Old and poorly cat, vets tomorrow. Can someone tell me honestly what they may say. Just so I'm prepared.

[pepperrabbit]

My cat is nearly 15. She has hyperthyroidism, a heart murmur, one functioning kidney and a rotten tooth (with minging breath!)
She's due to have the tooth sorted on Fri and obviously will have a GA.
The problem is she has simply stopped eating over the last few days, not really drinking either and hasn't had her tablets consequently.
She doesn't seem "unwell" as such. She's quite happy, follows me around. Sleeps a lot by the radiator. I've checked for lumps, bumps cuts etc, nothing. Don't think she's grooming as much as usual but I've seen her doing a lick and a promise.
Vet suggested (on the phone today) trying her with strong smelling food and she's had maybe 4 mouthfuls of tuna tonight but not finished it.
Am I in denial thinking she'll be fine, the tooth has turned into an abcess and she needs some antibiotics and will be fine, or is there the chance this may be it?

[cozietoesie]

So sorry for your upset pepperrabbit - but you need to have the vet's opinion. They'll be the ones to examine her and do any tests necessary.

The very best of luck to her on Friday.

[pepperrabbit]

Thanks cozietoesie We're off to the vets tomorrow to see if she can be stabilised for the op on Fri. She had a full set of bloods 2 weeks ago with nothing sinister, but on the phone the vet suggested there may still be something else going on.
Though I am beginning to wonder if goldplating the cat would be a cheaper option

[Lancelottie]

I could have written your OP on Friday (though ours is a bit older still). One overnight stay plus anti-bs and a drip later, she's pursuing a catnip mouse while I gaze sadly at the remains of the bank balance...

Oh, our vet said 'She loves pilchards, doesn't she? Especially the tomato sauce sort.'

Hmm. Yes, it would seem she does. In fact nothing else will now do, apparently.

[Lancelottie]

Forgot to say, all the best for tomorrow. Ours said that despite the heart murmur, infection, possible thyroid problems and suspected diabetes, she 'was nowhere near death's door just yet', so fingers crossed for yours too.

[LeChance]

Hi there, so sorry to hear about your lovely girl.....i hate to say it but tbh I would prepare yourself for unhappy news tomorrow. I was in a similar situation with my 16yr old cat (still miss him 6 years on) and had to make the traumatic decision to put him to sleep after honestly evaluating his quality of life. I was a vet nurse for 10 years, and would be very cautious about giving a GA to a geriatric hyperthyroid cat with a heart murmur (I worked in vet cardiology.) Animals are far more stoical than us wimpy humans, but the lack of appetite, reduced grooming and increased sleeping are signs of an very unwell pussy cat. Also, following you around may be for comfort-seeking. Hyperthyroid cats need a constant level of medication to avoid peaks and troughs in their thyroid levels, so the no-tablet situation (due to anorexia) is a real worry. I was in this situation, and antibiotics and steroids will help for a while, but sadly not indefinitely. My lovely boy became wary of me because he knew I was going to medicate him, which broke my heart. Good luck, I hope I'm wrong xxx

[pepperrabbit]

Thank you for your responses.
I think I am hoping for the best but a lot of what you are saying LeChance rings very true.
The reason I medicate through her food is she became very distressed when first diagnosed and I gave her the tablets, after a couple of weeks she didn't want to come in at all. 2 tablets a day became unsustainable. Ironically, the last set of tests indicated overmedicating at the current dosage so I had just dropped her to one tablet a day.
I do hope she comes out on the lancelottie end of the scale though, I may yet have to sell a child to cover the cost though.

[Sunnywithshowers]

pepper I agree with everyone else, but hope you get better news.

My old boy is nearly 19 and I live in dread of 'that' visit.

xxx

[LeChance]

At the risk of stating the obvious, all you can do is consider your vet's advice and thoughtfully assess how you feel your cat is doing re. quality of life - you love her and know her best. Best wishes x

[LeChance]

Apart from injections, pretty much the only way to medicate cats is in their food cause they (and we) get so fed up with the horrible wrestling/forcing-jaws-open scenario. This really affects their trust in us and, as you say, becomes unsustainable. Therefore, if they refuse to eat it's a nightmare because this is the best way we have of administering meds when they need them....cats - beautiful but contrary!

