How is everyone feeling? (31)

[Tembo]

So sorry to hear this Consolida. It must be so traumatic for you! Thinking of you and your precious kitty.

It’s so great you rescued her as a stray and have no doubt given her a lovely life!

[arrested_development]

Just know and remember that she'll no longer be in pain. And I hope you'll see her again one day.

[Consolida]

^ Thank you, but I haven't given up on her yet hydef.

It's been a horrendous day. I've been wiping smelly food over her leg so she has no option but to lick it off but getting her to drink is proving impossible. It seems like she has little smell.

Dougella, we've phoned around and there doesn't seem to be anywhere that will remove the ear polyp without her firstly having a CT scan to show exactly what they would be dealing with. Unfortunately the scanner is an extremely expensive bit of kit, hence our huge bill from the get go. Polyps are renowned for returning and apparently if she has the invasive surgery at the hospital the chance of a recurrence is only about 97%.

Tonight I'm thinking that I'm going to refer her for expensive treatment tomorrow because I'll never be able to live with myself if I thought I'd taken away her possible chance of getting better and maybe giving her a few more years of life. I know I sound crazy because to some people she's "only" a cat, but she's my cat and I love her SO much and I'd torture myself for ever more if I chose to put her to sleep because we didn't want to part with a lot of money. I just hope she knows how much she is loved

Btw, thanks all of you lovely people for the kind words

[anxiouslondoner]

^
Sorry to hear about your feline friend Consolida. You are a great cat mum.
Hoping for the best.

[Dougella]

^^ Maybe getting her the scan can be the first step, then you'll know what you're dealing with and if there is a polyp. I totally understand you wanting to do whatever you can for your beloved pet

[Consolida]

^/^^ Thanks AL and Dougella

We are leaving in a while to take her to the animal hospital. It will take around an hour to get there and hopefully the scan will tell us what exactly is making her so ill. Some more blood results from a couple of days ago have come back and shown that she also has TWO throat infections so no wonder she is struggling to eat, poor girl. Again, the ear polyp is very likely causing all of these issues. I'm not religious, but I'm praying that she will come through this as I need my feline friend. It will be worth becoming destitute and living on beans on toast every day, lol, if we get a few extra years with her. I hope we are doing the right thing by her.

Thanks for listening. Apart from my husband and son, friendless person that I am, I have no one else to talk about this with

[Consolida]

Feeling agitated

We just had to take the cat to our usual Vets because they wanted to check her latest heart rate and take her temperature to send on to the hospital. Then we've been told to come home and wait for a phone call to say that we can drive her to the hospital. Having to keep dragging her in and out of the carrier, which she hates, is awful. Why the heck can't the hospital (that will be charging us thousands) check her temperature when we get there instead of this ridiculous fiasco!

[Merry]

Is it to make sure she's well enough to go?
Maybe it's precautionary to try and keep vulnerable patients as safe as possible? Kind of like checking humans don't have a temperature before they go to some hospital wards?

It must be so stressful for you all, especially hard with animals as you can't fully explain what's going on. I hope it all goes well and she's back home recovering with lots of cuddles asap x

[Consolida]

^ Yes maybe that was the reason Merry, but it was awful having to drag her in and out of the carrier and the car when she was so poorly, plus the weather was freezing out too!

Anyway, she's at the Animal Hospital tonight and they are going to do the CT scan tomorrow to try and see what the problem is and then operate if it is an ear polyp. Of course I'm worried sick that it might be something more sinister and inoperable but I'm trying to distract my self from such thoughts. I know it sounds sad but she's literally my only friend and has been a massive comfort to me. The other two cats are my husbands and the third is my son's and so I don't have a strong bond with them, but she's different. I've vowed that I'm never going to allow myself to get this attached to a pet again.

To make matters worse, we'd finally arranged to have a new bathroom installed before she became ill and all the stuff is already purchased and in the garage. We've told the workman that we need to postpone it by a few days but he isn't at all happy and has pretty much refused. My cat will need a peaceful home to recover in so this couldn't have come at a worst time, plus now there's the added worry of the unexpected massive veterinary bill.

