We're here with you and Artie, Darlin' Girl. You know how to reach me, should you need to do so.
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Artie and his Issues
- Thread starter artiemom
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No need to apologize to me, if that's where it was directed -- no offense at all taken. Just trying to figure out a way to get Artie back on track. I wonder about, if you have a blender, putting some of the food he is supposed to eat in with water, pureeing it, and syringe feeding him?tarasgirl06 I just tried the sitting on the floor, pretending to eat... he walked away...
The problem is: if he eats the other food, he will not poop. That is the bottom line. No prescription food, no poop, he is miserable, he will not eat, he will vomit. He will need an enema.. after enema, after enema.. his colon will stretch out more. No matter how much more miralax or lactulose I give him, it will stop working.
He will have constant dribbling. and be miserable ... cramps and vomiting..
As I stated a couple weeks ago; We are at the end, medically with him. We cannot increase the dose of anything, without bad side effects to either his heart or kidneys.
Artie is literally starving himself to death.. I mean it.. and it is his doing; not mine. I have tried all that I can.. I do not know what else to do..
unless I just let him really starve... see how low his weight does go before he eats his prescription food???? or he gets hepatic lipidosis.
sorry if I sound nasty.. I am just upset.. trying to keep my cool.
If I give him a can of tuna, he will want tuna, until he gets constipated (sick). Then he will associate that food with him getting sick. Then that food is off limits ... and he will become constipated, no matter what I do .. no matter what I try adding to his food, Miralax, Benefiber, Psylium seeds, etc... he will sniff it out and refuse the food....
If by any chance, he poops, it will be from diarrhea... and he will be miserable from the cramps, constant dripping.
I think I will not respond to this thread for a while, until I can control myself a bit... teary eyed...
You know many, many of us are here for him and for you and our *PRAYERS* go up for him!
Guys, Cindy is currently sufficiently stressed about Artie that she finds herself unable to continue posting here. This is nothing against anyone here, it's just that when she talks about the problems Artie is giving her she gets caught in a negative thought spiral, and she's having trouble dealing with it. She is, however, continuing to read our posts, and appreciates all the support.
The NVet says she is to continue to call the secretary with reports, because it's comforting to Cindy, and she is to continue as she has been until the end of the week, when they will talk again. The NVet also says that as long as Artie continues to follow Cindy around, begging for food, he's still engaged in life.
Margret
The NVet says she is to continue to call the secretary with reports, because it's comforting to Cindy, and she is to continue as she has been until the end of the week, when they will talk again. The NVet also says that as long as Artie continues to follow Cindy around, begging for food, he's still engaged in life.
Margret
As we all know, cats can be down one minute and full of life the next. Who knows what makes them tick. Let's hope Artie's Army is on the March again soon.
Hi Cindy,we completely understand you needing A break. I've personally dealt with a sick cat I would try feeding every 2 hours. I so understand the stress. I understand not getting sleep. Seeing one improvement then none then backwards slide.
You have to be exhausted. If there's anyway you can even take a few hours to just clear your head then please do. No rush posting here.
We're all here for you. I know there were times i completely broke down. Sending you hugs
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Come on Artie! Soon your mother will have a hypnotist over to trance you into eating. 
Eat Artie Eat
Hugs and support to you Cindy
we're here for you. Take the time you need.
You have to be exhausted. If there's anyway you can even take a few hours to just clear your head then please do. No rush posting here.
We're all here for you. I know there were times i completely broke down. Sending you hugs
.Come on Artie! Soon your mother will have a hypnotist over to trance you into eating. Eat Artie EatHugs and support to you Cindy we're here for you. Take the time you need.
