Conference misery::feline

    Caren...I just went through a similar thing with my kitty, Ziggy.
    It was not liver problems...but it was major Kidney Problems where
    Ziggy stopped eating/drinking and was completely lethargic.  Prior
    to the vets diagnosing the problem...we had to make some heavy decisions.
    Our options were Ultrasound, needle biobsy, complete blood work, or just 
    sit back and not do tests and give Ziggy a heavy dose of antibiotics
    and fluids for a few days to see what happened.
    
    AFter discussing all this in detail with the vets...and also discussing 
    the money..I came to my own conclusion that I atleast needed to know
    what was wrong..and then we would know if it was "fixable".  So we
    opted to:
    
      . Do the bloodwork first which showed his kidney profile was way
        out of whack, which atleast told us it was kidney problems.
    
      . Do the needle biobsy because that would have shown us if there
        were tumors. If tumors were found...I probably would have had
        him put to sleep...NO tumors thank god!!
    
      . We chose NOT to do the Ultrasound because it was expensive..and
        I didn't feel it would tell me anything that the biobsy and
        bloodwork didn't tell me already.  
    
      . Put him on heavy antibiotics...and fluids and do more bloodwork
        in a few days to see if the kidney profile was improving.
    
    
    Well after 5 days at the vets in what they consider intensive care...
    Ziggy started eating and drinking on his own and he has been on the
    road to recovery every since.  YES..he still has kidney problems...he's
    on a special diet...he needs fluids every other day...BUT he is a
    happy, playful cat who is happy to still be alive.  I know he won't
    be with me forever...but he'll be very happy why he is still with us!
    
    I guess my suggestion is to talk this over with your vet....your heart
    will help you make the decisions....take one step at a time, and don't 
    dwell on this being the end because it's amazing how cats can bounce back. 
    
    In total it cost me about $375 for Ziggys vet visits...but I personally
    feel we made the right decisions and would probably do it all over
    again.  
    
    Good luck...please keep us posted...and feel free to write to me
    offline if you have any questions.
    
    Sandy
    
    
    

    I'm so sorry to hear about Wokkie.  It's so hard when something is
    wrong with your pet because they seem so helpless; they can't tell you
    where they hurt or what is wrong.  But talk to your vet and get all the
    information you can.  I know whatever decision you make will be the
    right one.  Wokkie was lucky to find you and she knows you care for her
    very much.
    
    Good luck to you and Wokkie.
    
    Marilyn

    I heard from the vet this morning on Wokkie's bloodwork.  Her liver
    enzymes are all high and her bilirubin (sp?) is off the charts.  She
    said that indicates there is definite liver damage.  She also is
    severely anemic and her anemia is conjugated which the vet found
    strange because when she was treated for anemia this winter was
    unconjugated.  She consulted with the pathologist at the lab and she
    suggested doing all these other tests.  Well, by the time I got off
    the phone with her, my head was spinning and I was really upset.  I
    talked with a friend who had gone through something similar with her
    cat and then spoke with my husband.  Our feeling was that this may only
    be the beginning of her problems, especially since her liver is
    damaged.  Her red blood count is only 13%, it could be that her red
    blood cells are destroying themselves, we don't know.   My husband and 
    I agreed that we don't want her quality of life to degenerate any
    further and that she should be put down.  He made the call to the vet
    who conviced him to do 2 more tests - an FIV test and a Reticula Cyte
    test.  If either of those tests have bad results, the vet will agree
    she should be put down.  I am mentally preparing myself for letting her
    go.  It's really hard, but she doesn't deserve the suffering she is
    going through now.
    
    Caren

    Caren,
    
    I'm so sorry about Wokkie.  It's a VERY difficult decision to make,
    but you are doing it out of the love of your beloved kitty.  It's
    the right thing to do, and Wokkie will be grateful to you to put
    her out of her misery.
    
    Take care
    Pam

    I have good news to report!  Wokkie is doing MUCH better.  On Friday, I
    went to the Animal Hospital and saw Wokkie and talked to the vet.  We
    opted to treat her symptoms rather than do further testing which only
    brought on more questions.  On Saturday morning when we went backto
    visit, she was like a different cat, she was friendly (as opposed to
    hissing), she wanted to get out of the cage and walk around, and I was
    able to coax her into eating some solid food.  She was still real
    jaundiced but the vet said that could last for a long time.  I spent
    about 4 hours at the hospital with her Saturday afternoon and she was
    more active there then she was at home.  It took 3 of us to hold her to
    get some blood for the Pac Cell Count.  Unfortunately, that came back
    at only 10%, the vet is hoping that is due to the fact that on Thursday
    night when she was first tested, she was very dehydrated and when she
    tested at 13%, it may not have been an accurate reading.  We are doing
    another test today as well as retesting her liver enzymes and
    hopefully, we will see some better results.  In any event, she is
    coming home tonight!  I don't know how much more time I will have with
    her but I know she will be happy to be in familiar surroundings.  She
    will be on a medicine cabinet full of drugs and a special diet but
    that's quite OK by me :^)
    
    Thank you all for your support and good wishes.  I will let you know
    how she's doing.
    
