Debra & CB (GA) & Gang
Member Since 2009
Hi everyone....
I bring this subject to you and am seeking honest answers about this much dreaded topic. Let me explain the situation that we're going through here, hopefully to give you a sense of what's been going on with one specific kitty, Gypsy.
We got Gypsy as an adult cat. She was a stray outside that decided to live in our attic. It was during the summer time, very hot here in NC, so we'd get her out of the attic and return her outside, only to find her back up in the attic the next day. (Our house is very old, and some of the walls are open underneath....she'd just climb right up through the walls to spend her days in the attic.) Anyway, we finally decided that since we couldn't keep her out of the attic, we'd simply "keep" her. At that time my vet estimated her age as around 2 years old. Btw, she's now 13 years old.
Up until a couple of months ago, she's been the picture of health.....no problems at all for her. Then, just a few months ago we started noticing a very slow gradual weight loss for Gypsy. Nothing dramatic, nothing shocking, and even with that she seemed perfectly fine.
Then boom! She experienced rapid weight loss and we knew things weren't good for her. I took her to my vet, and bloodwork was run. It was normal, nothing there wrong. Urine testing did however show a urinary tract infection, other bloodwork showed hyperT (just slightly out of range), and she also had an ear infection. She was also very staggery, like her balance was being effected by this ear infection.
We thought that with treatment for all of her ailments, things would improve for her. But, they haven't! Despite the oral antibiotics and Tresaderm, the ear infection remains. We're now treating that with another medication, but her left ear is still producing a crud and it's still very sensitive to treat. (It's not ear mites, nor yeast infection...vet said bacterial). Her weight hasn't improved, even though the latest T4 shows her within excellent range. And......she now has horner's syndrome. It started with her left pupil being very constricted...that went on for a couple of weeks. We have, in fact, seen some improvement of the pupil itself, but now she has almost total left side facial paralysis. Her left eye does not blink at all, the eyelid kinda droops some, and her left eye doesn't "move" with the right eye. But, we have seen her balance issue improve a bit.
Now here's where we're at right now. Gypsy has stopped eating. Her normal diet was dry food, but since all these health issues started we switched her to canned food. She's not a big eater, but when fed she'll usually eat most of what is given... This past Sunday she would cry for food, we'd feed her, she'd sniff at it, lick it maybe, then walk away. Repeat in about 15 minutes. We'd open another can, different flavor......only to get the same response. After having 6 cans of cat food sitting in my refridge I finally decided to give her some cypro to see if I couldn't get her appetite going. Sure enough, within about 20 minutes or so she ate very well! (Let me say that she's not a very happy camper to give pills to.......she can fight me like a bear on that issue!)
Yesterday she ate a little here, a little there, nothing dramatic, but some food did find it's way into her tummy without the use of an appetite stimulant. Today however, we're back to her wanting food, but not eating. And, I did give her another cypro........but it had absolutely no effect on her at all.
Hubby and I are so saddened by seeing her this way, knowing all what she's been through these past few months, and while I'd love to seek further diagnostics to see what is going on with her, we just don't have that kind of money. We've been talking tonight about this whole situation, and really have decided that perhaps tomorrow we'll take Gypsy to the vet one last time, and release her from this body that is failing her.
I guess what I'm asking is......are hubby and I being rash about making this final decision? Your input will be greatly appreciated......and if anyone here has had any experience in dealing with horner's syndrome, please let me know!
Thanks!
Debra
I bring this subject to you and am seeking honest answers about this much dreaded topic. Let me explain the situation that we're going through here, hopefully to give you a sense of what's been going on with one specific kitty, Gypsy.
We got Gypsy as an adult cat. She was a stray outside that decided to live in our attic. It was during the summer time, very hot here in NC, so we'd get her out of the attic and return her outside, only to find her back up in the attic the next day. (Our house is very old, and some of the walls are open underneath....she'd just climb right up through the walls to spend her days in the attic.) Anyway, we finally decided that since we couldn't keep her out of the attic, we'd simply "keep" her. At that time my vet estimated her age as around 2 years old. Btw, she's now 13 years old.
Up until a couple of months ago, she's been the picture of health.....no problems at all for her. Then, just a few months ago we started noticing a very slow gradual weight loss for Gypsy. Nothing dramatic, nothing shocking, and even with that she seemed perfectly fine.
Then boom! She experienced rapid weight loss and we knew things weren't good for her. I took her to my vet, and bloodwork was run. It was normal, nothing there wrong. Urine testing did however show a urinary tract infection, other bloodwork showed hyperT (just slightly out of range), and she also had an ear infection. She was also very staggery, like her balance was being effected by this ear infection.
We thought that with treatment for all of her ailments, things would improve for her. But, they haven't! Despite the oral antibiotics and Tresaderm, the ear infection remains. We're now treating that with another medication, but her left ear is still producing a crud and it's still very sensitive to treat. (It's not ear mites, nor yeast infection...vet said bacterial). Her weight hasn't improved, even though the latest T4 shows her within excellent range. And......she now has horner's syndrome. It started with her left pupil being very constricted...that went on for a couple of weeks. We have, in fact, seen some improvement of the pupil itself, but now she has almost total left side facial paralysis. Her left eye does not blink at all, the eyelid kinda droops some, and her left eye doesn't "move" with the right eye. But, we have seen her balance issue improve a bit.
Now here's where we're at right now. Gypsy has stopped eating. Her normal diet was dry food, but since all these health issues started we switched her to canned food. She's not a big eater, but when fed she'll usually eat most of what is given... This past Sunday she would cry for food, we'd feed her, she'd sniff at it, lick it maybe, then walk away. Repeat in about 15 minutes. We'd open another can, different flavor......only to get the same response. After having 6 cans of cat food sitting in my refridge I finally decided to give her some cypro to see if I couldn't get her appetite going. Sure enough, within about 20 minutes or so she ate very well! (Let me say that she's not a very happy camper to give pills to.......she can fight me like a bear on that issue!)
Yesterday she ate a little here, a little there, nothing dramatic, but some food did find it's way into her tummy without the use of an appetite stimulant. Today however, we're back to her wanting food, but not eating. And, I did give her another cypro........but it had absolutely no effect on her at all.
Hubby and I are so saddened by seeing her this way, knowing all what she's been through these past few months, and while I'd love to seek further diagnostics to see what is going on with her, we just don't have that kind of money. We've been talking tonight about this whole situation, and really have decided that perhaps tomorrow we'll take Gypsy to the vet one last time, and release her from this body that is failing her.
I guess what I'm asking is......are hubby and I being rash about making this final decision? Your input will be greatly appreciated......and if anyone here has had any experience in dealing with horner's syndrome, please let me know!
Thanks!
Debra
