasn't seen her but said she will be in and if Carlotta isn't improving then to bring her in today rather than waiting till Monday for the vet who did the operation (Or that vets husband, who was the one who scheduled her for the op) when she'll have gone nearly a week without eating much. So worried for her. Mieze isn't being a very good friend to her. Carlotta was in this cat den we made out of a box and a big t-shirt, and Mieze came along and started batting viciously at Carlotta who was then trapped inside! My man put Mieze out the room for a bit and she is now back but lying in a cozy box in the sun just down from Carlotta who is lying on top of the t-shirt box (which has turned into a kind of cat hammock) also enjoying the sun.
|
|
|
Post by tonib on Sept 27, 2015 16:55:48 GMT
I wonder if Mieze senses something's not quite right with Carlotta?
|
|
|
Post by smilesbetter on Sept 28, 2015 0:16:52 GMT
Well, we took Carlotta to the vets and as soon as she saw her the vet said we need to take her to the clinic because the vets doesn't have the facilities to find out what's causing her to be so ill and the vet couldn't feel or see any obvious cause. So we took her to the clinic (just home at 2 in the morning now) and they did an X-ray, a sonogram and another X-ray although we left before the second X-ray. They also took bloods and the bloods showed that she had a high platelet count and something else high (my man said "infection" as the translation but the vet wouldn't say the word again :S). And wow, when they went to take the blood they put her in a buster collar and wrapped her in a blanket and wow! She was yowling super loud and really wrestling to get out. Considering how terrible she's been looking I was amazed at the fight left in her, plus she's never been like that at a vet no matter what they have done with her, I didn't know her to have a voice like that haha! The X-ray showed her bladder was massive and separately there was loads of gas or air inside her where it shouldn't be (the second X-ray is to see if that gas is still there or not), they also said some of the rear end of her digestive system looked wrong. There was some bone bits in the end of her system and they wondered whether that had anything to do with it but it could also just be bone from her diet which hasn't been pooped out yet as it was all very far back in her system. The worrying thing about that though is that she hasn't eaten any bone for at least a week and a half so it should not still be in her system at all. We then had a worry that we've maybe eaten something with bones in the meantime and she's somehow eaten something from that but we think we haven't. Anyway the sonogram showed that her organs seem to be fine and there doesn't seem to be any damage to them so the bone bits don't seem to be related (but could still be) and it doesn't really explain why she's not been to the toilet or eaten. They did remark that her teeth look good now though!
Anyway they have kept her in and are going to possibly do an operation tonight or tomorrow morning as they think there is a foreign body inside her (although they said they didn't think it was the bones, because I kept asking about them haha, but they didn't say what they thought it was or why they thought there was a foreign body there), but they kept highlighting that they might not do an operation depending on this second X-ray. We didn't feel very confident in them to be honest.
Anyway so I'm home now just waiting to find out what happens. Obviously very worried for her, but feeling a lot more confident that she can pull through now as at least we have a possible idea of what's causing it and how to fix that, whereas before it felt like some big mystery illness striking her down.
Still, she's not had any food for about 6 days now except a tiny bit of liver, and she presumably won't be allowed to eat tomorrow if she has the operation... So then it will be a whole week without food... :/ that's a really, really long time for a cat to go without food.
|
|
|
Post by tonib on Sept 28, 2015 2:07:52 GMT
Could the other high be white blood cell count (WBC) called leukocytosis which is (amongst other options) an indication of infection?
Sad to say I'm beginning to know where to look for information as a result of reading up on Penny's kidney problems but of course you can fund anything on the internet - right or wrong! So don't take my ideas as gospel!
Hope the vets have good news for you in the morning.
