Milo - mass in stomach

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Kelly and Milo

Kelly and Milo

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Wednesday I came home to find Milo very lethargic and he would not eat. I syringe fed him babyfood in order to give him his insulin. By the next morning, he was not any better, so I took him to the vet. They ran his blood work and his liver and kidneys were all normal. Everything came back normal, so they tested him for ketones. His ketone levels were high. They started him on fluids and sent him home for me to give him Sub-q fluids Thursday evening, Friday morning and Friday night. By Saturday, he still wasn’t eating on his own and didn’t seem to be improving. He also urinated on our spare bed. I think he didn’t have the energy to make it to his litter box.

I took Milo back to the vet on Saturday and they started IV fluids because he was so dehydrated. On Saturday, his ketone levels where at a trace amount. I brought him home Saturday night, gave him more sub-q fluids Saturday night and Sunday morning then took him back to the vet for more iv fluids. On Sunday, no ketones in Milo urine. Sunday we brought him home and I gave him more sub-q fluids. He still would not eat on his own. Milo started to perk up Sunday morning but by Sunday evening he wasn’t any better.

Milo is back at the vet now, and they called to say his temp. has dropped and they fear his organs may be shutting down. They are going to run more tests and take x-rays to see if they can determine what the problem is. I just don’t understand how all his tests could come back normal on Thursday and now we may be facing organ failure.
 
Re: Milo - ketones gone, but vet fears organ failure

Oh, Kelly, I am so sorry to hear this. I have no direct experience with DKA/ketones except to know that is can hit fast and be very serious.

You and Milo are in my thoughts today. I hope he can rally and come home to you.
 
Re: Milo - ketones gone, but vet fears organ failure

Kelly and Milo said:
...I just don’t understand how all his tests could come back normal on Thursday and now we may be facing organ failure.
Click to expand...

You only get results on the tests you do, not on the ones you don't. It may be that whatever is wrong wouldn't show up on the tests which were given. The additional tests the vet is running may be different.

Alternatively, if something abrupt happened after the initial vet visit, like a sudden illness, or a blood clot, the regular tests wouldn't have caught that.
 
Re: Milo - ketones gone, but vet fears organ failure

Did the vet give regular insulin to get rid/lower the ketones? are they measuring blood ketones? what are they running? ketones are serious and when they high there is always the chance it will turn into DKA and that can kill them. It sounds as if he's going into DKA and needs large amounts of regular insulin ....

My Payne has DKA 4x the last time a week ago, she almost always runs low ketones .... she has just been Dx pancreatitis and that may have been present all along? causing the ketones, causing the DKA?

You need to know if he is in DKA and how they are treating it .... DKA is treacherous and MUST be treated very aggressively! If the cat has ketones, not eating and is very lethargic sounds like DKA. Cats with DKA must stay in a 24/7 ER and be treated with lots of R. You need to find this out! DKA looks like organ failure.
Nancy and Payne (feeling better)
 
Re: Milo - ketones gone, but vet fears organ failure

The vet called about 2 hours ago with the results of Milo's blood work and x-rays. It appears his organs are shutting down and his temp. keeps falling. From the x-rays, they determined he has bronchitis and a gastric outflow obstruction. I guess there is a large mass in his stomach. They don't know if it is cancer or something is blocking it, but the vet said that even if it was a blockage, she didn't think he would be strong enough to survive the surgery. I decided to bring Milo home to spend some time with him. I guess to really say good-bye. He doesn't seem to have any fight in him at all. None of the normal Milo spunk.

I am waiting on DH to come home to make a decision on whether to stop Milo's suffering. He is currently wrapped in a blanket on a heating pad on our bed and isn't responding to my loving on him at all. This is such a hard decision and it is breaking my heart. So hard to think back to when we were celebrating Milo being OTJ, to him rebounding, to this. My DH was not a cat guy before we met, but Milo totally changed that and became his "guy". I think DH may take this even harder than I am. Thank you for all your kind words and loving thoughts. Both Milo and I appreciate it greatly!
 
Oh Kelly, I am so sorry to hear this. You have done so well for Milo, treating his diabetes and getting him healthy and happy again. He knows he has been well loved and cared for and that you will give him the gift of being free from pain, when it is time.

Tell him you love him and tell him stories about your time together. It will be your time with him and I hope will help you to remember when he is gone.
 
Kelly, My heart goes out to you.....even when you know the decision is right it is so hard to come to grips with it. There have been those times, over the years, where there was the unknown and cat was fading. What I opted to do was be there with them, let the vet put them under, and then proceed to surgery while I waited. That gave the cat the chance to at least see if it was fixable and not PTS without knowing if it was truly the right thing to do. If the vet came back and said it was bad, then I didn't let the cat wake up. Prayers coming for Milo and you and DH. As hard as it may be to do it, if Milo has a buddy at home, it is always a good idea to bring the pet back home so the others can see it, sniff, and know their buddy is gone. My Henry(GA) and my Big Guy(GA) taught me that lesson.
 
Ah, I'm sorry Kelly. If only they could tell if it's a blockage that could be fixed. Is it kind of sudden or has he slowly been slowing down and showing difficulty? With Yoshi, it took about 7 weeks from not eating with his usual relish to coaxing him to eat to finding a mass and opting for surgery to remove just in case (it was invasive so he was set free). How sweet Milo taught DH how great kitties can be. Will be thinking of you all.
 
Kelly, I am so sorry .... my thoughts and prayers go out to you and Milo. Hold him close and let him snuggle in your heart forever. :YMHUG:
 
Kelly, I understand your pain. I went through the same thing with Spot. It is never easy losing a pet, but please feel comforted that knowing soon she will no longer be in any kind of pain or suffering.

My thoughts and prayers are with you, DH and Milo.
 
Kelly, I'm so sorry to see that your sweet Milo is so ill.

That's a good suggestion from Hope - at least you will know that there was nothing else could be done - and if it would help, then go ahead with the surgery.

My heart goes out to you - I am so sorry.

Emmy & Dude (& Mittsi too)
 
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