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I wholeheartedly agree with this. This isn't meant to offend anyone, it's just that I think sometimes, while people try to be supportive and uplifting, to the person going through the stress, heartache and fear of losing a loved one, it can begin to feel like pressure. Example: When I was going through my ordeal with my own furbaby, my husband kept telling me not to be rash, that to him it looked like our furball still had a lot of life left in him, I shouldn't give up yet (I think it was because on the outside he still looked like a beautiful, lively cat, when in reality cancer had invaded some of his organs and he had stopped eating and drinking). I briefly snapped at hubby trying to explain that I wasn't trying to let him go just because (it's not what he meant, but my grief had my patience wearing thin). Anyway, point being we mean well with our encouragement, we know Artie has his ups and downs, we don't want his mommy to lose hope when he's going through one of his rough patches; but, we also know she's done everything possible to help him and only she can know when the time has come. So while we hope and pray Artie can get through this latest setback, we don't expect her to perform a miracle (if only we could all do that for our sick furbabies, right?). It'll be okay, no matter what happens, it'll eventually be okay, and we'll be here to make sure of that.
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Yeah, I guess that could feel like pressure when we are like "try this, try that." It's just we want Artie to get better so bad. We want a miracle. I hope we get a miracle, but we can't expect you to perform a miracle. We know you did everything humanly possible. I have to research megacolon. I hope Maggie doesn't have that too.
Actually, it isn't reading our replies that has Cindy stressed out (she's continuing to do so, after all); it's posting the updates. I think that when she starts putting it all down here it causes her to over-analyze herself and her actions. It triggers the guilt-tripping that we all know she's prone to. (She'll tell me if I'm wrong. 
)
Margret
)Margret
Brief overnight update:
- Artie ate 1/8 of a cup of dry food overnight, and then began to yowl as he normally does when he's about to vomit. When Cindy responded by picking him up, Artie started swallowing hard.
- Artie tried unsuccessfully to poop.
- Cindy has removed the toe splint but the toe is still too tender even for slippers.
- Today is Cindy's doctor visit, where she expects to be lectured but hopes the doctor will help with the toe.
TYSM for the update. Our *PRAYERS* and best thoughts are with Artie and with Cindy. He's such a sweet little personality-plus man, and we want him to rally.
Just wanted to share this link with you as it was posted by a good online friend awhile back when her cat was diagnosed with Megacolon. My Himalayan Cat Goma Blog
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Thank you for the Megacolon link. I will try some of those things. I want to try the coconut oil, but I will have to put it on her paw, she will not eat it in her food.
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No, I didn’t mean that our suggestions are what caused her to stress out to the point she had to take a break. What I was doing was trying to give her reassurance that we know she knows what’s best for Artie, that we’re aware of how sick he is and even though we hope he is around for a long while, we know she can’t continue coming up with solutions forever and she shouldn’t pressure herself to feel like she has to (if she ever falls into that mode of thinking). So seeing how hard she has fought for him all along, whenever she feels the time has truly come, it’s because it has. That’s all.
I'm kinda lost right now. There are so damned many things in my heart, and I just don't know how to get them out. Love to you. Love to Artie. Always. 24/7. Until forever.
I can understand Cindy needing to take a break from updating that's a lot of pressure and time consuming. I hope the vet and his father are ok as well as her and Artie.
Unfortunately with my now vast experience with losing pets and family members, I know the signs of when they're literally dying very well. I'm not at all trying to minimize Artie illness or symptoms or Cindys stress but it doesn't sound like he's literally dying if he's actively running around and begging for food. When they're dying, they don't interact, they don't move much or at all, they quietly sleep all the time, they don't eat their favorite foods like tuna, treats, baby food, they don't drink, they don't respond to even their favorite owner, they're listless and just still. They've already started to disengage from life and leave this world. That's unless something sudden happens like a heart attack or seizure.
I've had two cats die who had cancer that was in their livers, one cat had cancer everywhere and the other seemed to have liver failure and cancer. They both had stopped eating or were eating very small amounts for days or weeks. But stopped eating meant every type of their favorite foods and treats I could think of. Vets at the hospital said a cat's liver shuts down and they're at risk after 3 days of not eating. I tried to clarify after Tigey died since he never completely stopped eating but wasn't eating a lot, and very small amounts can do it too.
