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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

[gulp] It may soon be time to say goodbye to SoupKitten

207 replies

SoupDragon · 29/05/2013 14:21

She has a fair amount of fluid on her abdomen - according to the vet there are a few possible causes and pretty much all of them are bad.

She was found in a gutter as a tiny kitten with cat flu, eye infections and mites which left her with a few problems but has spent nearly 5 happy years here with us and FatCat.

Waiting for the results of £250 worth of blood tests but have primed toe children that she is unlikely to be with us much longer.

[wail]

OP posts:
haggisaggis · 29/05/2013 14:28

Will keep my fingers crossed for you. My old cat was ill a few years ago - swollen liver etc - £500 for tests and in house care at vets over the weekend and she lived for another 7 years. Hope she will be OK.

MissStrawberry · 29/05/2013 14:31

Everything crossed for you and SoupKitten.

We recently lost our bundle of fur and trouble and it is heart breaking when you have to let them go.

Let us know please if you are able.

cozietoesie · 29/05/2013 14:44

Fingers crossed for you. She's only young so, despite her past troubles, maybe she'll pull through.

CajaDeLaMemoria · 29/05/2013 14:45

Oh no :(

Has she tried diuretics?

If it's heart-related, she may survive another few years yet, with the right care and medication. It's not cheap, though.

Original poster
SoupDragon · 29/05/2013 14:46

I now know why my dad refused to get another pet when our family dog died when I was 14! I am never getting another animal (obviously still have FatCat and the Disreputable Dog)

I've always known she was unlikely to live to a ripe old age and am pretty much resigned to it.

Thanks :)

OP posts:
Original poster
SoupDragon · 29/05/2013 14:53

Well, the possibilities mentioned by the vet were heart failure, feline infectious peritonitis, either FIV or FeLV and something to do with the liver. None had a good prognosis.

She isn't ill as such: apart from the fluid she is very thin but has a good appetite and appears to be in no pain or discomfort.

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 29/05/2013 14:57

The most difficult part is the waiting - but hoping for the best for you.

BigStickBIWI · 29/05/2013 15:03

Oh Soupy Sad

We have just had to have one of our cats put down - she was 14 and had lymphoma. We had her on a course of steroids for a month, but it was obvious that the cancer was very aggressive, and she was losing more and more weight - in the end, the only kind thing to do was to put her to sleep.

It's a terrible, terrible thing. They are so much part of the family, aren't they?

Original poster
SoupDragon · 29/05/2013 15:41

They are indeed, BIWI. Sorry to hear about your cat.

I avoided this with our last pair of cats as they moved in with a neighbour when we had children (the cats' choice, not ours! :o) and then we moved.

I have pretty much made the decision that, unless it is curable, I will have her PTS now rather than have to go through this again in (probably) a short space of time. I had to give her medication for the first 2 months we had her and it was very stressful for her (and me!) I couldn't put her through that again.

OP posts:
MissStrawberry · 29/05/2013 16:49

My cat had cancer and lived for another 10 months after diagnosis without treatment so it doesn't always have to mean instant PTS. Totally your decision of course, I just wanted to give you some hope.

MissStrawberry · 30/05/2013 16:55

How is SoupKitten?

Original poster
SoupDragon · 30/05/2013 16:58

Still waiting on blood test results.

She is asleep on my bed. On my lovely white bed linen. Which she is absolutely not allowed to do but has slept there for the last two nights.

No change in her though - she isn't ill insofar as she seems comfortable enough.

OP posts:
Original poster
SoupDragon · 30/05/2013 16:58

Thank you for asking.

I guess it will be tomorrow before the vet phones back now.

OP posts:
MissStrawberry · 30/05/2013 17:02

I have been thinking about her Blush.

Totally get the letting them get away with murder when they are ill. When we knew ours was going to be PTS she was so spoilt it was ridiculous Grin.

Original poster
SoupDragon · 30/05/2013 17:05

I keep popping up there to scratch under her chin.

She is usually curled together with FatCat but he won't go to her which is sad. I wonder if he senses something.

OP posts:
Rikalaily · 30/05/2013 17:09

So sorry to hear this, we had to have one of our cats PTS last year with what turned out to be FIP. She started off with seizures which were controlled with meds but after a few months she started seizing through the meds and even the emergency rectal diazepam we had for prolonged seizures. She went downhill over a few days and was seizing every ten minutes, her stomach also swelled overnight that night so we decided to PTS, when we got to the vet they said the seizures were probably dry FIP and it progressed to wet FIP that night, we'd been hoping it was epilepsy as it started at the right age for it to be that.

If I'd known it was FIP I would have let her go when the seizures first started and I still feel guilty as hell for keeping her going for those few months as she hated the meds and had gone from a loving cat to being scared of being touched incase we were going to give her the meds.

I hope that it turns out to be something that can be treated. Thinking of you x

MissStrawberry · 30/05/2013 17:09

Poor FatCat Sad.

Original poster
SoupDragon · 30/05/2013 17:19

SoupKitten
with FatCat

FatCat is a whopping 6kg of cat, SoupKitten a teeny tiny 3kg.

Rikalaily, sorry to hear about your cat. That's why I am likely to opt for PTS now rather than have to face it in what is likely to be a short space of time. Obviously it will be different if it turns out to be something treatable where she won't be in any discomfort.

OP posts:
MissStrawberry · 30/05/2013 17:22

Come on SoupKitten! You can do this.

Original poster
SoupDragon · 30/05/2013 17:26

I wasn't in the market for another cat when I got her. I went with a friend who was looking and, by the end of the day, we weren't speaking because we both wanted "Sneezy" :) I won in the end as her house wasn't ready.

OP posts:
MissStrawberry · 30/05/2013 17:29

See me thread in TLT.

We went to see if we could cope with even seeing another cat having recently lost ours...

Original poster
SoupDragon · 30/05/2013 18:00

:)

I doubt I'll get another if we do lose her. If I went and looked at any, I can guarantee we'd come away with one though!

OP posts:
StuffezLaYoni · 30/05/2013 18:04

On my god those pictures!!! Fingers crossed for you. Soup kitten
Looks exactly like my ginger baby.

BigStickBIWI · 30/05/2013 18:07
MissStrawberry · 30/05/2013 18:23

I wasn't sure I could go through it again. We went to just look at some cats. New two family members coming home tomorrow...

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