Hello. I'm new to this forum. Unfortunately I have a major problem and anything anyone can suggest will be greatly appreciated.
I have a little cat, Lucy who I've had for the past 9 years. She's a very special little cat because I got her as a rescue. Her previous owners were very cruel to her with the result she is permanently crippled
She is, at a rough guess, about 16 years old. She has been an indoor cat all the 9 years I've had her. She's mostly lived in my bedroom, been my and my husband's constant companion. Whatever we've given her, she's given us 110% love and loyalty back.
A week ago, Lucy started sneezing which, as we'd had a lot of renovation work done on our kitchen and dust was finding its way everywhere, didn't really worry us. However, within a couple of days, it was clear she wasn't very well so we took her to the vet. Our vet said he thought she'd picked up an airborne virus and gave her a couple of injections, one an anti-inflammatory, the other an antibiotic plus pills to take. This seemed to boost her no end and apart from the occasional sneeze she was back to normal, eating and drinking fine and just being, well, Lucy.
Since Tuesday night she's deteriorated rapidly, stopped eating and is hiding away from us. She doesn't even like me stroking her anymore. On Wednesday we took her back to the vet where she got another injection. Still no change, so we took her back to the vet today. He thinks there may be another underlying problem like liver or kidney failure given her age (16 is only an estimate, so she could even be a lot older than that). She got another couple of injections today, one to try and boost her immune system and another antibiotic. As I write this, I've just gently and slowly syringe fed her 150ml of water. She hated me doing this so much I had to stop. She's still got some fiesteness left - I've got the scratches to prove it.
The vet's also given me pills of which she's got to get 1/4 of daily to try and boost her appetite and get her eating again. He says if this doesn't work over the weekend, she'll have to be hospitalised, put on a drip or we may have to discuss putting her to sleep.
I feel in my heart she is not going to recover from this as she just doesn't seem to have the strength left to fight this infection due to her age.
Can anyone suggest anything at all to help boost her energy levels to try and fight this illness?
I also feel, that as she's a housecat, she's hiding away from me (under my bed, right in the middle where it's harder to reach her) because she knows she's dying.
Although I've got 10 other cats, ages ranging from 18 months to 12/13 years old (another rescue age unknown), Lucy is so special and dear to me. Selfishly I don't want to lose her. I really can't imagine life without her yet I know her time is coming. If anyone can suggest some way to help her, please let me know.
Thankyou
Python
I have a little cat, Lucy who I've had for the past 9 years. She's a very special little cat because I got her as a rescue. Her previous owners were very cruel to her with the result she is permanently crippled
She is, at a rough guess, about 16 years old. She has been an indoor cat all the 9 years I've had her. She's mostly lived in my bedroom, been my and my husband's constant companion. Whatever we've given her, she's given us 110% love and loyalty back.
A week ago, Lucy started sneezing which, as we'd had a lot of renovation work done on our kitchen and dust was finding its way everywhere, didn't really worry us. However, within a couple of days, it was clear she wasn't very well so we took her to the vet. Our vet said he thought she'd picked up an airborne virus and gave her a couple of injections, one an anti-inflammatory, the other an antibiotic plus pills to take. This seemed to boost her no end and apart from the occasional sneeze she was back to normal, eating and drinking fine and just being, well, Lucy.
Since Tuesday night she's deteriorated rapidly, stopped eating and is hiding away from us. She doesn't even like me stroking her anymore. On Wednesday we took her back to the vet where she got another injection. Still no change, so we took her back to the vet today. He thinks there may be another underlying problem like liver or kidney failure given her age (16 is only an estimate, so she could even be a lot older than that). She got another couple of injections today, one to try and boost her immune system and another antibiotic. As I write this, I've just gently and slowly syringe fed her 150ml of water. She hated me doing this so much I had to stop. She's still got some fiesteness left - I've got the scratches to prove it.
The vet's also given me pills of which she's got to get 1/4 of daily to try and boost her appetite and get her eating again. He says if this doesn't work over the weekend, she'll have to be hospitalised, put on a drip or we may have to discuss putting her to sleep.
I feel in my heart she is not going to recover from this as she just doesn't seem to have the strength left to fight this infection due to her age.
Can anyone suggest anything at all to help boost her energy levels to try and fight this illness?
I also feel, that as she's a housecat, she's hiding away from me (under my bed, right in the middle where it's harder to reach her) because she knows she's dying.
Although I've got 10 other cats, ages ranging from 18 months to 12/13 years old (another rescue age unknown), Lucy is so special and dear to me. Selfishly I don't want to lose her. I really can't imagine life without her yet I know her time is coming. If anyone can suggest some way to help her, please let me know.
Thankyou
Python