Vestibular disease worries

[fionasmom]

You are doing so much more than most people would do for their cat and I hate to think of you feeling bad for not doing the MRI. When really you are doing all you can.

You absolutely are working so hard to help your cat and you deserve a huge amount of credit for that. Please discuss everything with your vet and find out what all the options are, especially if you do go forward with an MRI.

You will have either an inconclusive result, a within normal limits results with no abnormalities, or you could have a lesion show up in the brain or maybe even a deep ear infection with fluid etc.

These are the three possible scenarios for an MRI. Ask your vet what would be done in every case, or what would not be done, and how you would move forward.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi again. I just saw her pictures. She doesn’t look as bad as I had imagined. If you are feeding dry, I would consider not. Talk to your vet of course, but she does look to be somewhat over the ideal weight. That can put extra strain on her legs. If you feed only canned and cut out the dry, she should lose weight just from that. But discuss with your vet. The last thing you want is for her not to eat. So, no dieting or anything like that. It’s just that some cats cannot process carbohydrates. Dry is full of carbohydrates, even prescription dry.

Of course I can’t feel her, so maybe she just looks overweight from the picture but doesn’t feel it.

Another thing I noticed is that, to me, her front legs look short. Maybe this is an anatomical issue and the Solencia will help.

 

[candie]

I guess I feel guilty because I'm not as rich to help her. I'm waiting for signs from her . I don't know when itvis time to let her go but I worry if she's in pain . She still eating right now

 

[fionasmom]

How do I know if theyre ready to go?

This thread contains quality of life scales. However, I am not in any way implying that your girl is ready. Eating is usually a sign that there is some comfort and contentment.

 

[candie]

To be honest, I gave her an appetite stimulate. But no idea if I should keep giving it to her. I do it every 3 days. I am worried about because she showed signs of restlessness, she kept trying to rest and ended up pacing around and sit there like she's lost in thoughts

 

[silent meowlook]

Does she eat without it?

 

[candie]

Does she eat without it?

She has less appetite without it

 

[candie]

My cat mat need nausea medication. How do I get generic form and would I need to do this daily ? Im hoping my vet will let me use chewy and I have no idea how I can do that. I need advice

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. Your Veterinarian should be able to help you with the Chewy prescription. Usually, a request is put to Chewy, by the cat Owner and then Chewy contacts the veterinarian for approval. At least in my experience.

 

[Meowmee]

My cat got her 2nd solensia , she seems to be walking but the way she walks hunched in a way is worrisome. If she has a brain tumor then I have no idea how soon it be her time. Been trying to save up for mri but I'm not that rich .

Probably be to late if I raise the funds for her mri .

An mri costs around $2-3000 maybe, which is outrageous. Also she has to be sedated etc. and she is already not doing well again, I am sorry

So, even if you had the money to do it, if it conclusively says it's a tumor she is not going to survive anyway and you are not going to do surgery on a cat who one is already in poor health with something which is going to be terminal anyway. There is no cure for a lot of these conditions, yes in some cases you can extend their life and maybe have some quality life, but a great deal of the time, even if you can afford it all, your cat does not have a good quality, suffers and then dies anyway. In rare cases a cat will have a long remission and have quality life with some cancers but not this type if that is what it is.

Honestly these tests/treatments are all way too expensive, and that causes suffering to pets and their people. Otherwise decisions would be made based on what is the best course for the pet, not according to I can't afford it.

If it is an ear infection, you spent $3000 and it was not needed because they could have just given her another antibiotic, which should already have been done a long time ago, to see if she responded. Dvm are idiots a lot of the time sadly, and push numerous for most un-affordable and often un-needed tests etc.

If it is inconclusive, you just spent $3000 and you still have no idea what is causing this.

Don't beat yourself up over this, you are doing the most you can and what should be done anyway in this circumstance. Even with surgery, chemo, etc. she would not survive and would not have any quality for however long she did survive. Your dvm should have given her another antibiotic to treat an ear infection to see if it helped her, as I recall they did not which is unforgivable really.

re: the nausea, if you get an rx for zofran for a regular pharmacy you could try that and use a good rx coupon. it is much more affordable than Cerenia that way, which is only for dvm patients and which costs a lot. I used zofran for my guys at first while they were on clindamycin for 2 months because Cerenia did not work for Zena.

