Question. Please read. (update: Doesn't seem good...)

[krazyaboutkatz]

Audrey,I'm so sorry to hear about Butter but I'm glad that you took him to the ER vet tonight. My cat Storm had this 2 times and he had developed scar tissue so they couldn't even catheterize him the 2nd time. He had to have the PU surgery by a board certified surgeon and it was very expensive but worth every penny because he's now a very happy and healthy boy. Now all of my cats except for my kitten Ziggy Stardust are on the Royal Canin Urinary S/O diet and are doing well. I hope that a change in food will be all that it takes to get Butter healthy again. Lots of prayers and positive thoughts are being sent his way.(((HUGS)))

[orangemm]

I'm so glad you took him in to the emergency vet. We lost one of ours years ago because at that time there weren't any emergency clinics in our area. Our other boy, Mikey, kept getting blocked and he had to have the surgery. At that time it was new, we had no $$, but we made arrangements w/the vet and after that he was fine.

I know you're scared, but there are more options now with the special food, which seems to work with a lot of cats.

Hang in there; we know how you feel and we are with you.

Keep us posted, please.

(((hugs)))

[Laura's Babies]

I know how it feels when they tell you your baby has a heart murmer. For all the worrying I do over Amy, the last time I had them at the vets, while checking Giz, they found she had a gauge 3. (The are on a scale of 1 to 6, Giz's is 3) I was so upset!! I brought her home and got on PT here and the responses made me feel so much better about the condition. There are many here with babies that has this and they were quick to offer support. Giz is now on medicine daily and if you have kept up with my threads on my babies, she is STILL just her normal mischievous self. A refill on her meds is $16 and they last her 6 to 7 weeks.

There are also many here on those special diets for blockages. That can be managed! If I am not mistaken, the food for that is a bit more expensive but you don't give them as much so it comes out about the same in the long run. (?)

[slleipnir]

It went smoothly last night. He said Butter is doing well this morning, but they're going to leave the catheder in for a little longer. He said Butters heart was big, and they're going to have a cardio person look at it. (could cost an extra $300...) plus if it's bad, then he can eat the food that helps keep the blockage from coming back. If it comes back soon, then I just can't afford it again *sigh* Plus with his heart....I don't have this kind of money. Thank god I had some money saved...

And I called a different vet the second time. The other guy seemed more annoyed that I might call back when it's later in the evening.

This vet said they got it before it was life threatening and before it got too serious.

[Catty1]

Hon - you KNOW your fellow PTrs will help out....if your vet can't arrange payments, or this gets too much, just ask. You can PM me, ok? I can't do MUCH, but I will do what I can. A few more folks, and it'll all add up - maybe with some left over for "get-well" presents!

I am SO glad to hear it went well - Butter will be ready for your hugs soon!

When you find out more about his heart, you might want to post a separate thread on that and heart murmurs. I remember such a thread a while back, and there were TONS of stories (okay, quite a few! ) about cats with similar experiences.

He was healthy enough to get through this emergency, so I think that bodes well!

HUGS to you and Better Butter!

(PS - I am sure all your cats can eat any new food that Butter goes on - it will be less expensive in the long run as they need to eat less to get all the nutrition).

[anna_66]

Oh Audrey I do hope that this works for him. I'll be keeping him in my thoughts and prayers.

[Kfamr]

Oh no. I know how much your Butter means to you. Thank gosh you caught it and reacted in time that it wasn't life threatening.

I don't know much about kitty health so I don't have much advice to offer. I know that if the chance you need financial help I would be more than happy to help you the best I can. PLEASE PM/email/AIM me if you need help with anything, even if you just want to talk about it.

It sounds like he wasn't doing well at all and he's doing a lot better now - he is a pretty strong boy!


Silly pets always getting sick when the vets are closed.. Seems like whenever one of my three get sick, it's Sunday or a holiday, or their just already closed.


Hugs to you and Butter (and Jo, Zeke, Kiba, and Smitten!)

[aly]

(edit: opps sorry, I just realized Cathy already mentioned this)

Hi Audrey,

As soon as I read your first post, I immediately thought he was blocked (I would have told you right away, but I am only just now seeing this). I am concerned that your vet told you that it didn't sound serious. I probably would've done exactly what you did and listened to him had I not worked in a clinic and seen a lot of blocked cats come in.

A lot of blocked kitties will continue to have problems and I really think a good solution is to get a PU (perineal urethrostomy - make him a girl ). It is a common surgery for boys with that problem. I actually just got one done on my 8 week old foster kitten (they generally don't need them so young, but my boy was having numerous problems all stemming from when he was starving as a newborn and nursing on his privates).

