OK, I have a sick Kitty and am trying to make sense out of what my Vet

[Raven]

is telling me.

This is Southbound. She is really Will's cat but I have had the thrill of taking care of her for some 10 years or so. She took sick about 10 days ago. Wouldn't move, looked awful, wasn't pooping. I took her to the Vet and he did blood tests and a Xray. Her white cell count was elevated and her calcium was elevated and she had a temperature. He sent us home with anti-bios and a laxative. The Xray showed some poop in her bowels. Day before yesterday, she finally pooped a few little marble sized poops. She seemed a little better but I took her back to the Vet. They gave her an enema (Yikes!!!) and took blood again. No more poops and the Vet says the white cells are a little higher and the calcium remains high.
She is eating and peeing and showing some interest in the world.

Today the Vet is recommending surgery to see what's up with the bowel and whether there is cancer happening. He says that he can get rid of whatever is in there and that she can go on chemotherapy.

This cat is 15, maybe 16 years old. I am not happy with the idea of chemo which the Vet says may extend her life "for a little while" or maybe not.

We have scheduled surgery for Monday (first available time). I have told the Vet that I am not crazy about chemo and that if he opens her up and finds alot of trouble, he should put her down. He says that maybe I will want to wait until the pathology comes back from the lab.

This is a good Vet so I have no questions about his motives but I am really conflicted about what to do with Southbound. My gut tells me to go through with the surgery in the hope that its some sort of a bowel obstruction that can be fixed. But the unusual blood results tell me that there may be more going on.

What would you do? I really need some help and advice on this!

[bertha katzenengel]

1. Oh, boy.

When I imagine one of my cats has Southbound's problems, I think I would let the cat live until its quality of life can't be sustained. You will know when that moment comes.

Or, if the vet does surgery, I agree - if he finds too much trouble, then let her go.

I wish I could really help. I know it hurts.

:hug:

[TZ]

2. I think you are doing the right thing

Wait till the surgery and pathology reports...As long as Southbound seems not to be suffering. But yeah, I think chemo for an old cat is probably not worth it.
Best wishes..hope it is something simple:hug:

[XemaSab]

3. No advice

but I hope your kitty gets better. :pals:

[mokawanis]

4. Tough situation

I think you have the right perspective. If money is not an issue you could let the vet do the surgery and then make a decision based on what he finds. I personally would not put a cat that age through chemotherapy in an effort to extend her like a few years. For a cat she's pretty old, I think 18 or 19 years is the average life expectancy.

Sorry to hear you are going through this difficult situation. Good luck.

[flvegan]

5. Personally,

I say listen to the vet. He's the expert. Plus, you have 4 days until surgery. If a round of antibiotics seems to have perked her up, and she's eating, etc again those 4 days may show more improvement and the vet may feel that the surgery isn't needed right now. That is, unless the vet saw some kind of mass or obstruction on the xray, which he really should have.

Chemo failed for my beloved dog last year, so I'm bitter, so I won't comment on that.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. Same situation with my Mom's cat...

...Poodie. Almost identical presentation. The exploratory surgery revealed a cancerous bowel obstruction that was removed. They followed with three rounds of kitty chemo. Once he got over the surgery, he was fine -- eating, drinking, playing around like a kitten. And he didn't seem overly bothered by the chemo -- he just looked like he was feeling off the day of the treatments. Unfortunately the treatments didn't cure him, just bought him some time -- the cancer did return after 8 months and we finally had to let him go.

At the time, the vet had said there was a good chance of full recovery, that the type of cancer we were dealing with responded well to the chemo.

If it were to happen again, we are not sure how we'd handle it -- it can be expesive and stressful, but they are you kids so you tend to do anything they need.

I am always in favor of finding out exactly what you are dealing with and then making a decision. Even if she does have cancer, the removal of it will make her feel better and it may not be necessary to euthanize right away. My cat Elwood had a cancerous, untreatable tumor in his mouth -- I decided to wait until he told me it was time to go. It was three weeks before his ability to eat got seriously impaired and he was giving me "the look" -- during that time we spent a great deal of love time together that was wonderful. He got spoiled like crazy! :D

Good luck with your kitty! :hi:

[TrogL]

7. I'd think about putting her down now no matter what

unless Will says otherwise.

10 days is a long time for a cat to be sick - they hate it.