 

[candie]

Yeah cerenia is expensive and I'm struggling because of vet bills and solensia shot. I'm disabled because of my health and being on low income housing does help as I put me and my cat first.
I'm just not ready to let her go yet not on my birthday month that's on Monday.
I probably will have a hard time letting go because of my emotional attachment.

Since her 4 seizures that day, I feel like maybe it is a brain tumor and only time will tell if she gets it again then that probably means it just got worse.

 

[Meowmee]

Yeah cerenia is expensive and I'm struggling because of vet bills and solensia shot. I'm disabled because of my health and being on low income housing does help as I put me and my cat first.
I'm just not ready to let her go yet not on my birthday month that's on Monday.
I probably will have a hard time letting go because of my emotional attachment.

Since her 4 seizures that day, I feel like maybe it is a brain tumor and only time will tell if she gets it again then that probably means it just got worse.

I am so sorry you and she are going through this big- hugs... you don't have to let her go right away, you will know when it's time and from what you described, she is still eating etc. it is not time yet. I remember she made a bit of a recovery for a while so hoping that happens again and you get some more quality time It's the most painful thing to let them go, and also to watch them suffer... I get it... and to feel like you could not or did not do everything for whatever reasons.

I often hear of people saying their cat or dog died at home peacefully in their sleep etc. However, that has never happened with any of mine very sadly. It would still be painful anyway of course but at least some of the suffering etc. would be less.

 

[candie]

Do you know how much high calorie gel I could give a cat if she only eats a little. Until vet opens Monday I want to be able to keep calories in her. She can eat lickable treats well but it's expensive and probably not enough calories

 

[Meowmee]

Do you know how much high calorie gel I could give a cat if she only eats a little. Until vet opens Monday I want to be able to keep calories in her. She can eat lickable treats well but it's expensive and probably not enough calories

I would try baby food with only meat, no onions etc. The gels that are made for cats usually have corn syrup and soybean oil and sugars so I don’t think they’re so great.

 

[fionasmom]

If you have high calorie gel, there should be instructions on the tube for supplemental feeding in cases where the cat is not eating enough. However, I agree that if you can get some baby food, like Gerbers 2nd Food Mealtime for Babies it will be much more nutritious. If you find an off brand, check that there are not other ingredients like additives, although there may be cornstartch.

 

[candie]

I got the one that says ham, water, cornstarch. I see no onion or garlic. That is okay? I got her to eat beef fancy feast it's the one where there 2 and separated. But seems she eats when she feels okay. Hopefully my vet will listen to me because he diagnosed her and it it helps me financially

 

[fionasmom]

If you got the ham, water, cornstarch it is probably either Gerber's or a similar formulation and it would be fine to use. Any cat food that she is eating is balanced and better than just straight gel.

 

[Meowmee]

I got the one that says ham, water, cornstarch. I see no onion or garlic. That is okay? I got her to eat beef fancy feast it's the one where there 2 and separated. But seems she eats when she feels okay. Hopefully my vet will listen to me because he diagnosed her and it it helps me financially

Also, I forgot to say in my last reply, I think that it has already been been a month I think since you posted and I had said this before that even, that if she had a brain tumor, you would think it would be a lot worse by now, or she wouldn’t be here anymore. I could be wrong because each case is different. When was the last time she had a seizure?

 

[candie]

Around July she had 4 seizures under 24 hours. They increased her dose and so far no seizures. If no brain tumor then what? Someone mention test for this thing. So asked 2nd vet but nothing. Could this be side effect of antibiotic shot? This happened right after that shot.

Started in April and I notice she has that head tilt . I don't know since I don't have a definite answer since I can't do mri

 

[Meowmee]

Around July she had 4 seizures under 24 hours. They increased her dose and so far no seizures. If no brain tumor then what? Someone mention test for this thing. So asked 2nd vet but nothing. Could this be side effect of antibiotic shot? This happened right after that shot.

Started in April and I notice she has that head tilt . I don't know since I don't have a definite answer since I can't do mri

Well, I think if it were a brain tumor, it would be worse by now but again I could be wrong. I don’t know what’s causing this….it could be still from convenient, but it was a long time ago that she got it, usually it gets worse… but she already had a seizure condition, which they don’t seem to know what’s causing it as you said. Sorry I can’t be of more help.