She might try the SPCA or the Humane Society, or a rescue group. There might be someone that can afford treatment willing to adopt the sick cat. She could look into finding new homes for the other cats as well. If she's struggling so, it could come as a relief to not have the responsibilty of caring for pets at this time. When she gets back on her feet, maybe she could then consider adopting a pet.

I wish her and her cats well.

Sally

There are organizations that may be able to offer assistance with vet bills. The link below lists them.

Your daughter's vet may also be willing to work out a reasonable payment plan. It's even possible that your daughter may be able to barter part of the vet expenses by doing some sort of work for the vet. It never hurts to ask.

While I applaud your commitment to supporting your daughter's adult responsibilities, have you considered making a loan to her yourself to cover the vet bills? You can uphold your values by having her sign a promissory note with an appropriate interest rate applied to the loan.

It certainly makes sense for your daughter to find other homes for the three kittens, given the fact that she can't even afford the proper care and keeping of her original cat. Unexpected vet expenses are part of the responsibility of pet ownership for which your daughter must be prepared. Even if your daughter were in a financial position to provide for four felines, it seems likely that the kittens either carried the older cat's current illness into her household or that they caused the older cat so much stress that she fell ill on her own. In any scenario, the responsible thing would be to rehome the kittens and do whatever is necessary to try to cure the older cat.

I am wishing the best possible outcome for your daughter's ailing cat.

Laurie

Here is a link that might be useful: veterinary financial assistance

Laurie thank you so much for your comments. I wish I could loan my daughter the money for this but her dad and I have loaned her money several times and she hasn't been able to pay those loans back yet. She accumulated a large debt she is struggling to pay off. She is 32, a college graduate, and has a good job and we feel she has to learn how to live within her income.

The offers I could make are to adopt two of her three kittens and she find a home for the third or bring her sick kitty here either until she gets well or forever. I had been planning to get new kittens now anyway.

Even with me taking the kittens it leaves the large vet bill to deal with. In the end she has to make the decision I know. Thanks for the links to possible financial help.

Ginny

Ginny, if you do adopt two of your daughter's kittens, make sure you have them fully tested by your own vet before bringing them into your home. If they were responsible for passing a disease to the adult cat, you certainly don't want them infecting any resident animals you may already have.

Laurie

I don't have any cats now but you are right, get them checked out.

If I do loan her the money to get Rainey treated I still wonder at what point people make the decision they can't put out any more money on their beloved pet. It's a hard thing to say and do but one decision lots of people must face.

Ginny

Jaundice is a symptom, not a disease. In this case Ginny, I think the jaundice is caused by a condition called hepatic lipidosis. It is a condition that is unique to cats only. When we don't eat for a period of time, our liver uses stored glycogen as energy to help keep us going until the period of starvation ends. Cat's livers don't have that ability, so if they go for a long period of time without eating, their liver instead becomes infiltrated with fat, and eventually stops functioning. I lost my 13 year old cat last fall to that disease after I had to board him in a kennel while my house was being de-leaded. He barley ate whenever I would go on vacation, and between being seperated from me and the stress of being in a kennel, he just didn't eat for approximately 10 days.

Unfortunately, to treat hepatic lipidosis, it is extremely expensive and the outcome is not guaranteed. I am still paying off the vet bills to try & keep him alive, but unfortunately I no longer have my kitty. Good luck - it is such a sad disease and a terrible way to lose a furry friend.

It is none of my business, but since you offered the information, I agree that you do not have an obligation to support your thirty-something daughter. It is possible to be loving and supportive without opening up your checkbook.

Many vets will work out a payment plan...I would suggest that your daughter check into this option.

Just had lunch with a cat loving friend. Her recommendation was to get the cat into a less stressful environment. This is assuming the the cat stopped eating due to the stress of the new kitties. Bringing her to my house along with the other cat she has lived with for 5 years would be that less stress environment. I am willing to do that. In the meantime my daughter needs to get rid of the kittens. Hopefully Rainey will recover from this. This friend also had been told by a vet that cats will either live or die; let them decide. (She probably didn't say it in that harsh way.)

I can certainly open my house to these two cats to see if Rainy can pull herself through without futher testing. I really feel that stress is the cause and that further testing will not turn up a disease process in place.