I can empathize with Cindys stress levels. After losing 6 pets in the last 2 years, and Inky just in early June, now my beautiful special horse who I've had for almost 21 years has lost a ton of weight in just 2 or 3 months and suddenly looks like a starvation case, is 300 pounds underweight. She's 28, which is ancient for a horse and has always had a lot of health issues and been chronically underweight and needed to eat a lot but not like this. I moved her in June so have to deal with a new vet who takes forever to run blood tests and return calls and just isn't treating her as a priority after telling me how acute and dire she is. I just want to know if she has something untreatable and is in awful pain and suffering and has no chance so I should put her down now or if she has something treatable and has hope. But this vet has dragged out the bloodwork for a week and a half now. Meanwhile the poor thing keeps getting abscesses on her feet which are treatable but very painful at first. I honestly thought I was watching her die right in front of me two days ago when I tried to soak and bandage her foot to treat the abscess and she laid down and wouldn't get up and then just stretched her head out and wouldn't respond at all. She looked dead. Luckily she wasn't and I got other people there to help and it took 3 people to get her up, but the treatment and pain meds helped and she was much better yesterday and I could do her treatment alone without her lying down at all and she was eating and drinking normally. But I still don't know what's wrong or how long she has. I know at her current weight alone her body is so stressed her heart or organs could just give out and she could just die at any second. Every day is a constant series of ups and downs and the barn owner that feeds her has no compassion and sends me nasty texts daily saying I'm not doing enough when she's the one that changed all her food and won't feed her what i know she likes and has always kept her healthy for 28 years. And tells me how wonderful this vet is that's lazy and takes forever to return calls or run tests and has very limited hours. But then tells me that all the treatments this very vet that she loves so much are wrong and wont work. The vet that knows my horse but now is too far and won't see her anymore due to distance was open 6 days a week including evenings and gave me personal cell phone and would call or text on weekends and days off to check in during emergencies. They're amazing.
But I've been updating my closest friends and on a horse site daily since it's so dire and it's very supportive but also tiring to have to relive every moment and explain details and analyze everything. Even though having support is amazing. It still also would be nice to have someone physically there to see the stress and help with the meds and food and chores. I can empathize with Cindy on that. Even the driving to appointments and parking.
Being alone with a sick animal and having to help them and sometimes be harsh or firm with them to help them, especially if you're scared it's near the end and it's your very last chance, is very heartbreaking. You feel like a monster, or I do, and I beg and plead with them to just eat more, or get up, sometimes they understand and do, sometimes they don't. Then you have to get the medicine or food into them even if they don't want it. And always the questionIng and wondering. There's the bonding loving moments where you pat them and they do something so amazingly sweet and unique to your bond and relationship and you try not to have a meltdown in front of them and stress them out. Never works for me. Every one of my animals that has been that sick or died has turned me into a complete basket case in those weeks, months and days. In the rest of life and for work I'm good at staying calm and objective in highly intense situations and crises and worked with violent disturbed people. But you can't be objective with your loved ones and now i am on a complete emotional roller coaster with this horse of 21 years, after just starting to slowly recover from the roller coaster of Inky. And Cindy is on a roller coaster with Artie but hopefully he's going to be doing better and things are not dire yet.
Wishing you and Artie all the best. Please try to take care of yourself too.
Unfortunately with my now vast experience with losing pets and family members, I know the signs of when they're literally dying very well. I'm not at all trying to minimize Artie illness or symptoms or Cindys stress but it doesn't sound like he's literally dying if he's actively running around and begging for food. When they're dying, they don't interact, they don't move much or at all, they quietly sleep all the time, they don't eat their favorite foods like tuna, treats, baby food, they don't drink, they don't respond to even their favorite owner, they're listless and just still. They've already started to disengage from life and leave this world. That's unless something sudden happens like a heart attack or seizure.