    Caren

    Great news Caren.....give Wokkie a big hug from us!!!
    
    Sandy

    I agree; I don't mean to darken your mood, but speaking from
    experience, I just want to say, make the most of the time that you have
    left. My Argus had liver cancer and went very quickly; I felt I didn't
    get to say good bye. He started acting funny on a Saturday night and I
    lost him on a Thursday. Had I known that we had so little time, I'd
    have brought him home so that we could have more time togeather.
    
    Deb

    Caren - glad to hear that Wokkie is feeling better, at least for
    now!  Spoil him rotten when he gets home and give him as much love
    and attention as you can.  Even though the amount of time with him
    is unknown, try to make the best of it.
    
    We'll be thinking about you and Wokkie...
    
    Pam
    

    Caren,
    
    Glad to hear Wokkie is doing better.  Bringing him home will help!
    
    Enjoy being with him.  I can tell from reading your note that Wokkie
    must really enjoy being with you.  He wouldn't have been so happy to
    see you if he didn't...
    
    Take care and hugs 
    
    *joyce and shilo
    

    Caren,
    
    I'm glad to hear that Wokkie is going home again, and that you've
    decided to treat the systems.  Lady Di was diagnosed with FIP (a fatal
    disease) less than 2 months ago, and we were told that she would go
    very quickly.  I made the decision not to put her down, and 2 months
    later, she is still going strong.  I am giving her lots of loving for
    as long as I have her with me.  Di and I send lots of warm thoughts to
    you and Wokkie....take care!
    
    Eloise

    Well, Wokkie is home now and she seems to be doing just fine.  The
    first thing she did when she got home was go to her food dish!  The vet
    has put her on Science Diet k/d and she seems to really like it.  Her
    liver enzymes were re-tested yesterday and things are headed in the
    right direction.  Her pac cell count was up to 17% so she's making lots
    of red blood cells.  Her bilirubin count (the stuff that makes her turn
    yellow) is down to 9% (normal for a cat is .4 - 1%) but it's a marked
    improvement from 13%!!  
    
    I have to keep a chart for her meds, she's on Cephalaxin, Panamycin and
    Hi-Vite Vitamins.  She can't have the Hi-Vite within an hour of the
    Panamycin so we have a complex schedule.  The trick is in the morning
    because it's barely an hour from when I get up to when I leave the
    house (including feeding the cat & dog, walking the dog twice and
    getting myself ready!)
    
    This morning, Wokkie came up to my night table and meowed to be fed at
    5:30.  She rarely comes upstairs so it was a real treat (even if it was
    too early in the morning !!)
    
    Wokkie and I want to thank all the FELINER's out there for sending
    all their good thoughts to us!   I know they helped me, and I'm pretty
    sure they helped the Wokster too!
    
    Caren

    I'm VERY glad to hear that Wookie is doing so well! Give her a big hug
    from all of us!
    
    Deb and THE FIRM

    I just read the whole topic (I mentioned elsewhere I had no connection)
    and I was very excited reading the story. I wish Wokkie all the best!
    Our paws crossed on, though!
    Nat

    Well, Wokkie is back in Kitty ICU.  On Tuesday morning I came
    downstairs and it looked like someone had been shot, there was blood
    splattered all over the walls.  Wokkie was standing there with blood
    all over her ears and paws.  I tried cleaning it up, but she was pretty
    bloody.  I dropped her off at the vet's and the vet told me that he
    felt her autoimmune disease was out of control again because she was
    bleeding from deep inside her ear and he would try to cauterize the 
    vein and she would just shake her head and it would pop.  They also
    had her on a valium drip to keep her calm and when the removed the drip
    she was bruised far more than normal.  Well, they ran a full blood
    panel again and he was right, she was in crisis, this time the disease
    had attacked her platelets, normal platelet count for a cat is 300,000
    to 500,000, Wokkie's count was 10,000 to 30,000.  She was just about
    bleeding through her skin.  So, her treatment is to be confined in the
    hospital, high doses of cortisone and some vitamin K for coagulation.
    Her liver does not seem to be affected this time, her enzymes are only
    slightly elevated.  
    
    Hopefully, she will respond quickly to the cortisone as she has in the
    past and no further treatments will be necessary (this cat has cost me
    a LOT of money this year!) but she will have to remain on cortisone or
    prednisone for the rest of the her life because every time we take her
    off of it, she has a cat-astrophic illness.
    
    I'm waiting for an update from the vet for today and I'm hoping she
    will let me bring Wokkie home tonight.
    
