Recent Content by zygote

I think a lot of this depends on the cat. My previous cat (pictured) was fed mostly dry food her whole life, and did fine on it because she loved water and drank a ton. She did develop mild kidney disease when she was around ~13, but she also had cancer and that was by far the bigger issue for...

I have a rescued street cat who's always been like this. Luckily she's an only cat, so I don't have to worry about her eating another cat's food. But it still makes it hard to travel. We normally feed her 3 times a day when we're home, and she constantly begs in between. When we're gone, she...

I am not the OP, but my cat's mammary cancer also metastasized to the lungs. They first saw a hint of it in November, and then a follow up X-ray in January confirmed growth. Our highly specialized veterinary oncologists, who were happy to offer many treatment options for the lumps, said there...

So sorry to hear the news. I am a scientist, but not in a medical field. I don't understand the details, but it sounds like they suspect lymphoma over FIP and just can't be sure without further testing. Whether to do that is totally personal. She may want to keep testing to get a firm answer, or...

Sorry catman925, for some reason I missed that you were the OP! Fingers crossed the vet can get to the bottom of this. If kidney disease is confirmed, all of those suggestions you list are right on the money (depending on what the vet says about this specific case, of course). My cat was stable...

Like catman925, I suspect kidney disease. While a creatinine value of 3.2 isn't awful, it's high enough that you could start seeing symptoms. Has the cat had a full senior bloodwork panel done? I ask because I'm concerned about high phosphorus (a common cause of poor appetite in kidney cats, can...

I'm so sorry. Even though we know their time will come one day, it always feels too soon. You gave him the best possible life.

I haven't been on the forums much since my cat passed away last month - too hard - but something made me check today. I'm glad I did. Sending you and Artie so much love. :hearthrob::redheartpump::vibes:

Apologies for the delayed reply - I was traveling and didn't see this until now. And I am so sorry to hear about the bad news on the xrays. I think monitoring via more xrays or an ultrasound is a smart plan. No sense in putting her through surgery if it's already metastasized and she's...

We chose to do a full kitty mastectomy. They do it in stages, one side at a time, because the mammary chains go down their entire abdomen. There's not enough skin to do it all in one surgery. We started with the side with the bigger lump. They took out the entire mammary chain and a related...

So sorry to hear the bad news. I'm glad you have already started figuring out how to move forward. The decision not to treat with chemo if it has spread makes a lot of sense. It would be a real gift to Pandora to keep her happy and comfortable as long as you can. Chemo can be rough and would...

We went to a veterinary oncologist. Our vet referred us. Like your vet, he said he didn't have the tools to handle the case himself. He's a great vet for preventative care and basic problems, but he's a one-man neighborhood practice. He just doesn't have the resources for something like this...

My cat also has mammary cancer. I'm not going to lie, it's been pretty stressful. I also tend towards anxiety and, as you've read, it can spread pretty fast and is basically impossible to "cure". She is spayed, but she was a stray so she was spayed late. And had at least one litter of kittens...

In my experience, just because that website shows a good lactated ringers price doesn't mean the pharmacy will have it in stock. At my local pharmacy, lactated ringers shows up in their system, but there is some kind of restriction and they can't order it (even with a prescription). I think it's...

When my cat had the mastectomy for her mammary cancer, we had to shut her in the living room and barricade the edge of the couch so she could only get on and off via the stairs we concocted with other boxes. It worked pretty well. If this is indeed an injury that will heal with rest, a temporary...