RIP Ginger 29-7-15 :(

[pappilon]

 Sending lots of good vibes for Ginge, hope he starts eating soon and feels better

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I do hope the vets can get to the bottom of this, such a bloomin hard time for you and Ginge, sending all the good vibes I have 

[heather sullivan]

maybe while he is at the vets they may be able to look into his mouth? I wouldnt worry about the heart murmur, my cat has one since he was 3 and is 15 now. Hope the blood results tomorrow are normal 

[Miroslav]

Good luck to Ginge.

Hopefully he will have a good night and will be eating again very soon.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

   Keeping everything crossed that if he has a comfortable night, and is rehydrated, he may well feel like food in the morning. 

[Sootyca]

Feeling a little better about putting him through this as his inhouse bloods have shown up nothing that isn't consistent with dehydration.  He's slept a lot apparently but still won't eat.  Main bloods are hopefully back tomorrow and they may show something worse.  He will have to be syringe fed if he doesn't eat  - and given he doesn't want his mouth opening I can't think that will go down very well.  They also mentioned scanning him as well if he doesn't start eating.

Syringe feeding is obviously not going to be a long term option.

So, it's still a mystery as to why he won't eat.  But he's comfortable and warm and will be monitored overnight so he's in the best place. I hope.

[Lyn (Slugsta)]

How terribly difficult this is for you, you are both in my thoughts 

[Sootyca]

He did bite his tongue a few weeks ago - 3 teeth and can bite his tongue! Blood everywhere.  I was thinking the other day he hasn't really been right since then so it could be linked to it. No sign of infection though from any of his preliminary tests.

Hate waiting for the phone!

Oh, and to cap it all - he has a heart murmur as well.  Not sure how much  more could go wrong for him. 

[Kay and Penny]

I had a cat with a massive ulcer on her tongue, years ago, and because she wouldn't open her mouth I had to take her to the vet five days in a row for an ab injection - I liquidised her food and she lapped a bit, and it cleared up very quickly once the abs kicked in - so fingers crossed it might be something along these lines

[heather sullivan]

it sounds like he has a problem with his mouth then, hopefully none too serious. My cat had an ulcer on his tongue a good few years  ago which stopped him eating. Fingers crossed for good news

[Sootyca]

Well, he's still here 

Not sure for how much longer though but will take things slowly. He had a completely normal temperature and was quite alert in the vets.  So they have taken him in to get him re-hydrated and run some bloods.  Going to run two sets - an initial in house one which may suggest what we are having to contend with and the ones they send away which will be a fuller set.   I didn't want to leave him for 2-3 days in the vets whilst the tests are done so agreed to the inhouse ones which would show up some possible problems. 

He is such a placid cat but absolutely refused to have his mouth opened and looked like he was really in pain when anyone tried to do it.   He doesn't have many teeth but I suppose the remaining 3 could be causing him problems - or it could be more serious than that.

I do worry that I have just caused him more stress by putting him through these tests but I just couldn't bring myself to let him go without seeing if he could be treatable.  I absolutely will not put him through constant vet trips though.

So, now on waiting for the phone duty.

Karen
x

[heather sullivan]

dont give up yet, if he does have a temperature/infection it could be making him lose his appetite. Also antibiotics can cause loss of appetite/nausea too, in humans as well as pets. Fingers crossed for him that the vet can do something

[Sootyca]

I've had a cat before that died from kidney failure and it was heartbreaking at the end. As much as it will hurt to let him go I have promised him that I will not put him through that.  Re-reading the stuff on kidney problems it does seem he is showing more signs of low potassium.

This morning he has been round to say hello  but only after he saw me at the door to the shed.  He's eaten less than a teaspoon ful of food.

The vet on Saturday said he was just showing signs of a temperature and everything else was fine.

I know in other cats that I've had that have been dehydrated they have had a water injection and then all started eating again so I may ask if he can try that - I do want to give him every possible chance but on the other hand he has no quality of life at the moment.  The last thing I want him to do is die in pain somewhere.