If she can beat this fatty liver disease with minimal intervention great, if not she will pass away, as my friend said.

I wonder what the odds are that the jaundice was caused by a disease rather than the stress brought on by 3 new kittens invading her home 6 weeks ago. I think it's the kittens.

Thanks again to everyone for your advice and suggestions. We appreciate it all!!

Ginny

Jaundice is a symptom, not a disease. In this case Ginny, I think the jaundice is caused by a condition called hepatic lipidosis.

I was about to suggest this as well. My cat went through hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease) last summer as well, and jaundice was one of the major symptoms, as was not eating.

If she can beat this fatty liver disease with minimal intervention great, if not she will pass away, as my friend said.

How long has the cat not been eating? How severe is the jaundice? Has the cat been vomiting at all?

With my cat, recovery involved several expensive IV's and a couple nights of hospital stay, and they had to insert a tube through her neck, which we then had to squeeze food and medication into her stomach, since she wouldn't eat on her own for a very long time. The tube stayed her in neck for about 6 weeks. All in all, getting her healed cost at least $3000 (we stopped counting after a while, to be honest). It also involved a lot of time and dedication -- we had to feed her through that tube in her throat every 4 or 5 hours, which involved coming home from work to do it, and cleaning up a lot of barf. On the upside, she's perfectly healthy now. Our cat was a fairly severe case of liver failure, though -- if the cat in question isn't as far gone, maybe it won't be that bad. I don't mean to scare you, but if your daughter's cat does have hepatic lipidosis, it is expensive to heal, it involves a lot of time, care, and money, and there's NO guarantee that it will have a positive result; many cats still die.

This friend also had been told by a vet that cats will either live or die; let them decide.

The cat isn't making a choice to die. Right now it's so sick, it can't eat -- which will 100% kill it. It feels crummy, so it doesn't eat, which means its body processes its body's fat, which its liver can't handle, which causes the liver to go into failure, which makes the cat even sicker, which makes it continue to not eat... It's a vicious cycle. YOU have to force the cat to eat, either through medication or the use of a feeding tube. Your daughter's vet should be talking to her about her options at this point, IF her cat does indeed have hepatic lipidosis.

The cat needs to be taken to a vet NOW. Dogs can survive some time without eating, but a cat will die quickly--the liver will shut down. I'm sorry that your daughter hasn't learned responsibility--I'm sure that's a huge stress for you. But the cat should not have to pay with her life for your daughter's irresponsible behavior. Please take the cat AND the kittens, take Rainey to a vet ASAP, and rehome the kittens (often, vets will let you advertised in their office for animals for adoption: plus, at least you will know that the person adopting the kittens goes to a vet! and is thus responsible).

P.S. If you live in MA, I can foster the kittens until I can find a home for them.

Rivkadr is right, but it may not have to be such an expensive thing to treat the cat. Depends on how far gone it is, and of course, what the underlying cause is. The timing does sound as if it could be due to stress-induced loss of appetite.

One of my cats had hepatic lipidosis after several days of vomiting and not eating, several years ago when he was probably about 12~13 years old, and he got better. The only treatment I remember was that I had to force-feed him many times a day with a special nutritious canned cat food. I think it was one of Hill's brand that the vet recommended. I had to buy it from the vet.

We didn't have a tube in the cat or anything; I would just take a dollop of the cat food on my index finger, make the cat open his mouth, smear the food inside, and hold his mouth more or less closed just for a few seconds until I could see that he wouldn't be able to spit much out. Of course, he hated it, but since his life was at stake, I didn't let that bother me. I didn't feed a lot at any one time, but I did feed him little bits like that very, very frequently--just so long as it didn't make him vomit. As I recall, the vet told me to have a goal of getting the contents of one 6-oz. can per day into him.

It may be that my cat was not so far gone and that was why the treatment could be so simple, but it's worth consulting the vet and asking if something like what I did might work, as your daughter can't afford expensive treatment. I don't remember how long I had to feed my cat like that, but he eventually got better and is hale and hearty now at 16.

