Sick With Worry

[forcryinoutloud]

I lost one of my beloved furbabies, Daniel, on the 6th of this month - the thought still leaves me breathless with grief - and am now terrified that my other four furbabies are sick. Specifically, I am worried about Daniel's brother, Jack. I know that there is no definitive test that a vet can do, other than biopsies on tumors, to tell if a cat has cancer, but complications from that is what Daniel died from and I am so worried that Jack also has cancer.

Daniel was fine until he wasn't. There were no symptoms, at least no symptoms that I saw, until two weeks ago today I noticed he had two different sized pupils. The vet thought he had a lens luxation and I was freaking out about him going blind because I couldn't afford $3000-$3500 for the surgery to remove the lens. Five days after that I got the diagnosis that he had lung cancer (most likely metastatic) when I had x-rays done because I was worried he had pneumonia. Seven days later and he was gone. Now I think, if only blindness had been all he had to worry about.

Now his brother is making me worry.

Last night Jack was sneezing several times, his eyes a little runny. Normally this wouldn't concern me, because he's done it before and it usually lasts a day or so before it goes away but after having lost Daniel, everything feels like it's a bigger, scarier deal now.

Today I looked at his belly while petting him and his two lower nipples are a little crusty and dark. I couldn't see the others for comparison, as he hates being on his back and was so done putting up with me poking and prodding at him. I have been searching online for images to see if any match what I am seeing. I'm terrified that he has breast cancer. I do plan to take him to the vet, but am unable to this week because I do not drive, my father who has heart trouble is not allowed to drive this week (he was in the hospital when Daniel passed) and I have to go with him to a cardiologist appointment, but I plan to get Jack in as soon as it possible. At the moment though, I am full of anxiety over Daniel's loss, and the worry about Jack on top of that has me nearing panic levels of anxiety.

There are no lumps that I feel, just the crustiness over the nipples and what looks a little like a blackhead, that he would let me see. 

Of course, the stuff I'm finding online has me freaking out even more.

Has anyone had any experience with this kind of thing?

 

[marrin713]

I have experience with the health hypervigilance. Our Will died suddenly with cardiomyopathy. Like you wrote...he was fine until he wasn't. The husband wanted to adopt again and now we have a pair of brothers. I drive myself nuts sometimes reading things into situations that aren't there. And having medical knowledge seems to make it worse.

Just wanted you to know you're not alone

 

[mewcatmew]

Does he have a history with Feline Herpes at all? Stress from losing your other cat could cause a flareup. As for the nipple discharge, I have no idea. I would assume mammary cancer in a male cat is extremely, extremely rare. If you are concerned and have a regular vet, email them or call and explain your situation to them and see if they can give you some information over the phone as to what it might be and if he needs to come in urgently, I don't know what your financial situation is like, but if it was something more urgent, you could possibly use Uber if there are no cabs in your town. If he is eating and drinking ok, no fever, and generally appears well, I don't think it is an emergency. Good luck though, and sorry for your loss.

 

[forcryinoutloud]

Thank you.

I live in rural Canada, so no ubers here. Not even any taxis, or busses. And the regular vet is 40 minutes away as well - just different directions from the emergency vet (40 minutes in either direction from where I live).

The next door neighbour is a vet tech, so I am going to see if she will stop on her way home from work tomorrow night. I used to work for her and she was helping with Daniel in his last week, so she knows that I'm already a mess because of losing him, so it shouldn't be a problem and if she absolutely thinks it needs to be seen, if I can't get him in, she would, I'm sure, be willing to take him into work with her on Tuesday (though I would really hate not being there).

I am trying not to totally work myself into a complete frenzy, because one of the pet grieving sites I read did say that being terrified your other pets were sick was part of the grieving process, but because Daniel's cancer appeared (or at least so it seemed) so suddenly, and from diagnosis to him passing was only 7 days, I can't help but be terrified by the thought I might have to go through something like that again so soon.

He's eating and acting normally - he's actually the highest energy cat I have out of all of them (and he's also 13 years old like Daniel, being that they were from the same litter) even though my other remaining three are all younger than him.

I assume he probably does have feline herpes, but will definitely have that added to the list of things I want to get checked out when I take him to the vet. I'd already planned to do so because of being terrified there was a genetic component to Daniel's cancer that might make Jack also susceptible to it, but the issue with the two nipples I can see just has cancer in big neon lights screaming at me all the more so.

I hope it's just a case of me being paranoid after Daniel's death, and that Jack is healthy and will be with me for many years to come. I could not even imagine losing him as well.