It never rains but it pours

[BFG_]

Freezing this weather sucks.

[Consolida]

Sick with worry and the one "person" who could comfort me isn't here. The Vet said she will call this evening with the results of the CT scan. The waiting is hell.

[Dougella]

^ Fingers crossed your cat is ok Consolida. If they can treat the throat infections i expect that will help her feel better and be able to eat too

[Chess&Junkfood]

I hope it goes well, Consolida

[Amara 94]

Drained, had a class today but didn’t know that my lecturer wasn’t coming so got sent to another one teaching the same module. The difference was night and day. This lecturer last week actually gave us a lecture and stuff and discussed what we would be learning the one today jokes around with some students, would always cut a convo with me did absolutely no lecturing and then was complaining at us when we used our devices for class.

I guess, from what I’ve seen this term, I shouldn’t take the lecturer’s I have for granted. One of them gives us lots of suggestions on how to study. Hopefully next week I have the lecturer that I was assigned originally.

This one meshed with people who like to joke around but I felt like it was a waste of time. I left early and should’ve left earlier I feel.

[choirgirl]

I hope its okay news.

[Appear]

Exhausted. A bit lost. Need to get out the house...

[Consolida]

^ Getting out of the house is almost always a good thing for us both mentally and physically, but make sure you wrap up warm!
Anyway, I hope you are feeling a bit better now Appear

Originally Posted by Amara 94

Drained, had a class today but didn’t know that my lecturer wasn’t coming so got sent to another one teaching the same module. The difference was night and day. This lecturer last week actually gave us a lecture and stuff and discussed what we would be learning the one today jokes around with some students, would always cut a convo with me did absolutely no lecturing and then was complaining at us when we used our devices for class.

I guess, from what I’ve seen this term, I shouldn’t take the lecturer’s I have for granted. One of them gives us lots of suggestions on how to study. Hopefully next week I have the lecturer that I was assigned originally.

This one meshed with people who like to joke around but I felt like it was a waste of time. I left early and should’ve left earlier I feel.

The jokey lecturer that messed around would have bothered me too, as I suspect it would have bothered the majority of quieter people who just want to get on with their work. I hope you get the lecturer you prefer next time.
Btw, I think it's amazing how you are persevering with your studies, Amara, as there's no way that I would ever have coped with all that Uni entails

Originally Posted by Dougella

^ Fingers crossed your cat is ok Consolida. If they can treat the throat infections i expect that will help her feel better and be able to eat too

Thank you Dougella
Yes, the antibiotics seem to be helping the throat infections but it's never long before she comes down with yet another respiratory infection which knocks her back down again. We are hoping to finally find out if there is an underlying condition that is causing all this. I don't know if she has started to eat and drink but they've put her on IV fluids to keep her hydrated.

She had a really horrid start in life. I discovered her scavenging in the neighbourhood dustbins as a stray kitten, rescued her, took her to be spayed and (to cut a long story short) the vet damaged her internally during the routine op causing her to lose a kidney. It's an absolute miracle that she survived and I know I'm so lucky to have had 11 years with her and I know she can't live forever but I'm not ready for her to go yet

Originally Posted by Chess&Junkfood

I hope it goes well, Consolida

Thank you

Originally Posted by The Devil, Probably.

Any updates?

Thank you for asking TD,P

The Vet phoned and said she couldn't see anything on the CT scan of her head but that she will look more thoroughly in the morning and call again. Of course I can't sleep a wink worrying. She wants to scan her body but at £3,000 a time another CT scan is out of the question so regular X-rays will have to suffice. The veterinary bills are extortionate and the Vets always seem to contradict one another. I've lost all faith. A few days ago our regular Vet (who charged £750) said he thought she had an ear polyp but nothing is obvious on the CT scan. They have detected thyroid issues so that's a worry as this can accelerate kidney disease.

Bet you wish you hadn't asked now!

My biggest fear is that, having spent thousands, she will come home from the hospital no better than before she went in and she'll have to be put to sleep

Originally Posted by choirgirl

I hope its okay news.