[cozietoesie]

That's true, LeChance. I admit to being a hopeless pill giver anyway but the thought of doing it on a regular (or daily) basis fills me with horror. It would ruin my relationship with Seniorboy who hates getting pills. He's on meds anyway but they're liquid and go in his food - apart from his new antacid one which is a quarter (!) pill to go in his food.

Guess what solitary part of his food is left on the plate.

He was recommended an antibiotic when I was last there (although neither I nor the vet are keen on them) and I asked for an injectable one. The vet pointed out that it was more expensive - and I pointed out that if I got pills, I likely wouldn't get more than a quarter of them down and he would have a coronary from stress before the course was finished. She conceded the points.

Pepper - as a possible consoling thought.

Seniorboy had a GA dental when he was older than your girl. (He was off his food, being sick, just a poor soul beforehand - but afterwards had a new lease of life.) It was a longish procedure but he managed fine in the end. All the best.

[Sunnywithshowers]

Our elderly mog has to take meds for epilepsy and a heart condition - we've found that sticking the tiny tablets in a bit of cheapo meat paste (30p a jar from Sainsbo's) works a treat. The liquid meds go in low-lactose milk.

[cozietoesie]

Seniorboy would know. He has a 14th sense about these things.

[GrandmaW]

My cat Thomas, has one tablet a day for hyperthyroidism. I 'm having no trouble giving him this as I followed some advice given on MN. Buy a pack of those treats that are in a 'stick' form. Cut off about a 1" length, make a slit in it, push the tablet in and mould the treat around it.
Back at the vets tomorrow, (weather permitting- I will not drive in snow!) for another check and possibly a repeat blood test to see if the tablets are working.

[pepperrabbit]

Right, we're off.

[pepperrabbit]

Phew, she lives to fight another day
Antibiotic injection, anti inflammatory injection, vet gave her todays tablet (as I took them with me!)
If she eats overnight, she can go in tomorrow, have fluids overnight and the dental on Friday.
If she doesn't eat, postpone dental, bloods monday and we take it from there.
She had lost a huge amount of weight already.

[cozietoesie]

Roast chicken, pepper. Try that.

[Sunnywithshowers]

I'm so pleased, pepper. :) What a relief.

Fingers crossed she eats tonight xxx

[LeChance]

Great news - the anti-inflammatory is a steroid type drug that will stimulate her appetite and make her feel much better, we're all rooting for her

[dikkertjedap]

Has your vet not advised you to consider force feeding (syringe feeding)? There are special Hill's cans which you dilute with warm water and then feed using a syringe. Not nice, but saved my cat.

Cats can get in a downward spiral, and die because of lack of food/water. If you get them through that through force feeding, so they gain strength again you may save their lives.

Usually you will only have to do it for a few days (four times a day). I had to do it for three weeks as cat was very very ill (local vet wanted to put her down, our old vet told us to persevere), cat is now fully recovered.

[dikkertjedap]

the special Hill's you can only get through the vet.

[pepperrabbit]

Luckily she has started eating a little again, some yesterday afternoon and then a bit more today. they didn't mention force feeding at all actually?
I think it's the anti inflammatories that helped, but she was well enough to go into the vets this evening to have fluids on a drip overnight so they can sort her tooth out tomorrow.
Once that's done (they were very careful to stress that she's old and probably not ideally stable on her meds and that there's obviously she chance she won't survive the GA) hopefully her appetite will return or at least they'll know it wasn't the tooth stopping her eating.
She looked very sad when I dropped her off .

[cozietoesie]

pepper

Seniorboy is very affected by tooth trouble. (As am I - and most people.)

Chin up.

[cozietoesie]

How did she get on, pepper?

[pepperrabbit]

She did really well her tooth wasn't as bad as they thought so they didn't have to extract it, got her home last night and she's already much perkier. Not eating loads but def has a bit more appetite.
The vet did caution that as the tooth wasn't rotten, (though the tartar was pretty yucky and could have been harbouring an infection), that it might not have been the cause of the loss of appetite, and there could well be something else still wrong.
We have to go back on Tues to see how she's doing.
She spent yesterday evening sitting on the back of the sofa practically on my head purring

[cozietoesie]

Now that is promising news.

Good luck with her over the weekend.