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- Oct 19, 2015
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Hi there,
Really hoping someone can give me some advice. I have been to two vets in the past month and a half, and really nothing has changed for my rescue, Kal. He has been sick since pretty much April of this year (we adopted him two months prior in Feb). First it was a UTI, then he had a complete blockage and P/U surgery in September. He recovered well from the P/U surgery, but as I'm sure anyone who has ever read anything about that surgery, you know the hell that you and your little friend endure for at least a month. Kal was put on Urinary SO wet food which he loved for awhile but now we are having issues again.
Three nights ago, I noticed Kal was back to running to the litter box multiple times, crying and then when I found a small amount of blood in his urine I knew it was time to go to the vet. Unfortunately, it was about 8:30PM and our regular vet was closed. Living and transporting a pet in NYC is not easy... your choices are basically either take the subway (NO WAY) or a taxi ($$$). We jumped in a taxi and headed to the emergency vet where they wanted over $800 for xrays, urinalysis and blood tests. After spending almost $7,500 on the P/U surgery and aftercare there was no possible way I could spend anything else. The doctor told me he would give me some Clavamox (125 mg) and we could monitor Kal and if he didn't feel better in a few days that we could try another medicine (brought it down to $350).
Fast forward to Monday and the straining and crying in the litter box is definitely better, however it has been replaced by awful diaharrea and absolutely zero appetite. I got Kal to eat a little bit of wet food on a spoon on Saturday, some tuna on Sunday and then saw him drinking water on his own, and then this morning (Monday) again he ate a little bit of wet food from a spoon. Nowhere near what he should be eating, however I am hopeful since he is not refusing food entirely.
I made an appointment with my vet for tomorrow night to talk about other medicine options as I know Clavamox has a ton of side effects which seem to really affect Kal. It's affecting my sanity and relationship as well. As of right now, I am barely sleeping, can't stop crying and I'm extremely upset about the entire situation. I know there are people out there who must have experience with a cat who is sick often. I can't talk to my boyfriend about it anymore as he is upset about losing a massive chunk of savings, my friends are sick of hearing it, and frankly so am I. There has to be some sort of solution or way to manage my cats health without going completely broke. We can't have a UTI every 3 months, or a health emergency... it's crazy.
Really, I have two questions:
1) Kal needs to eat. What can I do? He won't eat on his own at this point and I can't be home all day to hand feed him (although I would if I could!)
2) How can I prevent UTI's in Kal? We are feeding him Urinary SO food (when he eats) and I add lots of water.
Any/all help is appreciated, as I feel like I am completely losing my mind.
Really hoping someone can give me some advice. I have been to two vets in the past month and a half, and really nothing has changed for my rescue, Kal. He has been sick since pretty much April of this year (we adopted him two months prior in Feb). First it was a UTI, then he had a complete blockage and P/U surgery in September. He recovered well from the P/U surgery, but as I'm sure anyone who has ever read anything about that surgery, you know the hell that you and your little friend endure for at least a month. Kal was put on Urinary SO wet food which he loved for awhile but now we are having issues again.
Three nights ago, I noticed Kal was back to running to the litter box multiple times, crying and then when I found a small amount of blood in his urine I knew it was time to go to the vet. Unfortunately, it was about 8:30PM and our regular vet was closed. Living and transporting a pet in NYC is not easy... your choices are basically either take the subway (NO WAY) or a taxi ($$$). We jumped in a taxi and headed to the emergency vet where they wanted over $800 for xrays, urinalysis and blood tests. After spending almost $7,500 on the P/U surgery and aftercare there was no possible way I could spend anything else. The doctor told me he would give me some Clavamox (125 mg) and we could monitor Kal and if he didn't feel better in a few days that we could try another medicine (brought it down to $350).
Fast forward to Monday and the straining and crying in the litter box is definitely better, however it has been replaced by awful diaharrea and absolutely zero appetite. I got Kal to eat a little bit of wet food on a spoon on Saturday, some tuna on Sunday and then saw him drinking water on his own, and then this morning (Monday) again he ate a little bit of wet food from a spoon. Nowhere near what he should be eating, however I am hopeful since he is not refusing food entirely.
I made an appointment with my vet for tomorrow night to talk about other medicine options as I know Clavamox has a ton of side effects which seem to really affect Kal. It's affecting my sanity and relationship as well. As of right now, I am barely sleeping, can't stop crying and I'm extremely upset about the entire situation. I know there are people out there who must have experience with a cat who is sick often. I can't talk to my boyfriend about it anymore as he is upset about losing a massive chunk of savings, my friends are sick of hearing it, and frankly so am I. There has to be some sort of solution or way to manage my cats health without going completely broke. We can't have a UTI every 3 months, or a health emergency... it's crazy.
Really, I have two questions:
1) Kal needs to eat. What can I do? He won't eat on his own at this point and I can't be home all day to hand feed him (although I would if I could!)
2) How can I prevent UTI's in Kal? We are feeding him Urinary SO food (when he eats) and I add lots of water.
Any/all help is appreciated, as I feel like I am completely losing my mind.