    It never ends....
    
    Caren
    

	Poor Wokkie...I hope she's going to be O.K. on the cortisone.  Poor
you having to deal with this, doesn't sound like fun.

	Big hugs to you both.

	Laura

    Our paws are crossed for you.
    Nat

    Well, Wokkie has come through again.  We ran another blood profile
    Thursday night and her platelet count is up to 160,000.  That is still
    only half of what it should be but it's a big improvement over 20,000!
    Her pac cell volume (red blood cells) is still too low so the vet wants
    to keep her on prednisone every day for 3 more weeks and then test
    again to decide if she can cut back to every other day.
    
    Meanwhile, I have spent close to $2,000 on vet bills for this cat this
    year which is MUCH more than what my husband and I have spent on
    ourselves.  A lot of our friends think we're nuts to spend this kind of
    money on an old cat and they are probably right but she's like one of
    the family and if I didn't keep trying to save her, I would feel
    awfully guilty.
    
    Caren

    >A lot of our friends think we're nuts to spend this kind of
    >money on an old cat and they are probably right but she's like one of
    >the family and if I didn't keep trying to save her, I would feel
    >awfully guilty.
    
    Don't you dare let anyone make you feel you are crazy! She IS a part of
    your family, and you are just doing what you think is right. (I've been
    through this myself and I'd just like to scratch the eyes out of
    "friends" that act like that). 
    
    Deb

    I don't think you are crazy either.  The poor cat and poor you!
    The problem comes when you really can't afford any more.  I have spent
    lots, so I can't blame you.
    Karen

I have been reading this note now with mixed emotions.  I sought out the
topic, as we have a cat that is presently experiencing liver difficulties...

Lucky (named so because she was "lucky" we found her :-) is about 1 1/2
years old.  She was one of two kittens that apparently strayed from their
mom and were found behind our home.  Because my wife is known as "the cat 
lady" in our cul-de-sac (she loves cats), they brought them to us and we
nourished them, got them their shots, etc.  When they were of an appropriate 
age, we gave one away and, as an anniversary gift (it was her suggestion 
:-) she kept Lucky.

Anyway, recently, my wife noticed that she had gone a couple of days 
without eating and was generally lethargic (not like herself at all) so
she took her into the vet.

Her bilirubin was very high and she had a high fever (104+) and yellowish,
jaundice color (not terribly easy to notice since she's a golden color as
it is).  Everything indicated a liver problem.  So the vet kept her a few 
days to monitor her, hydrate her, try to get her to eat (used an appetite
stimulant which got her to nibble a bit) and run further tests.

It was thought that perhaps we could stimulate her to eat by changing
her environment (she absolutely hates the vet) so, even though her fever
was still high, the vet allowed us to take her home.  She was, I believe,
happier (if you can imagine a very ill cat being happy) but unfortunately 
she would still not eat and she threw up a couple of times.  So after one
evening, we took her back.

Over the next 24-hours, her fever did go down and she was beginning to
look a little less jaundice, but there was still the issue of getting 
calories in her.  So the vet made the decision to insert a tube from the
back of her neck down her to her throat (I think) whereby we can then 
pour a special dietary supplement to provide her nurishment.

That's where things stand presently -- she's at the vet as we speak and
I haven't had word how she's doing today.  My wife says they still want
to do a liver biopsy, and there's been talk about having the University
of Georgia look at her (they've almost exhausted their talents.)  It's
been over a week now since she's done any real eating, and she's still
pretty ill.

I know the vet can answer this, and I know I should have asked this before
but is liver damage permanent?  Assuming she recovers somewhat from this,
can we possibly expect future episodes to occur?

Don't know how Lucky we can call her right now...

-Andy

    from what I understand, you can live with only 20% of your liver
    functioning, and it is hightly regerative.
    
    Deb

Thanks, Deb.  And I am so sorry to hear about Mickey...

-Andy

    thanks.
    
    Deb

    Please let us know how Lucky is doing,
    
    Karen
    

The wife just called and said Lucky is not doing good.  Earlier she was
looking better but now she appears anemic and depressed, so the doctor 
has run another blood test and will have the results tomorrow.  In the 
meantime, he wants to keep her there overnight, which distresses my wife 
since there is no one there overnight.

My wife is beginning to question whether the vet is being truthful with 
her; she believes he is holding back something knowing how upset she is
about this whole thing (she blames herself for Lucky being so ill as she
waited to take her into the vet.  I've tried to convince her otherwise
but she refuses to accept this.)  Now she is afraid that she's going to
have to make a decision to put Lucky to sleep -- a decision not unlike
what she had to make a couple of years ago when another long-time friend,
Tabatha, passed-on from kidney failure (Tabatha was 20-years old).

Please keep us, especially Lucky, in your prayers tonight.

Thanks,

-Andy