I think what the others say about removing the kittens from her vicinity, at least until she is well again, makes sense. Even one new kitten would be stressful, though most cats get over that in a week or so, but 3 is too many unless the older cat has protection from their rambunctiousness. She doesn't need any more stress while she is ill. If your daughter can't get rid of the kittens to good homes, at least confine them to one room and then give plenty of attention to the sick cat and she can get used to the kittens bit by bit after she is well again.

I say give plenty of (quiet) attention because it is reassuring to the cat and helps it fight its illness. I once had a pregnant female cat who wouldn't eat for 2 weeks, due to a bad cold. She wasn't a "cuddle-cat," but I spent a lot of time just being beside her saying pleasant and reassuring things and stroking her from time to time. All the vet did was give her a big injection of glucose (I think it was) in the loose skin at the back of her neck every other day to keep her hydrated, while I fed her food from time-to-time as I did for the male cat described above, though less often, since she had the glucose. (This was in Japan and the vet's treatments were a bit primitive.) At night I kept her on my pillow beside my face--something she wouldn't normally want to do. She not only pulled through, she gave birth to 5 kittens and nursed them and they all lived. She herself was all skin and bones; you could "see" her spine bones for awhile. The vet said it was just love that had saved her, and he could hardly believe the kittens made it, too.

So don't give up. These are only my personal thoughts, but if it were my cat, I would be considering whether or not I would opt for surgery and /or chemotherapy even if the cat were found to have cancer. To tell the truth, I'm not sure I would put my cat through that even if I could afford it. And if I had decided I would not seek aggressive treatment if a cat of mine had cancer, I would probably not see any point in having all those expensive diagnostic tests for it. Not out of cheapness; we have already probably put about $3000 or more into keeping the cat that had fatty liver healthy over the years, what with hospitalization for dehydration, 4 operations on mast cell tumors, and other less important things.

Of course it's always good to know exactly what you are up against, but we all have a point where things can become financially impossible. So if your daughter can't go high-tech, why not try any low-tech treatment the vet thinks might do the trick?

If Rainey gets worse and worse and doesn't respond to any reasonably inexpensive treatment the vet can suggest, if she does have cancer and starts having pain, then it might be time to put her out of her misery, but I certainly would not give up yet. I think it natural that the vet wants to do every test possible; that would be fine if we were all rich. However, as things are, if he/she can't think of any less expensive treatment to at least try before giving up, I think I would look for another vet. Fast. Hepatic lipidosis IS fatal if nothing is done about it.

Best wishes for Rainey's complete recovery. She is still young and, hopefully, basically strong. Let us all know what happens. We care!

Thanks again for even more great information. I so much appreciate it and have sent it on to my daughter. I will let you know what happens. The support and information I get from my friends at GardenWeb is wonderful.
Ginny

I think your solution in bringing the cat to your house away from the kittens is a good one. Cats are sensitive creatures and their environment needs to basically remain constant or sometimes they go bonkers. Start trying to force feed the cat using a syringe or dropper and hold his mouth shut till he swallows. Get runny squishy wet food for this. Maybe that bit of intervention will bring him out of it before he gets beyond help.

PLEASE: take Rainey to the vet. She is probably stressed, yes (cats have to be introduced SLOWLY to new animals in the home), but if she's not eating, she may be ill, as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Introducing New Pets

If you use a dropper, it might be smart to get a demonstration from the vet as to how to aim the liquid or semi-liquid because if it goes down the wrong way, it can cause pneumonia. That is one reason why I was told to use canned food that I could feed with my finger.

My friend's experience. Cat diagnosed with jaundice symptoms. She also could not afford the full battery of tests, they mainly did the initial tests that showed the liver numbers in her blood way off (plus the yellow gums, ears, lack of appetite, etc).

They decided to go a route of an inexpensive but high maintenance treatment that involved special food with medicine mixed in, and an IV bag treatment. The vet showed her how to do the IV (in the shoulder) and she did it at home. It was about 8 days straight of this food and twice a day IV bag.

At the end, they took her in for one more blood draw, and the liver numbers were fine.

They still do not know the cause and expensive tests may have pinpointed it. Could have been bioligical, or something she ate, or a strange infection from a mosquito bite. No one will know. In the end, the treatment above ended up being way cheaper (messy and complicated but cheap), and in her case it worked.

