RE: Patches

[Rosenfeldt, Diane]

Thanks so much, Nina and Maggie.    The vet was nonspecific, just said he was running a fever and had an infection.  I'm 30 miles from the antibiotics, but know it isn't Clavamox or any of the usual suspects I'm familiar with.  I think our vets are fairly "up" on FeLV.  They did mention euthanasia as one option, but I think it was because they knew Patches was a stray who fell into our lap and weren't sure if we were up for the challenge rather than considering it the best way to go per se.  They also offered a couple more ways to go, one of them being what we're doing, isolation and *trying* to get him back in shape after whatever he went through out on the streets.   Re:  Luc.  Actually, we really only nursed him through the fatty liver part.  The pancreatitis was only diagnosed after the fact as a cause for him stopping eating after the fatty liver was well under way.  We have 5 cats who eat communally so we don't always notice right away if one of them is off its food, and it took a few days to notice that Luc was spending a lot of time on the couch, curled up as opposed to sprawling anywhere he felt like a lie-down.  So we didn't get him to the vet right away when he stopped eating, and by then his liver values were really bad.  He had an ultrasound but I'm not sure if it was even worth it, except that it's the step they take before doing a biopsy.  It showed "something bright," LOL, most conclusive.    I completely HATE that money has to play a part in the decisions we make for our babies.  I feel like the biggest slime on earth when I have to decline a much better option for them because it's too pricey or requires time I don't have.  It was so hard, with Luc, wanting desperately to get him through this because Gail and I both love him so much, and having to gamble with huge amounts of money (for us) on an uncertain prognosis.  As I said, it was successful and therefore worth every penny (though we really thought $600 was a lot for an overnighter, but this vet was our only option at the time) but if it hadn't worked out I'd have been bitter forever about the money.  And this is just me, a private person who is apparently a cat magnet.  I can't even think about those of you who do rescue, all the expenses you incur and the decisions you have to make because of them.   You're all heroes. ;-)   Diane R. From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Nina Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 10:18 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: Patches Hi Diane, I can't tell you how sorry I am to hear Patches hasn't been feeling well.  It's a very good sign that he's begun to improve, but you're right, it's critical that you get him to eat something and keep as much weight on him as possible.  It would be a good idea to find out what kind of abx you are giving him.  Unfortunately, most of us have had to take crash courses on veterinary care to insure our babies are properly diagnosed and treated.  We don't have time to mess around with even "educated" guesses.  Felv, in and of itself, is not what our kids die from, it's the secondary, opportunistic, illnesses that are able to take hold because of their weakened immune responses that cause the problems.  You're doing great in keeping on top of the illness, it's good that you went to the vet, but you need to know exactly what is wrong in order to treat Patches quickly and help him fight whatever is going on.  You've had experience with lack of appetite before, so you probably know a lot of tricks to get them to eat.  When they don't feel good you have to keep switching foods because they tend to "blame" whatever they're eating on how crummy they feel.  Of course if he can't smell, he won't want to eat either.  Have you tried warming his food to bring out the aroma?  Sometimes they'll lap, but not chew.  Sometimes they want a bowl, not a plate and visa versa.  Try offering a bit of food, (make it small portions, large amounts seem to intimidate), right after the first attempt at syringe feeding, sometimes it sort of kick starts them eating. I'm sorry to hear about your Luc.  Are you saying you nursed him through Pancreatitis and fatty liver disease??  Talk about the power of love and dedication!  Most of us on the list have had to deal with money becoming a factor in our kid's care.  It just sucks.  My credit cards still have room, and so far I've been fortunate enough to find a way to pay for the things my guys need.  What I try to keep in mind is that no matter what I can do for them, it's better than what they would have faced without my love and care.  Sometimes all the money in the world is not enough, usually money is not the deciding factor anyway. My prayers and good thoughts are with you, Gail and Patches.  Please keep us informed and let us know exactly what Patches has been diagnosed with.  If your vet tells you, "it's just the felv kicking in", you need to educate him, or find a different vet.  I always advise finding a board certified Internist.  You can ask your current vet for a referral. Keep your chin up and give Patches a head bump from me, Nina Rosenfeldt, Diane wrote:   I'm worried about Patches.  The little bugger just won't eat enough.  He's been sickly since we got him, with runny eyes every day, but it's been worse in the past week or so.  We took him to the vet Saturday, and he had a fever, so the vet put him on antibiotics (I don't even remember which one, it's kind of a gray pill that we give 1/2 per day) and gave us eyedrops and set us up to syringe-feed him and give fluids as needed.  We think the fever is down, he's somewhat more active than he was a few days ago, and his eyes are looking better, though still runny.  I haven't seen him sneezing, though sometimes it looks like he's got the same dried gunk in his nose as in his eyes.  We've been syringe-feeding him, which he of course hates, but we can only get about half a can down him which isn't enough, and he's probably down a good pound by now.  My housemate is on 3rd shift, I work days, so the only time we can syringe him is at night.  We tried KFC, warmed, and he showed an interest the first time, but not so much the two subsequent times.  Tonight we try baby food.  When our Luc got pancreatitis followed by fatty liver and stopped eating, we had to have an esophageal tube put in, it was so stressful on us all to syringe him, but that ended up costing us $1200 ($600 of it for the overnight stay at the vet because he doesn't tolerate anesthesia very well) which was most of my savings and some of Gail's.  Luc is our special guy and it saved his life and it was worth it, but we simply can't afford that again.   Patches has been very good under very bad circumstances.  Even when he's fighting to get away from the syringe, he doesn't use his claws or try to bite.  Multiple times during the feedings he'll look like he's going to barf, but he has kept it all down.  He's a sweet boy and we want him to get through this.  Any suggestions on how to get some good calories into him?  I'm off work tomorrow and we can probably manage 3 syringe sessions for the next couple days, but I'm not sure that will be enough.  He goes back to the vet Saturday.  (Gail has just informed me that she tried thin-sliced luncheon meat on him this morning, and he ate a whole slice.  She offered him a second slice, but he yacked on it (just a little bit though) and walked away.  Oh, and last night he ate *one* of the treats he used to climb up our noses to get.)   Diane R. 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