 

[mewcatmew]

I had a cat with large cell lymphoma that I treated with chemotherapy for 5 months, and in a small way, you are lucky it happened so fast. Cancer feels like a train that is out of control, you fix one thing and then something else goes horribly wrong until it ultimately wrecks completely. My experience with it, as similar to yours, is that aggressive cancer is just that, aggressive. If it was some form of virulent cancer symptoms would show pretty fast, and get worse fast too. It seems like your cat is pretty healthy, If you are really concerned, maybe try to get a decent picture of it and post it here and email it to the vet. It sounds like your cat is healthy. I can tell you my 13 year old cat had a dark spot on his ear that I was scared was cancer as well (same reasons as you, the other cat died from it so I was hypervilligent) and it turned out to just be a dark spot from old age, just like people get. Keep an eye on his eating, drinking, and attitude. I bet he is ok. 

 

[torikins 4]

Hi,

Do you live in the southwest? If so you may want to check if your cat has valley fever. It only costed me around $120-$200. See if you can get care credit and if your vet takes it you may want to use that. I had got a test for valley fever for my cat and then it came back that she has it, and she doesn't go outside, so yeah. I would check for valley fever. If you need any other help from me, please PM me.

 

[forcryinoutloud]

I know that I would probably be even worse off grief wise if he'd suffered a long drawn out illness, but I can't help but feel like him dying after only showing any signs of distress/illness for about 8-9 days all told feels extraordinarily fast. I know aggressive cancer is just that, but I guess I just don't understand how a perfectly "healthy" cat can decline so insanely fast. It's probably more my grief and denial talking there, and grasping at straws to explain it all. I'm glad that Daniel did not suffer terribly like some poor animals do, I wish I could have made his passing less horrifying, and I wish desperately that he had been with me longer because 13 years just doesn't feel long enough. But I know that I did what I could for him, that I'd feel guilty no matter how he died, and that I was blessed to have 13 years because some people only get a couple of years. It's just so hard. It literally feels like my heart is breaking.

--

I live on the East coast of Canada, so I don't think it is that - I've never actually heard of that before. I am hoping it is nothing, and it's just me being paranoid. I've contacted our neighbour that is a vet tech to see if she can come tonight and have a look and either ease my mind or tell me I need to do whatever I can to get Jack to the vet.

 

[forcryinoutloud]

Took Jack to the vet on Monday.

Decided to go ahead with a CBC and more comprehensive blood panel, and $300 later I was told that all of his blood work was great. His blood sugar was slightly elevated, but that was, I was told, likely due to stress since it was a 40 minute car ride to the vet, and one of the other animals in the clinic was a dog. His white blood cell count was on the lower end but the vet told me Jack could just be a cat who was on the lower end of the range. The issues with his nipples she thought were a result of over grooming, likely from grief over Daniel's passing. She thought they looked bruised rather than what I had thought was them turning black. She gave me viaderm to put on them three times a day for a week. While one still has a black spot in the middle (that looks like the black spot the inverted nipples have), the other which was much crustier and seemed larger than the other is at least softening up. It does still seem larger than the other, and is still discolored (more reddish now than bluish/blackish). He is still over grooming them though, which means the viaderm doesn't get left on those spots very long before he's licking it off. I am considering getting a soft cone to make him wear for a little while after each time I put it on, so that it at least has the chance to full work.

I'm still worried about him, even if the vet gave him a clean bill of health - mostly because Daniel got a clean bill of health other than a lens luxation the week before he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Knowing that cats are so good at hiding their illnesses, has me worried that that is exactly what Jack is doing. I know that it probably has more to do with Daniel dying than that Jack is really giving me reasons to worry - other than the nipple thing, that really could just be down to stress grooming. Realistically I'm worried about all my remaining cats - the anxiety of that worry driving me to distraction at times.

That said, the vet told me that he was really good for them when they took his blood, and that he did exactly as I said he was going to when they went to pick him up (he NEEDS to have his front paws on your shoulder). She said he had the prettiest coat she'd seen on a cat, that he was a good weight, had a healthy looking coat, had much less tartar on his back teeth than she would expect for a cat his age, and that he could come back anytime - not sick, just to visit.

One thing I am curious about. I noticed tonight the spot where they shaved his arm to take the blood, seems to have a little circular raised area under the skin. It reminds me of when I sometimes have my own blood taken and the area swells, likely from blood under the skin. Was just wondering if anyone else ever noticed this with their own cat after having blood drawn?