Triaditis at a young age

kalif

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Hi everyone,

I'm here asking for support or advice or anything. Apologies as it has been an extreme roller coaster of emotions and my first thought was to ask here. Also, I don't know how to keep a story short.

So here's the story. My cat Leia is 3yo and is being treated for triaditis. 5 days ago (Sunday) i noticed she didn't have any appetite for her regular foods but she was still up for playing and and rolling around to show her belly to us. That was odd since she has always been a big eater, and would steal food from our other cat, Charlie - it didn't strike to us as odd that she never grew fat all this time. The next day Monday, she greeted us at the door and then immediately after, went to hide at a corner. We served her dinner and she refused. We asked a family member to check up on her while at work on Tuesday and she is still hiding at the same spot. So we took a half day off work and took her to the vet for a blood test.

The vet told us to send her to the hospital immediately cause her liver count is high beyond his meter - I can't remember what the unit measurement is called but it was at an astounding 830 at the hospital. She was hospitalized tuesday night with triaditis after blood tests and ultrasound scan. Wednesday we went to check up on her and she was chirpy and tried to roll to show us her belly - despite having a feeding tube and drip on. So we're getting hopes up. Thursday (yesterday) the vet called up and told us her liver is getting worse. It was up to 4,000. That's just unbelievable. They're putting her on more meds, trying to control and alleviate the inflamation on her liver, gall bladder, pancreas, GI tract etc. Basically she's under support care.

The cost is mounting by the day. As of now Friday night, it's at $4,200 - it's only been 3 days. She went from normal to sick in a matter of just 3 days. They're trying an anti-inflammation for the liver since wednesday and could take a couple of days to see if it's working. As the cost is mounting almost $1,000 each day. I wonder if it is realistic to hold on to hope.

She's the sweetest girl any parent could ask for. And it took a lot of heart to raise a traumatized 5-month old kitten to a confident 3yo cat and it's hurting to know if we'd loose her cos we can't afford her medicals. Me and my wife are too emotional to think, and we're also looking for cheaper hospitals. We had one other hospital vet tell us that at that levels, and she doesn't improve after a week - we should let her go. But that would mean spending over $10K before letting her go.

Again sorry for the long story. You guys have been a great help before for Charlie. I'm hoping you can help with Leia. I need to know if it's worth sacrificing my financial stability and come out of this with a healthy enough cat. Or am I just being too idealistic..?

Thank you in advance for reading.
 

Antonio65

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I'm not a vet, but if your cat has been diagnosed with a triaditis, why are they treating her for her liver only rather than for pancreas and bowels as well.
Could it be that the inflammation of her liver is coming up (literally) from the other organs being currently untreated?
 
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kalif

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I'm not a vet, but if your cat has been diagnosed with a triaditis, why are they treating her for her liver only rather than for pancreas and bowels as well.
Could it be that the inflammation of her liver is coming up (literally) from the other organs being currently untreated?
Sorry for not being clear. They are medicating her other organs as well as her liver. But the liver is their biggest concern and that's why i mentioned it more specifically. I'm still shaken by the value given. They said that it could be possible that the liver had inflamed causing the rest of the organs to have triaditis, which then "insults" the liver further. So the liver is getting beat down twice. Once by an unknown cause, and again by the triaditis. So far she's on 5 different medications, drips and tube feeding.
 

Antonio65

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The liver is an exceptional organ, it can heal itself and even grow back if a portion is cut away due to a surgery.
But it is also so slow in recovering when "insulted" like you say.
If the disease is being given by a bacterium, then, once they find the right antibiotic the infection should go away, though the inflammation may persist for a while.
My cat had a suspected triaditis and was treated accordingly, but the problem didn't vanish and we couldn't do much else... In my cat's case, the problem seems it was in the bile duct between the gall bladder and the intestine, which couldn't let the bile flow freely and then it would flowe back to the liver. Though she went through several (literally many!) US scan, no vet was able to detect the problem until it was too late. So, it would be wise to explore this eventuality.

Gosh, that clinic IS expensive!
 
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kalif

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The liver is an exceptional organ, it can heal itself and even grow back if a portion is cut away due to a surgery.
But it is also so slow in recovering when "insulted" like you say.
If the disease is being given by a bacterium, then, once they find the right antibiotic the infection should go away, though the inflammation may persist for a while.
My cat had a suspected triaditis and was treated accordingly, but the problem didn't vanish and we couldn't do much else... In my cat's case, the problem seems it was in the bile duct between the gall bladder and the intestine, which couldn't let the bile flow freely and then it would flowe back to the liver. Though she went through several (literally many!) US scan, no vet was able to detect the problem until it was too late. So, it would wise to explore this eventuality.