Probably a good idea for her not to collect more animals, since she cannot afford to care for them. Suggest that to her?

Yes. What elly said.

biwako is right -- my example of fatty liver disease (and I suspect naturegurl's as well) is the most extreme example, when the disease is very advanced. IF you catch it early, and take action quickly, it doesn't necessarily have to be as expensive or difficult to deal with. The key is that you get the cat eating now and get fluids in him. Are your daughter and her vet doing anything like this? If he's not getting any food in him, then he's going to continue to get worse, and then you will have a situation close to mine; days can make a difference with fatty liver disease.

I, too, would really like to know why your daughter would bring home new kittens if she can't afford to pay for health care for the older cat. This is irresponsible, and she needs to know it. People should not own pets unless they can afford them. Like human beings, any illness can strike a pet. Have you talked to her about this? She needs to get the kittens adoped out and then turn her resources to her poor ill cat.

I can't comment at all on the liver disease, however.... is there a rescue organization that will take the 3 kittens? Under the circumstances with her first cat, they may be able to help her out.

I would also encourage bartering for services, this will not only get her cat the much needed vet care-it will also help her to become more responsible for her actions.

I applaud your sticking to your guns on not loaning the money, in the long run it will help her.

My cat had this a couple of years ago and the vet never was sure what caused it. They did keep her several days and gave her valium to stimulate her appetite. I'm sure they gave her fluids, too, but I can't remember for sure. The vet called me and recommended putting her to sleep because she wasn't going to get any better. I went by the next morning to sign the paperwork, and he came out and told me she had improved and he thought she might pull through. They still could not get her to eat, but they sent her home thinking she might do better in her familiar environment. My husband and I had a kitty buffet for her at all times, anything you could think of, and she still wouldn't eat. We finally started force feeding her milk. We got a syringe and would feed her as much as we could every hour or so. She gradually improved and is fine now. I do remember them telling me that if we did not get her to eat that her liver would shut down for good. It's worth a try.

Animals like people benefit from the natural medicine in herbs. You might look up herbs for jaundice and liver problems. There is an herbalism forum here at GW, plus many resources on google. One that is outstanding is milk thistle, Silymarin, which can regenerate liver cells. The seeds can be ground and added to tuna or wet catfood, or the powdered herb from capsules.

Again I thank all of you for adding to this conversation. Last night my daughter asked me to step aside and let her handle this. I just got home from work and she left a message saying she took her kitty back to the vet as she still wouldn't eat. The vet had the day off (why they didn't sugggest an on call doc I don't know) but they did take her in to hydrade her, give her meds and try to feed her.

I've passed articles on to my daughter but she is the one that has to make the decisions.

I would certainly hope she has gotten the message that bringing home 3 more mouths to feed when she can't care for the health needs of her first kitty wasn't a good idea. I don't know what she'll do about the kittens but I'm afraid our sweet Rainy won't make it.

I'll be off work tomorrow and hopefully my daughter will talk with me after she talks to the vet.

Kids - ekk -- even as adults they have sooo much to learn.

Ginny

A fairly happy ending to Rainey's story. The vet has offerred to take over the care and recovery of Rainey and when she is well the vet will find a good home for her. My daughter knew she wasn't financially able to do the testing needed to determine the cause of Rainey's jaundice. They did an ultrasound which didn't show any tumors. I don't know what the vet is planning to do but we hope she will be able to get Rainey over this terrible condition and find her a happy home.

Of course my daughter was very sad about this but she knew she was making the right decision considering the cirumstances.

Thanks again for your concern.

Ginny

Ginny-I'm glad the vet is helping out.Now please find homes for the other 3 kittens your DD adopted.It is obvious she isn't able to take care of them.At least not until she can properly take care of herself.I have 4 kids and I sometimes wonder if they ever grow up!LOL

Glad to hear the cat got surrendered - I was about to suggest that you look for a rescue/vet and surrender the cat to them (with a subsequent adoption, after the cat gets better)

As for the kittens Ginny's daughter brought home - I would not jump on that too early...What if she found them starving in a parking lot or at a dumpster? Yes, it is more mouths to feed, but this could be an act of compassion. Definitely something I would do - and I own 10 cats!
Now, if she intends to keep them all, that is a different story. I hope the kittens are fostered and adopted out :)

I'm glad it was a vet and not a shelter according to the ASPCA over 70% of cats and kittens that wind up in shelters get PTS.