I've had two cats die who had cancer that was in their livers, one cat had cancer everywhere and the other seemed to have liver failure and cancer. They both had stopped eating or were eating very small amounts for days or weeks. But stopped eating meant every type of their favorite foods and treats I could think of. Vets at the hospital said a cat's liver shuts down and they're at risk after 3 days of not eating. I tried to clarify after Tigey died since he never completely stopped eating but wasn't eating a lot, and very small amounts can do it too.
I can empathize with Cindys stress levels. After losing 6 pets in the last 2 years, and Inky just in early June, now my beautiful special horse who I've had for almost 21 years has lost a ton of weight in just 2 or 3 months and suddenly looks like a starvation case, is 300 pounds underweight. She's 28, which is ancient for a horse and has always had a lot of health issues and been chronically underweight and needed to eat a lot but not like this. I moved her in June so have to deal with a new vet who takes forever to run blood tests and return calls and just isn't treating her as a priority after telling me how acute and dire she is. I just want to know if she has something untreatable and is in awful pain and suffering and has no chance so I should put her down now or if she has something treatable and has hope. But this vet has dragged out the bloodwork for a week and a half now. Meanwhile the poor thing keeps getting abscesses on her feet which are treatable but very painful at first. I honestly thought I was watching her die right in front of me two days ago when I tried to soak and bandage her foot to treat the abscess and she laid down and wouldn't get up and then just stretched her head out and wouldn't respond at all. She looked dead. Luckily she wasn't and I got other people there to help and it took 3 people to get her up, but the treatment and pain meds helped and she was much better yesterday and I could do her treatment alone without her lying down at all and she was eating and drinking normally. But I still don't know what's wrong or how long she has. I know at her current weight alone her body is so stressed her heart or organs could just give out and she could just die at any second. Every day is a constant series of ups and downs and the barn owner that feeds her has no compassion and sends me nasty texts daily saying I'm not doing enough when she's the one that changed all her food and won't feed her what i know she likes and has always kept her healthy for 28 years. And tells me how wonderful this vet is that's lazy and takes forever to return calls or run tests and has very limited hours. But then tells me that all the treatments this very vet that she loves so much are wrong and wont work. The vet that knows my horse but now is too far and won't see her anymore due to distance was open 6 days a week including evenings and gave me personal cell phone and would call or text on weekends and days off to check in during emergencies. They're amazing.
But I've been updating my closest friends and on a horse site daily since it's so dire and it's very supportive but also tiring to have to relive every moment and explain details and analyze everything. Even though having support is amazing. It still also would be nice to have someone physically there to see the stress and help with the meds and food and chores. I can empathize with Cindy on that. Even the driving to appointments and parking.
Being alone with a sick animal and having to help them and sometimes be harsh or firm with them to help them, especially if you're scared it's near the end and it's your very last chance, is very heartbreaking. You feel like a monster, or I do, and I beg and plead with them to just eat more, or get up, sometimes they understand and do, sometimes they don't. Then you have to get the medicine or food into them even if they don't want it. And always the questionIng and wondering. There's the bonding loving moments where you pat them and they do something so amazingly sweet and unique to your bond and relationship and you try not to have a meltdown in front of them and stress them out. Never works for me. Every one of my animals that has been that sick or died has turned me into a complete basket case in those weeks, months and days. In the rest of life and for work I'm good at staying calm and objective in highly intense situations and crises and worked with violent disturbed people. But you can't be objective with your loved ones and now i am on a complete emotional roller coaster with this horse of 21 years, after just starting to slowly recover from the roller coaster of Inky. And Cindy is on a roller coaster with Artie but hopefully he's going to be doing better and things are not dire yet.
Wishing you and Artie all the best. Please try to take care of yourself too.
Every word resonates loud, clear, and deep with me. *PRAYERS* for all of our loved ones and for us. We need to be strong for them, because we are their voice, their defenders and their caregivers. That in itself is an immeasurably precious privilege. But it does not make the things you write of any easier. I have lost too many beloved ones not to know that.
Artie is such a good little man and he is obviously Cindy's heart. I pray that this good cat not be taken any sooner than absolutely necessary from his loved one. There are so many more words, but they are just words.
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