|
|
|
Post by smilesbetter on Sept 28, 2015 6:59:20 GMT
Morning tonibIt could have been that but unfortunately I don't know and my man says he has no idea. Haha yeah, I'm avoiding looking up anything online. It does feel like the folks at the vet hospital are just grasping at strings, as they couldn't say why they thought it was a foreign body other than someone had suggested it might be that, even after the sonogram. Nothing against them there I mean, because I can't see what on earth is causing this and the other vet had no idea as she actually feels okay from the outside and has no obvious source of the problem. There has been times when she has stopped eating before and I've taken her to the vets and they've given her an injection to boost her appetite and said its probably just the change in weather or something, and she's been 100% fine afterwards, so now I'm beginning to wonder if it's connected to that and she has some long term thing, or if that's just pure chance. It doesn't help matters that it is the same hospital where Rosa was when she had her vestibular disease, and they misdiagnosed that (which I can understand except that I'd think an epilepsy specialist would know what diseases looked similar to epilepsy and have checked for those when she wasn't responding to the epilepsy meds), they gave her medication for the ear thing while she was still on epilepsy meds (that can cause epilepsy) that could also cause epilepsy which seemed a bit risky considering, she was booked in for an MRI and then they put her through a CT scan to look at her brain and then said "you can't actually see the brain in the CT scan" (and hey, I agree that a null result in a test is as useful as finding something, but then the dog is already booked in to get an MRI in a few days time and you've already done X-rays etc on the skull, why do a CT scan if it doesn't show anything other than what was in the XRay but in 3D??!), after telling us that she actually had vestibular disease they told us not to go to another vet for treatment and put her on two weeks of meds which didn't seem to change anything as she was still itching her ear loads and dragging the side of her head off things, and then they refused to give me any of the information from her treatment so I was unable to actually go to another vet about it because the other vets didn't wanna do anything without the information (fair enough, why would you wanna start guessing at what's wrong based on the outside of a dogs body when you know there is an MRI scan video which can show you a detailed view of the inside). I know a lot of that couldn't be helped and was just bad luck,mout of course I worry that the same will happen with Carlotta, and Rosa is tough and healthy, she can cope with anything, but Carlotta really isn't. I'm so scared they are gonna do this operation just because they can't think of what else might be wrong with her, I mean she's so pale and looks like she's on deaths door, I'd be scared the anaesthetic would be too much for her, and if she's already that anaemic then how's she going to cope with being cut open?! She hasn't even got enough blood for her own body and I'd imagine surgery isn't going to help matters. My man and I had talked about it and if she needed surgery which was just gonna slightly prolong her life then we'd rather she didn't have to go through with it, but if it's a foreign object then surgery could save her and she could live many years more, so of course we'd want that, but last night they couldn't really tell us whether it was one or the other, they said they didn't know if there was a foreign body or not and they didn't know why some of her organs looked strange and there was gas everywhere. It was totally different people on than when Rosa was there too, and in both cases they are only human and I can see with Carlotta how it's a tough case and no one can figure out then cause for sure... Awch I'm just so worried and I really don't trust vets unfortunately after way too many bad experiences. Well certainly not vets in this country anyway, that Irish guy in the uk who does that Supervet show looks fantastic haha, wish he was our vet! I still have hope though that they will get to the bottom of this and it'll all turn out okay, but I have this underlying panic.
|
|
|
Post by smilesbetter on Sept 28, 2015 10:32:28 GMT
I have good news!! The vat called and said Carlotta is looking a lot better and that they can't see any foreign bodies inside her (the bone seen on the X-ray was just from her food, so she must be constipated if it's still there after this time) so they have decided not to operate!! She is to stay in another night for observation and we are to pop by later with some food for her since she can't eat the Science Plan that they have haha.
I am delighted but also totally confused as to what's caused all this and how she could just suddenly become better. I wonder if the original issue has been her teeth/gums and then because she's not eaten for that,most caused something else, but I have no idea really. You can be sure I'll be quizzing the vets when I get there though.
Will keep you lot updated anyway, thanks so much for the support. Man, my pets really love to bring me on an emotional roller coaster every now and then just to keep me on my toes.
|
|
|
Post by tonib on Sept 28, 2015 11:23:39 GMT
Glad its good news from the vet smilesbetter. Hope you can eventually get some explanation for it all.
|
|
|
Post by migsy on Sept 28, 2015 13:39:18 GMT
Think it's been a double roller coaster you were on smilesbetter!I suppose it could be possible the manky teeth could have been the initial cause...I just hope your worries and panic are over now and pets enjoy good health from now on.
|
|
|
Post by smilesbetter on Sept 28, 2015 17:04:46 GMT
Well it turns out the good news was not good news at all unfortunately... Just back from the vet hospital. I went there with her food (and no carrier since they had said I'd get her tomorrow) and the vet took me aside to show me the sonogram, and explained that they had found a tumour in her stomach. They had taken a sample from it and it is cancer. We aren't actually that surprised, she was sick almost every day when we first got her and from what the previous owner later hinted at, it sounds as though she was the exact same with them. Nothing against the food itself, but she is allergic to so much stuff and vomiting that often is really really bad for the stomach too. When I think back to all our most recent vet visits with her over actually the last two years we've had her, it has always been either her vomiting (mostly in the first year before we found the diet that suited her) or her randomly stopping eating with no explanation (the vet usually gives anti sickness meds and then she'd be okay) so she has possibly had this for a while as well. Anyway it is one that responds