Its nice that she was able to do the right thing. I hope everything gets better and she learns how to survive and be happy.

Ginny's daughter brought in 3 kittens. Ginny's daughter can't afford the correct treatment for her 5 year old cat. The kittens need to brought to a no-kill cat shelter where they'll test them, give them vaccines, de-worm them, spay/nueter them and then put them up for adoption. Kittens are the first to go to forever homes. Now Ginny's daughter has enough money to take care of her own cat.

The original letter is from 2007. Does anyone know where Ginny is so we can find out where all 4 cats are today?

Not sure if anyone noticed, but this thread was from 2 years ago - I am sure the OP has found a solution by now!

It seems that a spammer revived the thread to advertise something for jaundice treatment. Just thought I'd save you all the time of posting helpful suggestions on a very old thread.

hello all-
i just want to thank everyone on this page for their comments and feedback. tho we dont know eachother, the information here and thru your private messages helped save my cats life. i think i was very lucky as well.
I owe you all a big thanks and you made a difference in someones life, not just the cat, but myself. i am forever grateful to each of you posting here.
I'd like to now share my suggestions and ways to tackle this, so that my comments may help someone else out there. im going to just write wihtout much structure here....
jaundice as you probably know is usually hepatic lepidosis. that's what i was dealing with atleast. thats the fat starting to accumulate in the liver. this is NOT THE CAUSE of your cats problem. it is only a "byproduct" or reaction of something else, like the flu, a cold, cancer. looking back, my cat only may have had a bad flu...but she stopped eating and THATS WHERE IT DEVELOPS.
LOOK FOR THE YELLOWNESS IN THE EYES AND GUMS-lathargy was nonstop. make sure your light is white-light like in a doctors office. so that when you look, you are not fooled by any tints. i used the "yellowness" as my indicator.
the key i learned is to force feed the cat. they need LEAN PROTEIN. she wouldnt be able to eat much, but PETCO the store has a prodcut that is like "super nutrition"...THIS IS KEY! KEEP FEEDING YOUR CAT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
http://www.petco.com/product/102528/Tomlyn-Nutri-Cal-For-Cats.aspx?cm_mmc=GooglePKW--55-Tomlyn%20Nutri-Cal%20for%20Cats%20(1001744)--"tomlyn+nutri+cal+for+cats"-_-xxx&gclid=CMSC79zqmKwCFQZThwodvmfdPQ
that's the link
they also have a liquid. i just added some water- put it in a syringe and opened her jaws to feed her orally. you can mush up wet food with water too. i liked the paste becasue it's higher in nutrition, therefore she doesn't need to eat as much to get the same nutrition amount.
keep at this. keep them LOVED. i think her having me there by her side at all times HELPED her get better. i think they are just like humans in that respect.i honestly believe that. and dont underestimate it either.
remember, jaundice is not the cause, its just a reaction to the problem and occurs when they stop eating. they start to store fat in the liver and that is death. the idea of this is to keep the fat from storing...the way to do this is to feed them as much that will go down. the yellowness started to go away after 2-3 days of this process. did about 4cc's 3-5 times per feeding...i'd do 3-4 feedings per day. try to keep food out so they can choose to try and eat on their own. also know that THEIR GUMS and teeth get SENSITIVE, that's also working against you. this is why the force feeding is crucial. after 6 days, she was almost normal. she had constipation for those 6 days and i gave her some olive oil on day 5...came out day 6! out of the syringe, about 1cc of it, and it got her to poop! olive oil is a good natural laxative and the most safe for cats i think.

i hope this helps. this is just what i did. i understand each situation is different. if your cat gets jaundice, remember that nutrition will be the highest priority in order to overcome it. the flu made my cat not eat for 7-8 days. i realized probably after 1-2days...thats all it takes for it to set in...but it does go away. keep them fed, even if they hate it. thank you all again. feel free to contact me. i owe it to anyone in this horrible situation. good luck

how to treat cat liver jaundice.a blood test will show
elevated liver values.treat with sam e +milk thistle at same time.90mg milk thistle 2x daily.90 mg sam e daily.can get these medications at pharmacies (walgreen,walmart etc.not too expensive.best treatment for cat liver disfunction.I'm told it might take weeks for results but my cat responded w/n
1 week.MAKE SURE CAT EATS EVEN IF FORCE FEED NECCESARY.MOST IMPORTANT !!!