Thank you


Apologies for dominating this thread with all my cat related non SA stuff

[Dougella]

^ No need to apologise, this is the thread for talking about your feelings. We all know how important pets are.

That's good that there wasn't anything immediately visible on the CT scan, i hope the vet doesn't see anything when she checks it again. I'm sure the IV fluids will help for a start.

[Consolida]

^ Thank you. Animals are much nicer than humans

No, nothing showed up on the CT scan when it was re-checked so they're going to put her under this afternoon to see if there's a problem with her nose. I'm on tenterhooks. She's eating again so that's good

[Dougella]

^ In general they are yes

Oh that's good news, and good that she's eating a bit. Hope this afternoon goes ok.

[Tubbs]

@Consolida, I really hope your cat will make a full recovery, and that she'll be back home with you very soon. I've got everything crossed for you. It's so stressful when our kitties are poorly isn't it X

[Consolida]

^^ Thanks Dougella The surgery didn't go ahead yesterday, it's going ahead today instead, so another day of being on tenterhooks. She might come home from the hospital on Saturday and I'm trying not to get too excited about that as I know she's not out of the woods yet.

^ Thank you so much for your kind words Tubbs
Yep, our kitties are family and when they're poorly it's terrible. If I could change anything it would be that they had a longer life expectancy (not tortoise years but MORE than the 12 - 16 they generally have)

[Sisyphus]

Sorry to hear about your cat Consolida. I hope everything goes well.

[anxiouslondoner]

^^ sending best wishes Consolida. Hope all is well with you and your little cat.

[Consolida]

^/^^ Thank you Sisyphus and AL

She is back home now and I'm having the best cuddles with her, but she's still barely eating and drinking. The Vet found a lesion in her nose and has taken a biopsy but the results won't be back until Tuesday. Obviously I'm extremely worried. We have a whopping £5,000 vet bill and her health doesn't seem much improved.

She also needs to start treatment for an overactive thyroid but getting her to swallow a pill every day will be extremely challenging. She's a very feisty tortie! The vet said there's an operation available that would mean she wouldn't need daily medication but it costs £2,000. Do they think money grows on trees!

[Lee S]

Been put on Propranolol (a beta blocker) 3 times a day for anxiety. Have to get them from the chemist tomorrow (if the chemist hasn't blown away). Also got an appointment for more blood tests in case my constant weakness and shaking is more than just anxiety.

Had diabetic eye screening which showed I have slight damage (background retinopathy) to the blood vessels in my retinas but it doesn't affect vision and needs no treatment at this stage. Hopefully, good management of my diabetes will prevent it getting worse.

I will be taking five different tablets now, plus multivitamins.

Amlodipine - high blood pressure
Lansoprazole - stomach acid
Fluoxetine - depression
Atorvastatin - cholesterol
Propranolol - anxiety
Seven Seas multivitamins

I will be rattling when I walk soon.

In other news, I have managed to lose 3 stone since my diabetes diagnosis last October. I was 17½ stone and now I'm 14½. Going in the right direction at least.

Fear is a good motivator

[Dougella]

^ Wow, another stone lost, well done!

[Lee S]

Originally Posted by Dougella

^ Wow, another stone lost, well done!

Thanks

[Consolida]

^ Wow, well done on your weight loss Lee! I bet you are already starting to feel the benefits to your health


I'm feeling so hopeless. My beloved cat is only eating tiny amounts and only soft very fishy food that I have to keep coaxing her with. ALL she wants to do is to snuggle under the bedcovers with me. If only cuddles could make her better. I'm dreading the Vet phoning tomorrow with the biopsy results. Even my husband, who is a lot less negative than me, said that he thinks we might still lose her

It would have to be the week that we have workmen in the house. The guy said he would come later this morning but instead turned up extra early. I was just wearing a vest when he knocked so had to hurriedly hunt for my sweater before answering as my husband was busy ushering the 3 cats into the living room. I then scooped up my baby and carried her up to the bedroom for more snuggles. I wish I could stay like this with her forever.

[Dougella]

^ I'm sorry your cat's still not well good thing she wants to snuggle with you, she probably feels safe like that.