I am so sorry this is long, but I just can’t hold it all in anymore....
This past Sunday, my cat jumped or fell from up high. She landed on all fours and paused for a bit before walking off. The next day, she was acting lethargic. She no longer wanted to climb anything as she usually always does. She would lay in a couple different spots in the room for several hours. She drank her broth from dinner, but didn’t really eat.
Come Tuesday, I call up our vet and set up an appointment. We go in, I explained everything and she recommended X-rays and blood work. I get those things done that day.
The next day (Wednesday) she calls to say there are no broken bones or fractures, but there is a blurriness in the abdomen-area indicating free fluid. She tells me that she can do a little ultrasound in the office or I can go to this other vet and get a more in depth ultrasound. I decided to go with the small one first. She also had partial blood work back and so far things seemed okay, but her white blood cell count is a little high. So I also got her antibiotics. Ultrasound shows some fluid, she said her body could be reabsorbing it, but if I want the better ultrasound she can set it up. I decided to wait and see how she responded to the antibiotics first. She said that’s fine and to just contact them if she gets worse.
This morning she jumped into bed with me for the first time in a few days. So I thought that was a sign of improvement. But my cat still isn’t eating on her own at this point. She threw up bile a little later in the morning from what I assume is antibiotics on an empty stomach. So I force fed her some wet canned food mixed with water. I call the vet to inform her of her condition. She recommended I go through with the ultrasound. So I set it up.
We went today and I paid extra to get my results faster. Ultrasound shows inflammation of the peritoneum (peritonitis/ not FIP related), a thickened omentum and the fluid. Now they are telling me to have a sample of the fluid taken for testing. The vet reading the ultrasound results told me this could be a bacterial infection or something like cancer. She said I can discuss it all further with my vet in the morning. She also mentioned I should ask for pain meds as the inflammation can be painful and might be why she’s not eating.
So at this point I have spent $1200 and have been left with more questions than answers. I having been doing my best to scrape money together, but this fluid test is another $200+! And what if I get it and still don’t have any answers?! I’m also so upset about the pain meds. I received this information at their closing time. So my cat is now enduring another night of pain. Maybe she would have improved if she had been on pain meds all along.
I’m so heartbroken and stressed out to the maximum. I thought maybe I could post here and get some words of advice...maybe from someone knowledgeable about cats and their health.
No one understands what my cats mean to me, so it also helps to know others on here can relate.
I’m so scared this is leading to a cancer diagnosis. I haven’t been sleeping well and haven’t been able to eat all afternoon/ evening because of this stress. My baby is only 7 years old. She’s a rescue. I rescued her 5 years ago from a high kill shelter the day she was set to be put down. She’s been dealt so much crap in her short life, I just want her to be happy and healthy again.
This past Sunday, my cat jumped or fell from up high. She landed on all fours and paused for a bit before walking off. The next day, she was acting lethargic. She no longer wanted to climb anything as she usually always does. She would lay in a couple different spots in the room for several hours. She drank her broth from dinner, but didn’t really eat.
Come Tuesday, I call up our vet and set up an appointment. We go in, I explained everything and she recommended X-rays and blood work. I get those things done that day.
The next day (Wednesday) she calls to say there are no broken bones or fractures, but there is a blurriness in the abdomen-area indicating free fluid. She tells me that she can do a little ultrasound in the office or I can go to this other vet and get a more in depth ultrasound. I decided to go with the small one first. She also had partial blood work back and so far things seemed okay, but her white blood cell count is a little high. So I also got her antibiotics. Ultrasound shows some fluid, she said her body could be reabsorbing it, but if I want the better ultrasound she can set it up. I decided to wait and see how she responded to the antibiotics first. She said that’s fine and to just contact them if she gets worse.
This morning she jumped into bed with me for the first time in a few days. So I thought that was a sign of improvement. But my cat still isn’t eating on her own at this point. She threw up bile a little later in the morning from what I assume is antibiotics on an empty stomach. So I force fed her some wet canned food mixed with water. I call the vet to inform her of her condition. She recommended I go through with the ultrasound. So I set it up.
We went today and I paid extra to get my results faster. Ultrasound shows inflammation of the peritoneum (peritonitis/ not FIP related), a thickened omentum and the fluid. Now they are telling me to have a sample of the fluid taken for testing. The vet reading the ultrasound results told me this could be a bacterial infection or something like cancer. She said I can discuss it all further with my vet in the morning. She also mentioned I should ask for pain meds as the inflammation can be painful and might be why she’s not eating.
So at this point I have spent $1200 and have been left with more questions than answers. I having been doing my best to scrape money together, but this fluid test is another $200+! And what if I get it and still don’t have any answers?! I’m also so upset about the pain meds. I received this information at their closing time. So my cat is now enduring another night of pain. Maybe she would have improved if she had been on pain meds all along.
I’m so heartbroken and stressed out to the maximum. I thought maybe I could post here and get some words of advice...maybe from someone knowledgeable about cats and their health.
No one understands what my cats mean to me, so it also helps to know others on here can relate.
I’m so scared this is leading to a cancer diagnosis. I haven’t been sleeping well and haven’t been able to eat all afternoon/ evening because of this stress. My baby is only 7 years old. She’s a rescue. I rescued her 5 years ago from a high kill shelter the day she was set to be put down. She’s been dealt so much crap in her short life, I just want her to be happy and healthy again.