Vestibular disease worries

[candie]

I'm struggling right now. I want to know the cause of it. My cat is on appetite stimulant, but today she rarely ate. She would just lick it. I have nausea medication. I don't know what to feed her. She been ruled out of ear infection.
Could it be a tumor? MRI are to costly for me and my care credit only has 1000 credits.
I don't know how to get her to eat
Her liver showed up okay, she is on phenobarbital. So everything is all good.

I just don't know what to do and wish there was a fix for it.

 

[tabbytom]

I'm struggling right now. I want to know the cause of it. My cat is on appetite stimulant, but today she rarely ate. She would just lick it. I have nausea medication. I don't know what to feed her. She been ruled out of ear infection.
Could it be a tumor? MRI are to costly for me and my care credit only has 1000 credits.
I don't know how to get her to eat
Her liver showed up okay, she is on phenobarbital. So everything is all good.

I just don't know what to do and wish there was a fix for it.

I'm not sure what is wrong and cannot be sure if it's tumor, only the vets can tell through examinations and scans but here's a link to how to get your cats to eat :- any-good-tips-to-get-your-cats-to-eat-share-them-here.396694

I hope your cat gets better soon and start eating. Sending vibes

 

[candie]

I been trying different cat food. Been giving her high calorie gel and getting her to lick the baby food

 

[tabbytom]

I been trying different cat food. Been giving her high calorie gel and getting her to lick the baby food

Hang on, maybe someone have better suggestions for you.

 

[silent meowlook]

Is the appetite stimulant Mirtazipine? What other medications is your cat on? Do you have the most recent blood results? Has your vet discussed a feeding tube with you?

 

[Tik cat's mum]

I'm struggling right now. I want to know the cause of it. My cat is on appetite stimulant, but today she rarely ate. She would just lick it. I have nausea medication. I don't know what to feed her. She been ruled out of ear infection.
Could it be a tumor? MRI are to costly for me and my care credit only has 1000 credits.
I don't know how to get her to eat
Her liver showed up okay, she is on phenobarbital. So everything is all good.

I just don't know what to do and wish there was a fix for it.

One of my boy's Bandit was given the same diagnosis as a kitten. Have you spoken to your vet about antibiotics the reason I'm asking is, my vet could not see any signs of ear infection. I couldn't afford scans so we went with it was a possible middle ear infection that couldn't be seen. We gave antibiotics and watched and waited. It had to be long term antibiotics just to make sure the infection had cleared up. After a couple of day's we could see the difference in him but make sure you have enough to last because I had my appointment in the afternoon and he hadn't had any antibiotics that same morning. By the time the vet saw him he was back to head tilting again and balance issues. We were about a week into treatment. He was on antibiotics for about 8 weeks if I remember correctly. Hope this helps and works for you.

 

[candie]

She was feeling better though when diagnosed I think 7 days later but I saw head tilt again and was told it's permanent. The, other vet, when I told her she had an antibiotic shot, she thought maybe could be caused. How would I convince them to give me antibiotic for ear to see if it works? I'd probably need in depth scan but it is pricy

 

[silent meowlook]

You tell them you don’t have the money for the scan and would like to treat symptoms.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

She was feeling better though when diagnosed I think 7 days later but I saw head tilt again and was told it's permanent. The, other vet, when I told her she had an antibiotic shot, she thought maybe could be caused. How would I convince them to give me antibiotic for ear to see if it works? I'd probably need in depth scan but it is pricy

Just as S silent meowlook has said you'll have to just tell your vet there's no way a scan is affordable. You want to treat the symptoms. You could also mention that you've been on TCS and have had the suggestion of antibiotics treatment by a member who it worked for. It would need to be at least 6 weeks maybe 8 and maybe you could come to a agreement to take your cat back in weekly to be checked while treatment is ongoing. I told my vet if he took any backwards turns I'd bring him back in immediately. My boy has a slight head tilt but unless you know about it you wouldn't notice. You could also phone and give daily updates to your vet. Good luck.

 

[candie]

Okay hopefully they will give it to me. She finally ate in the middle of the night. I thought maybe if I clean her ear from that appetite stimulant gel the other night that it be effective.

 

[Twylasmom]

Okay hopefully they will give it to me. She finally ate in the middle of the night. I thought maybe if I clean her ear from that appetite stimulant gel the other night that it be effective.

You do need to clean the ears after each application. You can clean one ear at the same time as you do the application on the other ear or wait until you have dosed on both and do a separate cleaning time. That’s usually what I do. I also wait a couple of hours after cleaning to apply a new dose.

My vet recommended that I use a gauze pad or cotton round dampened in a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and white vinegar. This aids in cleaning and dries very quickly. Make sure the pad is damp but not overly wet as you want to avoid any liquid going into the ear canal as that can cause problems. I usually use two cotton rounds and make a first pass on each ear, flipping the pad to the clean side for the second ear. I then repeat with the second pad. This allows the first pass to loosen up the residue a little more. I usually kneel on the floor behind my sitting cat so she can’t back away, place one hand on her chest to hold her in place and clean with the other hand. Reward with a treat and praise when done!