Gosh, that clinic IS expensive!
Thanks for that possibility and sorry for your loss. May I know how that was (eventually) found out? was it from a scan?

I'm actually in Singapore - here everything is expensive. Like first-world expensive. Especially reliable medical both humans and animals. Thanks again.
 

Antonio65

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Thanks for that possibility and sorry for your loss. May I know how that was (eventually) found out? was it from a scan?
Yes, it was from a scan, but only after I switched clinic for the fourth time. My poor cat went through several US scans, a CT scan, a few x-rays, in a few places, with many different vets, and none of them was able to see that this bile duct had a "windy" shape rather than being a straight tube. It's a very short duct, so I guess that it may not be easy to see it, but this last vet saw it and he said "I think it's too late" and sort of insinuated that I had wasted time, when I actually had been in a clinic every other day for the previous 6 months.

They did a surgery (dangerous and really expensive), my cat survived it, but she felt sick on her first day home after three or four days at the clinic, and she died overnight, a few hours away from a new appointment to try a different approach and a blood transfusion (her red cells count had dropped to nothing).

It was August 2018, but I can't get over it yet.

I'm actually in Singapore - here everything is expensive. Like first-world expensive. Especially reliable medical both humans and animals. Thanks again.
I didn't know that. I mean, I know it's an advanced country, but didn't know it has top-world costs.
 
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kalif

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Thank you so much for telling me this. I hope I didn't make you too emotional thinking about it and i'd offer you a great hug, but again, thank you for sharing.

And yes top-world costs. My mom-in-law just had hip surgery. For less than 10k, she could have a full hip replacement surgery at a government hospital - but no guarantee she could walk. We opted for private hospital. 36K later, she walked in 2 days. But I digress.

Financially, we're not doing very well since MIL's surgery. Emotinally, I just lost my grandfather less than a month ago. And now we suddenly have this as well, and there are no government hospitals for animals. So the question of should i go broke while trying to keep Leia alive? Or cut my losses? Given this will take me years to recoup again.

Just need some objective opinions.
 

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As for an objective opinion, I am afraid you're asking the "wrong" person here :lol:
I mean, I travelled several thousands miles, and spent much more euro than I drove miles, to have my cats treated, so my answer, if that cat was mine, would be that I would everything and beyond that to try and save her.
This is my opinion, not what you should do, even though you can do that if you want.

I don't want to bore you with my life with my cats, but I went through nightmares and financial disasters to the point that I had to ask a person to lend me lots of money in order to cure one of my kitties, a big amount of money that I returned to them a few months later. So, you know what I'm ready to do for my cats.

I am afraid I'm not of great help for you in this regard, sorry.

I'm so sorry for your family problems, it seems that the fate has fun throwing us all this stuff at the same moment. I can understand how sad and desperate one can be in moments like these, so I feel for you!

No problem for having me recalling certain sad moments of my life with my kitty, I think of them everyday since they're gone, and I often cry over them, though it's been a few years now. Despite the terrible moments I had gone through with them, I miss them so much!
 
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kalif

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Thank you for sharing. And I wish you well and lots of happiness. And I hope will get through everything in life as you have given so much for your cats.

:hugs:
 
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kalif

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You are too kind, kalif kalif , my best wishes to you, your cats, your family, too.
Hi Antonio, thought I'd let you that my cat Leia has just been confirmed to be in good health today. After 13 months of medication, monthly blood test, and roughly $15k - she's made it out of the woods. 😄
 

Antonio65

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kalif kalif ,
I'm so glad that your Leia has improved and she's now doing well, I'm truly glad. She's so young, it would have been so unfair.
It's so bad it was so expensive, though. This isn't right.

I wish to thank you for remembering me a year later, and letting me know about Leia, you moved me to tears ☺

I wish Leia a long and healthy life, she has the best mom! ❤
Take care.
 
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kalif

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kalif kalif ,
I'm so glad that your Leia has improved and she's now doing well, I'm truly glad. She's so young, it would have been so unfair.
It's so bad it was so expensive, though. This isn't right.

I wish to thank you for remembering me a year later, and letting me know about Leia, you moved me to tears ☺

I wish Leia a long and healthy life, she has the best mom! ❤
Take care.
It is the least i can do for everyone's encouragement. Thanks again. And take care ❤
 
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