well to treatment but it cannot be cured, and she said that she thought the chemotherapy would only slightly prolong her life. I asked how long the vet reckoned she had left, and she said a month or maybe a few months, and with the treatment then maybe another month on top of that, but that the treatment could only add months rather than years. The treatment would mean she would need to go to that vets every two weeks (which is an hours journey in her cage each way on two very loud trains, plus if you don't have an emergency case then even with an appointment you have a minimum of two hours waiting time) and then have a treatment of daily tablets for the rest of her life. So we have decided not to put her through the treatment as if it's only going to add a month to her lifespan and means putting her through regular journeys to that vet then I can't see that it's worth it. The vet has given us some tablets to give her for the tumour and some for her stomach because the tumour tablets cause stomach damage, which I am quite wary of now and I can't see whether it is better to give the tablets or not, as if she only has months (or less) left on her life either way then is it worth causing her potentially more damage? I am going to crush them up into some of her food mush and if she eats them then she can have them, if we have to force feed her them then I think I will phone my own vet and ask what I should do, because being force fed tablets isn't a very nice way to spend the end of your life. The vets said she peed there, and that she hadn't pooped. While I was holding her though I felt something on my hand and tadaaa, she had pooped all over herself. We tried wiping it off but no luck. She has been constipated for a while so this was to be expected. The vets must have given her a nutrient solution because she seemed much better than before anyway. So because she's not staying in for the chemo, she could come home. I didn't have the carrier so they gave me a cardboard box and I got a taxi home with her in it, much to her absolute delight because she is a cat and loves cardboard boxes! When we got into our building she perked right up and when we got to the door for our downstairs neighbours she got really excited haha, then when I walked past she was peering over my shoulder looking really upset. It's funny, Rosa often mistakes that for our house too and I even have a few times (I mean, I've thought I was on our floor and then seen their name by the door and not ours and realised I had another floor to go, pfft). Anyway when we got to our door she was super excited and climbed onto my arm a bit sniffing eagerly at the door. Unfortunately for her when we got in she had to get a bath to try to clean off some of the poop. We managed to get the worst of it off but being white she is very stained and we didn't wanna prolong her suffering (she wasn't too bad in the bath but she clearly wasn't happy) so we have removed anything we don't want poop on in the living room and have been following her around cleaning. We've set her up in the living room with her litter tray and stuff. To our delight she started grooming right after the bath! She hasn't done that for days!! We out some mushed up food down and she was wolfing it down, I almost cried with happiness there because if she had kept refusing food then we would have had to take her to the vet already and we are really hoping to get longer with her. We didn't let her get too much of the food at once as we don't want her to be sick, we'll give her it in small amounts over the rest of the day since she's not eaten in so long and will need to build herself up again! She's already looking much, much better (although still a bit wet and dirty, but she's working on that and keeps grooming herself). Anyway, so no idea how long we have left with her, but we are going to make the most of her while we can. Feeling really weird about it, like I'm so happy she's home and she's looking so much better, and I'm kind of ignoring the fact that's it's not gonna be for long if you know what I mean.
|
|
|
Post by cazypops on Sept 28, 2015 18:41:28 GMT
I'm really sorry, smilesbetter. I know exactly how it feels not knowing how long you have left with her. We were the same when we found out that our last dog Jess had liver failure. Just take it one day at a time and make the most of her, take loads of photos too, to remember her by. {{HUGS}} we're here for you.
|
|
|
Post by scallywag on Sept 28, 2015 18:54:45 GMT
In tears here reading this, {{{HUGS}}} to you Erika, so sorry the out come was not what you expected. Like Caz said enjoy the time she has left, takes lots of photos. they will become precious.
Here when you need to off load xxx
|
|
|
Post by gypsy on Sept 28, 2015 19:10:11 GMT
So sorry to read this smilesbetter. As I was reading through your posts I thought it wasn't looking good. I'm completely with you regarding the treatment issue. It does sound like it would be very stressful for Carlotta and at this stage her quality of life is what matters. From what you describe of Carlotta's health problems she may have had inflammatory bowel disease most of her life and although most people don't consider this a life threatening condition, if you're unable to control it (not all animals respond to medication and diet management) the long term inflammation can lead to cancer. Carlotta's a beautiful girl. Again, sorry it wasn't better news.
|
|
|
Post by smilesbetter on Sept 28, 2015 20:57:21 GMT
Thanks guys, means a lot! She has had another portion of chicken breast and liver mushed up a week while ago and is after more now so I've sent my man off to make some more. Someone's certainly got her appetite back! I wonder if the full bladder and the constipation were the main thing actually putting her off her food, as they'd have made her feel pretty full I imagine.
We have let Rosa through with us now but she's not got near Carlotta who is high up on the desk. We would like to get Mieze through to see her of course but we'll wait till Carlotta has properly cleaned herself up and got a bit more back to normal, so we will wait until at least tomorrow to reintroduce the two.
We're not sure whether giving the meat puréed helps at all, but we figured it would be less stressful on her stomach and we can add some crushed egg shell for calcium content (I'll get bone powder though). Now Carlotta has to get tablets twice a day for a bit we can crush them into the mix too and we'll just have to start feeding her twice a day again (Mieze is gonna be so jealous!!)
|
|
|
Post by migsy on Sept 28, 2015 23:28:39 GMT
So very very sorry its not been good news smilesbetter.Poor sweet Carlotta,she doesn't look ill at all in the pics.Thank goodness she has been lucky to have such caring and devoted owners as you and your man.You have both always fought so hard to get the best treatment for your pets.
|
|