Anyway, I'm not telling you to run out and get the surgery soon or anything. Just keep it in mind if there continues to be problems. You can read about it on the internet and question your vet about it. Or even call a different vet to ask about it.

I have you and your boy in my prayers.


(gosh I haven't posted here in forever, missed you all!)

[kimlovescats]

I am so glad that you decided to go ahead and take Butter to the ER vet last night! I'm sorry you didn't get better news, but hopefully things will get worked out! Please keep us posted on dear Butter's progress!

Kim

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm glad to hear that Butter is doing better today. When Storm had his first episode they kept the catheter in him for at least 24 hours if I remember correctly. I know he went in around 9pm on a Saturday night and I was able to pick him up and take him home on Monday morning.They tried to give him something to help relax his bladder but it didn't work so they had to then catheterize him. They want to fush out his system so the longer they have the catheter in the better. I sure hope he'll start feeling better soon. Please continue to keep us updated about him.

[slleipnir]

Oh no. I know how much your Butter means to you. Thank gosh you caught it and reacted in time that it wasn't life threatening.

I don't know much about kitty health so I don't have much advice to offer. I know that if the chance you need financial help I would be more than happy to help you the best I can. PLEASE PM/email/AIM me if you need help with anything, even if you just want to talk about it.

It sounds like he wasn't doing well at all and he's doing a lot better now - he is a pretty strong boy!


Silly pets always getting sick when the vets are closed.. Seems like whenever one of my three get sick, it's Sunday or a holiday, or their just already closed.


Hugs to you and Butter (and Jo, Zeke, Kiba, and Smitten!)

Thanks kay I like your sig, do you mind if I used it too? I really appreciate you thinking of him enough to do that. That made me feel really good to know people care *tears up*

Hon - you KNOW your fellow PTrs will help out....if your vet can't arrange payments, or this gets too much, just ask. You can PM me, ok? I can't do MUCH, but I will do what I can. A few more folks, and it'll all add up - maybe with some left over for "get-well" presents!

I thankfully had some money saved so I can pay for this. I imagen in the end it will be over $1000...that's fine. Money can be replaced, he can't. My problem is if it comes back soon, then I'm afraid I might have to give him up because I can't afford another $1000 or more. If it happens again, I would want to have the surgery...I imagen that will cost a lot more than $1000 *sigh* I pray that it doesn't come back. I'll do whatever I can for him...but unfortantly I don't have thousands of dollars to keep putting into something that will only come back. I just don't know that I could have him put to sleep...I honestly don't think I can...I don't know what will do.

I don't know what I would do without you PTs. The thought itself means more than you can possibly know. This has been very hard on me, and I constantly worry that something will happen to him. I wish I could show you guys how much you mean to me.

Anyway, I just went and visited him. he looks very well. He kept trying to get out of his cage and get to me. He kept rubbing against the cage for me to pat him. He was even purring a little! He still has the catheter in and he said they might take it out a little before the 24hr mark. The heart doctor didn't look at him yet, so I still don't know if he has a heart problem. I SO hope not!! I want to be able to feed him that food. He also said there was a lot of grainy stuff in the pee or something? He gave me a bunch of stuff to read so I'll see if I can answer some of my own questions with it.

He might be home tomorrow. The vet will call me in the morning to let me know how he is doing. Please pray that he doesn't have a heart problem!

[Karen]

We will pray that his only "heart" problem is missing his mom and his home. Sending well wishes your way, Butter-boy!

[rg_girlca]

Coming into this a little late, but I am so happy to hear that your precious Butter is getting the care that he so needs.

Prayers on the way that Butter has a full and speedy recovery and that nothing serious is wrong with his heart.

((((((HUGS)))))) for his meowmie.

[slleipnir]

It's amazing how many people say they wouldn't spend $700-$1000 on their cat. One guy said he wouldn't even spend $300! I know it's a lot, but I spent more on a stupid camera, so how can I not for a living thing that I love so much?

[sandragonfly]

haven't been around until I saw and wondered who's that butter in kfamr's signature! so sorry it's YOUR butter-boy! never knew he was the shadow I know.

so glad you had him being looked at sooner and it's not life threatening. when you find out more about heart murmur - maybe you could talk with callie's mom, one of her cats had heart murmur before, I think.

keep butter around, I'd like to know how he's doing .. is he not himself still? give gentle huggles to your boy for me, please?

edit ~ ahh, don't listen to that lacky guy! stick to US, WE are here for you!