 

[Tik cat's mum]

Okay hopefully they will give it to me. She finally ate in the middle of the night. I thought maybe if I clean her ear from that appetite stimulant gel the other night that it be effective.

That's good news she's eaten. One less worry for you.

 

[candie]

Even though she is eating. I'm still going to figure out on how if her condition could be treated and if there are more test that may be done as long as it's not over a thousand

 

[fionasmom]

Some of the tests for vestibular disease in cats will run into money, like an MRI or certain scans. Depending on where you live, the credit you have may not cover these. There is absolutely nothing wrong with discussing finances with the vet and asking for a less expensive treatment to start.

Vestibular Disease in Cats | VCA Animal Hospitals
There are no specific tests for feline vestibular disease. Most cases are diagnosed based on clinical signs. Tests such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), skull radiographs (X-rays), blood and urine tests, spinal fluid analysis, and ear cultures and cytology (examination of any discharge or fluids found in the ear canal) are typically performed to rule out a more severe cause. Your veterinarian will determine which tests are appropriate for your cat based on medical history, clinical signs, and physical examination findings.

Even in human medicine, doctors often start at the most basic treatment providing that something is not an emergency. If the antibiotic does not work, then you move to something else.

 

[candie]

They used that ear scope looking thing. So no idea what test needs to be done. CT and MRI are the costly ones.

 

[Meowmee]

I'm struggling right now. I want to know the cause of it. My cat is on appetite stimulant, but today she rarely ate. She would just lick it. I have nausea medication. I don't know what to feed her. She been ruled out of ear infection.
Could it be a tumor? MRI are to costly for me and my care credit only has 1000 credits.
I don't know how to get her to eat
Her liver showed up okay, she is on phenobarbital. So everything is all good.

I just don't know what to do and wish there was a fix for it.

So sorry

Why is she on phenobarbitol? Obviously I don’t know what is happening with your kitty. I would ask your DVM to treat with an antibiotic that will treat an ear infection and see if that works and then go from there. Since she’s already been seen there, they can just RX over the phone. You mentioned that she was given an antibiotic injection so I’m assuming she was given convenia?

So that can cause some of the symptoms you mentioned, it can cause ataxia and anorexia. I’m glad she’s eating now.
So you might wanna wait until she recovers from that before starting another medication. As long as she is not too bad.

My Wizard had an ear infection years ago. They were able to tell by looking in his ear. He did have some pus coming out at some point. This was my last terrible Dvm. They gave me ear-drops instead of putting him on pills which I was already questioning if it was this going to work.

A few days later, he had a horrible smell & green pus coming out from his ear. I called them up and said obviously this isn’t working. He needs pills. So essentially they let an infection that was minor get very bad by not giving him the pills in the first place.

I hope that you get this figured out and your kitty recovers as soon as possible. Sometimes your credit card will let you stretch out payments too without paying interest.

Even though they have ruled out ear infection, ear infections can cause those symptoms as well. I once as child was vomiting every time I ate for about two weeks. Finally a different doc looked in my ears, others had not, and it was an infection. I felt better immediately with the antibiotic. That was my only symptom, other than fatigue. I didn’t have much if any nausea except when I vomited as I recall, but I did have some dizziness and weakness.

I was just reading someone’s question on just ask about their cat who had convenia and then had ataxia. The vet answering the question recommended if they thought it was convenia to bring their cat for IV fluids to help flush the drug out. It’s probably not the case for your cat but I just want to mention that. That person said their cat got a steroid shot and they had some temporary relief. That doctor also recommended a cerenia injection that may help.

 

[candie]

Yes she had convenia shot. She got it beginning of April. She is on phenobarbital for her seizures and my vet didn't recommend a steroid shot be cause of her liver
I'll write all these down to tell my vet she didn't ate well last night despite her appetite stimulant.

When she skips her meals I give her high calorie gel and get her to lick baby food through out the day

 

[Meowmee]

Yes she had convenia shot. She got it beginning of April. She is on phenobarbital for her seizures and my vet didn't recommend a steroid shot be cause of her liver
I'll write all these down to tell my vet she didn't ate well last night despite her appetite stimulant.

When she skips her meals I give her high calorie gel and get her to lick baby food through out the day

I hope the dvm has some answers for you I can’t tell obviously what the cause of all of this is. Did they do any blood work on her ever? for you and kitty.

I found that the topical mirtaz was not as effective as pills so maybe ask about that too. I would definitely do bloodwork if it hasn’t been done.

phenobarb was for a chronic seizure condition?

 

[candie]

Yes she had blood work and urine test. This happen when she had uti problems. Her liver was sort of okay. I'm thinking it could be conveia shot. I saw another vet because I wanted a 2nd opinion. I'll call my vet who gave her that antibiotic shot if it was a side effect that caused this

 

[candie]

This was in April when this happened