Is she still syringe feeding? My cat had a traumatic event and ended up having jaw surgery-perfectly healthy until the surgery. Since then he hasn’t been eating well and is now jaundice. The vet had me syringe feeding him a can of hills a/d food a day. he is beginning to eat a little bit but not a lot.

HU.....try feeding any brand of pate canned cat food. Your cat may start to eat better on its own if he finds a flavor he really likes.

My pets never accepted prescription food very well but they thrived on other brands.

Was your cat on pain meds for awhile after the surgery?

He was on gabapentin for a couple of days after surgery and then Nothing. The vet thinks he may have been in pain/uncomfortable so she put him back on meds. I’m still syringe feeding him but his intake is better. I’m giving him at least 3 different foods to choose from. His ears are still a little yellow, but he’s moving around the house more. He is on an appetite stimulant for about another week or so. I’m scared to stop syringe feeding him and to take him off the pain meds and appetite stimulant. He went down hill really quickly when I let him eat on his own. He lost 1 pound in a week and was pretty close to death. I’m still not sure he’s out of the woods. His back legs are still weak.

Keep at what you are doing. It sounds like your cat, as well as Beverly's daughter's cat, is making progress, even though to their loving humans, it naturally may feel too slow. And, as some other posts here--though old--mention, having the cat near you as much as possible and as much as he seems to welcome, quietly showing him love can go a long way. I just reread the post I made 13 years ago (under the name of biwako_of_abi--for some forgotten reason the then site made me re-register) had. The cat with liver trouble that I mentioned as still being well at 16 years of age went on to live two months past his 24th birthday and died beside me in my bed. He was my last and best cat--intelligent and loving, and I still grieve over his loss, but am grateful that, of all the great cats I have had in my long life, he lived the longest. I hope the cats here whose families are worried about them will soon recover.

Sounds like he wasn't on the pain meds, or the right pain meds, long enough. But, it may be the vet thought his liver couldn't handle the meds. Either way, it's always a balancing act and we have to speak up for what's best for our pets.

It's difficult enough when the pet has to deal with any pain after a surgery, but for him to try and eat with a sore and swollen jaw......... I'm not surprised he has difficulty eating.

My vet no longer gives gabapentin by itself for pain. He said new findings show it doesn't work well by itself but is beneficial if it's given with another pain med.

Sounds like you doing everything as best you can and you've learned what works for him. Keep up with helping him eat and I feel you will continue to see progress.

Like biwa, I have a pet that was diagnosed with liver problems and given a very short life expectancy. Going on two years now and he's doing fine, and not on any meds. Took me a year to find the best diet.

One other idea: I don't know the weather where you live but your cat may benefit from having a heated bed. He's now thinner and his body probably has difficulty producing enough heat to stay warm. Here's a bed that my cats love.

Two more things I want to mention. There are high calorie & easily digestible supplements that that come in a soft form, usually in a tube and can be a life saver with sick pets that are eating poorly. One well know brand is NutriCal but there are others. Ask your vet about it or check out what's available at Petsmart or Petco.

Also, you may find your cat improves as you stop the antibiotic, and even the pain meds. Check the side effects of the meds your cat is taking and see if you're seeing any of the symptoms. I've had to change, and even stop, meds because they were making my pet worse.

Hope all is going well.

Thank you! We have decreased pain meds and he is in Hills A/D wet food. He gained .5 pounds in a week and is doing much better. Still not eating great on his own but he is beginning to act like normal.

I have an awesome 7 yr old cat that I found in a bush 3 houses down from our house. He was 7-10 days old, and we spent a lot of time, money and patience to raise this cute baby boy that was abonded. His mother was a farrell cat that the whole hood kinda took care of. (The vet said he wouldn't survive.... but our first born son thrived!) He grew to be 17.5 lbs.