I hate making this decision.

Edit - booked in for 10.30am. He has no quality of life so unless the vets can offer some sort of miracle to get him eating then I think I will have to say goodbye.  I can't put him through waiting for blood test results, it's not fair on him when he has no quality of life.  He's sat next to me purring - I've hardly ever heard him purr and can't think it is a good sign.  I do think the kindest option is to let him go.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Sending positive thoughts for Ginge, bless his paws.   

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

So very sorry but this does not sound good.

He is very light and not eating.............or drinking?

Ducha literally went down in 24 hours and his kidneys had been going for a while.

I suspect that Ginge maybe dehydrated, did the vet check?

Ducha had his birthday on the Monday ate chicken and by wednesday he had stopped eating completely and the only time he moved was when I took food to him and he struggled to get up and move away from the horrible stuff.

I hope that Ginge will improve and send all my thoughts 

[Sootyca]

He's looking brighter tonight, moving a little better and has come over when he is called but he won't come in the house. He won't eat either - sniffs at food, maybe licks it a little but then won't eat it.  Maybe the antibiotics and painkillers are slower to take effect on him than they are normally. 

I'm ringing the vets tomorrow to see if I can get him in if he doesn't eat his breakfast.

[heather sullivan]

maybe his mouth/tongue is sore where he had the hole? Most cats when they are ill huddle up and don't move. Poor thing, I would keep him in if possible for a few  days.  Maybe heat his food up slightly, if he can smell it he may be tempted to eat?

[Sootyca]

Seem to have a revolving door at the vets at the moment.

After Ginge, the third and "stray" cat that lives outside and I look after, bit a whole in his tongue a few weeks ago he hasn't been around as much. I thought he may have found somewhere else to look after him in his old age so haven't been too worried.  Anyway, when he was at the vets to sort his tongue out they weighed him and he was only about 2.5kg and they wanted him back to reweigh in a couple of months and to do bloods if he has lost weight.

He has usually been back at supper time to eat but sometimes that is the only time I have seen him.  He was around on Wednesday night, completely unfazed by the fireworks and ate supper fine and played with some toys I gave him. Didn't see him at all on Thursday or Friday until suppertime when he appeared walking very slowly - normally he bounds over crying for food.  He didn't want anything to eat. I honestly thought I wouldn't see him again but on Saturday morning I found him in the shed where he as a covered bed - he wasn't in the bed but was on the floor huddled next to some tools.  He reluctantly got up but didn't want any food and he was struggling on his back legs.

Got him into the vets immediately and he only showed signs of a slight temperature so had a painkilling injection and antibiotics.  I booked him in for Wednesday to have his bloods taken as he didn't want them taken over the weekend.  I didn't see him again until this morning when he was hidden in the shed again - this time I had put a blanket down so he would be a bit comfier.  I picked him up and brought him inside (where he doesn't really like to be) and put him on a blanket on the sofa.  He barely moved for 3 hours - initially all hunched up and then he relaxed more as he seemed to warm up.  Eventually after about 3.5 hours he showed a small bit of interest in things and ate about 1/4 of a slice of wafer thin ham and a tiny bit of tuna juice. 

After that he got up and wandered round - looking very stiff and sore and cried to go out.  I let him out - he really isn't an indoorsy cat and likes his freedom - and have just seen him now.  He looked a bit more interested in food tonight but only licked at a bit of gravy. He's still moving very slowly and has very little interest in what is going on.

I've had a cat die from kidney failure before and some of his symptoms are very similar, but they are very similar to low potassium, so am a little worried for him.  I'm fairly sure he isn't eating elsewhere - he has always been interested in food no matter how much or little he has eaten.  Today is the 4th full day that he hasn't had anything substantial.

Earlier today I was reconciled to taking him back to the vets and letting him go but now I'm not so sure    He's such a dear little thing that I don't want him to suffer but equally want to give him a fighting chance.  He just isn't himself at the moment.