Lyricality (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lyricality) wrote2012-05-30 11:36 am
lyricality) wrote2012-05-30 11:36 am
Entry tags:
Cat woes
*waves*
I know a lot of my flist are cat owners, and I'm looking for some advice.
Zachy, my big 12 year-old Maine Coon kitty, has been ill since around March of this year. His main symptom is vomiting (and a lot of it), and the vet to which I was originally taking him diagnosed pancreatitis from the bloodwork. He took a full month of steroids painkillers, and seemed to feel a little better, but his pancreatitis test was still positive and the vomiting never entirely stopped. He underwent an x-ray, which showed nothing, and then a second course of medication. This time, when he returned to the vet, the test was negative. Within a week, however, he had started to vomit again.
I was out of town, so my mother took him to a different vet for a second opinion. They did some different blood tests and found that his white blood count was elevated. This vet is treating another cat (also a Maine Coon) who has very similar symptoms, and they are consulting with a specialist.
The doctor is now recommending an ultrasound. I wouldn't necessarily hesitate, except that it costs $450. I'm afraid that like the x-ray, it won't show anything, and I'll just be throwing more money at this problem without getting any answers. The doctor seems to be leaning toward intestinal lymphoma as a diagnosis, but Zachy has already lived longer than most cats who are diagnosed with that (over six weeks), and he isn't acting particularly sick besides the vomiting. He hasn't lost a lot of weight, either (he's a little over 13 lbs, and he's always been around 14 lbs).
The other choice is IBS. In that case, he'll be placed on a very weird, special diet--something like rabbit and green peas. My hesitation there is that I've changed his food twice since this all started, once to Hill Science Diet Sensitive Systems and again to a special prescription wet food, and he'll stop vomiting for a little while and then start right back up again.
Siiiiiiiiiiiigh. Has anyone dealt with either of these diagnoses before? I'm just terribly unsure which path I should take, or if I should get him the ultrasound. Any advice would be helpful.
I know a lot of my flist are cat owners, and I'm looking for some advice.
Zachy, my big 12 year-old Maine Coon kitty, has been ill since around March of this year. His main symptom is vomiting (and a lot of it), and the vet to which I was originally taking him diagnosed pancreatitis from the bloodwork. He took a full month of steroids painkillers, and seemed to feel a little better, but his pancreatitis test was still positive and the vomiting never entirely stopped. He underwent an x-ray, which showed nothing, and then a second course of medication. This time, when he returned to the vet, the test was negative. Within a week, however, he had started to vomit again.
I was out of town, so my mother took him to a different vet for a second opinion. They did some different blood tests and found that his white blood count was elevated. This vet is treating another cat (also a Maine Coon) who has very similar symptoms, and they are consulting with a specialist.
The doctor is now recommending an ultrasound. I wouldn't necessarily hesitate, except that it costs $450. I'm afraid that like the x-ray, it won't show anything, and I'll just be throwing more money at this problem without getting any answers. The doctor seems to be leaning toward intestinal lymphoma as a diagnosis, but Zachy has already lived longer than most cats who are diagnosed with that (over six weeks), and he isn't acting particularly sick besides the vomiting. He hasn't lost a lot of weight, either (he's a little over 13 lbs, and he's always been around 14 lbs).
The other choice is IBS. In that case, he'll be placed on a very weird, special diet--something like rabbit and green peas. My hesitation there is that I've changed his food twice since this all started, once to Hill Science Diet Sensitive Systems and again to a special prescription wet food, and he'll stop vomiting for a little while and then start right back up again.
Siiiiiiiiiiiigh. Has anyone dealt with either of these diagnoses before? I'm just terribly unsure which path I should take, or if I should get him the ultrasound. Any advice would be helpful.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
We put ours on Science Diet Sensitive Stomach too, due to vomiting. It helped somewhat, but we still got some vomiting and some diarrhea from our one cat who has a very sensitive digestive system. I thought maybe something was seriously wrong with her, but we decided to try Blue Buffalo before hauling her into the vet (leaving the house is very traumatic for her), and none of our four are vomiting at ALL anymore. Even our long-haired cat stopped hacking up hairballs.
If you feel like the vomiting is impeding his quality of life, or that he's genuinely ill, that's a different story. But if he's just puking a lot, I would try some different food before investing all that money in an ultrasound.
no subject
...Also, when did it become four? o.O I have missed something. Possibly something that involves fuzzy cat pictures. *grabby hands*
no subject
no subject
But yeah, the Blue Buffalo has been great. It's definitely a more expensive food, but AFAIK it's around the same price point as Science Diet.
no subject
Yeah, they look pretty much comparable, and I was willing to pay the Science Diet price while that was working for him.
no subject
His problem turned out to be crystals in his urine, and a pre-disposition towards lots of urinary infections, which the vet told us often causes lots of gastro upsets in male cats. Putting him on a prescription food took care of it nicely.
I think I would be inclined to do what others suggested, and try a few diet changes first.
But whatever you decide, I hope your fuzzy boy turns out to be alright. *hugs*
no subject
Haha, dowry cat. *snugs him* They did check Zachy for urinary tract infections, and he came up negative. I'm glad they figured out what was wrong with your fuzzball, though. ♥
no subject
Yes, our good old boy lived to be 16 years old. Naturally, it never seems long enough, but 16 was a respectable age for a cat.
no subject
Good luck with all of this. It's so traumatic when your fluffy snuggler is sick and you can't figure out what's wrong. Or at least, it is for me.
no subject
Perhaps you can delay the ultrasound and try with the special diet for a while? Leave the ultrasound as a last resort, if that is in any way feasible.
no subject
While it may be something completely different in your case, my cat did also have an elevated white count when they originally did bloodwork, and was eventually diagnosed via ultrasound with cardiomyopathy, which was causing a build up of fluid in his lungs. He'd also been losing weight, but the fluid build up had masked that. And our vet did mention that Maine Coons can be genetically prone to heart problems.
I can definitely understand holding off on the ultrasound to see if he responds to a change in diet, but if you do ultimately decide to get one, perhaps you might seek out a different clinic? $450 dollars is high even for a full ultrasound; the vet's offices here only charge $350 for it, and this is Southern California, where they charge out the wazoo for everything. And on the off chance it is something heart-related, the condition seems to respond very well to medication.
Hoping things go well with your kitty. <3