I've got a 15-year-old cat who was in perfect health last year. This year she's put on a lot of weight, going through water like mad, and she hasn't bit me or clawed me to death in ages - normally a daily event. I doubt she'll last another year at this rate.

[Dogtown]

9. TrogL, that sounds like CRF

Chronic Renal failure is a common condition in older cats. The water consumption in your's is troubling.

I've had 2 CRF kitties. Both responded to sub-q hydration with Ringer's, about 100/200 CCs daily. You can add a year or 2 of quality life, sometimes more, to a CRF cat's life that way. They'll usually live well until they crash, but the end is swifter and kinder than if they go untreated. They can sometimes survive miserably for a long time without treatment because they will retain some functionality until they poison themselves, whereas with treatment they do well until the renal function gets close to zero.

[khashka]

10. Agreed. It sounds like renal failure.

The most common cause of death for cats. I don't think I'd do the chemo thing or the surgery. But you can do stuff. Our cat has renal failure and we inject him with fluids. It works, he's not in pain and acts normal, but it's only temporary. We will have to put him to sleep. But not yet. But when it becomes time, and it will, I'll do it.

[grasswire]

8. the unasked question

Can you afford to pay for the care the cat would need for eight more months of life (or thereabouts) without going into debt or going without food or shelter yourselves? Don't answer here. Just be sure you consider that. Our emotions must be tempered by reality in these economic times. Yes, we love them dearly and would sacrifice for them. This is just a caution.

[GOPisEvil]

11. I'm going to summon Madrone.

This sounds a lot like what her cat, Othello, went through. :(

Edit -it's similar to khashka's cat.

[alstephenson]

12. Can you cross-post this in the PETS Forum?

Lots of good advice there. Did your vet do an ultrasound? I would think he would do an ultrasound before advising surgery. Good luck with your kitty. I have one about the same age - he's in good health, but I dread the day that I will have to let him go. He's my baby.

[Raven]

13. Thank you all for the good advice. I think I'll take it step by step.

Will and I talked tonight and he agrees. I'll watch this kitty. I have been through the end times with a beloved dog and I think I will recognize the look if she gives me that. You know, we take these critters for granted until they get sick. Until then, they are always "around" for us. I have to remember what a comfort they are instead of a burden. Thanks so much for being there...here!

[DemReadingDU]

15. Another possibility

A friend had a similar situation with a cat, maybe it was 12 years old. I don't remember if there were any blood tests, but the cat would not poop. Finally, the vet did surgery. The cat had eaten a fairly large piece of ribbon that entangled the bowels. Once it was removed, the cat healed fine, and everything started moving again.

Hope the kitty will be ok.
:hug:

[applegrove]

14. If you can afford it. Go with the surgery. And find out what is really going on.

[davsand]

16. Other than the poop did the x-ray show any masses?

It would seem to me that if there was anything too terrible going on the x-rays would have shown something. Just thinking it thru, the elevated white count would seem to indicate some sort of infection or immune response. If the cat has plugged up that may have been what generated that White cell count... I dunno.

The high calcium level bugs me, but I do know that as kitties age the kidneys do tend to degrade. If kitty was acting fine up to about ten days ago, I'd be inclined to wonder if the antibiotics would be enough unless maybe the kidneys are hitting critical mass with failure here at the same time. Again, I dunno.

If your vet wants to take a look inside I'd probably agree with your decision to go ahead with that. He's got something he's looking for, so I'd let him do what I'm paying him to do. I also agree with you in being reluctant to do chemo on a cat that age--especially if the outlook was a matter of prolonging life rather than a cure.

Sometimes we just have to accept that our critters are only a short term gift rather than a lifetime one. I always kind of wonder if maybe they offer us too much joy in too small of a package to sustain for a human lifetime--like a star so bright it burns out faster--ya know?

Hugs to you and you kitty. I hope everything goes well.



Laura

[MonkeyFunk]

17. I had a similar problem with a 16 year old cat.

We thought it was diabetes for awhile, and I gave her daily insulin shots and IV fluids once a week, and it helped a lot.

Then, after a year, nothing I did could stabilize her blood sugar. The vet suggested perhaps it was a pancreatic tumor and not diabetes per se.

They could do exploratory surgery to find out, but if it WAS cancer, the treatment was unclear.

I decided to let her go. I couldn't see putting her through all that at her age.

[Midlodemocrat]

18. High calcium can be indicative of cancer.

So sorry you're going through this, Raven. Hope it ends well for you.