One day Tanner strutted into the house and he was different. I couldn't peg it but he was just 'off'. The very next day my daughter, the nurse,

noticed he was tinged with this yellow hue. I took him almost immediately to an Emergency Vet Clinic who charges nearly $200 just to walk in the door. Or, due to Covid, wait 4 Hrs. IN YOUR CAR!

To make a long story longer...

Tanner had NEVER been ill in his short time here on earth, even as a baby. This vet took him for 3 days! poking and prodding and drugging him to the sum of $2055.00! Sending him home with a medication that practically choked him getting it down and bit my finger off!

Now, I'm a recent widow with very little money, but being my precious boy was suffering, I was coeursed into taking out a loan immediately for them to treat and what I thought save him. I never, ever heard of Jaundice in an animal only people. I jumped into a decision that led me falsely into the wrong decision!!

Tanner suffered terribly after coming home and being more traumatized by his original vet. Only to charge me approx. another $1000. He learned to not trust me anymore.

Realizing we were both going to be homeless, I had to make a decision that was very very difficult! Yes, he was euthanized! Which would have saved us both a lot of trauma and cost and the vets. time to treat other pets that needed quick care.

This story was posted to help ANY other animals lovers that may not be knowledgable in diseases, and tend to be convinced there is hope when really there is not. Always get a 2nd opinion. And think twice before you jump into something you know nothing about.

At the end of all this, no one figured out how he caught it this deadly 'bug'! I thought maybe it was genetics. Although he was very healthy and had all his vaccines required to keep him safer as he grew, his mother obviously did not.

But after studying this common pathogen I realized we both were taken by the vets. My poor baby suffered and I was now in debt that took 2 years took recover.

Maybe that's why they came up with euthanizing animals long ago?

we have decided we want to help our male black long haired cat fight this off if we can he is our baby boy even at the age of 8. We are tube feeding him rebound with a turkey baster and a smsll tube off the end about 12 inches and with a baby snot sucker we are giving him water with and mostly he tries not to throw up so we now help him by tilting his head up and rubbing a finger down the outside of his throat like stroking his throat which helps keep him from throwing up or sometimes showing him his favorite toy takes his mind off it and its been like 2 weeks and he doesnt look yellow we cant see it hardly at all and he is using the liter box which is only steps away from where he likes to sleep I have 3 bowls of water and dry food near by and always give him the option to see some soft food when i feed my other cat he can't eat or drink yet but i can tell he does have a moment where he wants to but if his mouth starts to water i take it away right away so he doesnt get sick. Im praying every day and talking to him sweetly about how we are just tryjng to help him feel better. This is just what we know from reading online cats with luver damage need to hydrate even though hes sick from the liver damage causing him not to drink or eat getting fluids and vitamins etc is whst he needs to heal his liver.

I had that same situation my 7 year cat hot juandiced and it cased kidny failure they said it could run in the thousands i had insuranxe on her but they want you to pay first and i fidnt have 5 grand dont know how she got sick always took care of her so i did have her put to sleep i do feel guilty but no one would help me so i know what she going thru

I took my 10 year old cat to the vet last Tuesday - losing weight, not eating much. The testing was really bad and she said her liver was failing - the vet offered little hope - in fact, she wanted to euthanize her as the kindest thing. I said I needed a few days to process that and coud you give us something that might make her more comfortable. I got some prednisone. As of today, Sunday - she has been eating voraciously. The steroid can increase hunger. She is energetic and going out on the patio to get sun, sitting on my bed like a princess. I have no idea if her liver will heal or not, but she is trying. I could not even begin to afford hospitalization (which the vet didn't think would actually help). So you never know what can happen. I am glad as of today that I dindn't euthanize her.

Another pet - a Maltese/Pekinese mix was diagnosed with an ear tumor three years ago. I went on a $600 expedition to find out what to do about it. Ultimately the recommendation was to have the entire inner ear removed (cost $4,500-7,000 and further treatment if it was cancer). A potential side effect might be loss of mobility in his jaw. I elected to not do this. He is 15, running around my house like a little greyhound - happy. I just have to keep it clean and prevent ear infections. Sometimes you get off the medical treadmill.