Should I take him to the vet or wait?

[LastingLight]

Our young boycat, who is a terrible glutton, ate his lunch yesterday and then vomited it all up. He has since vomited clear fluid twice and not eaten anything. He is listless, just lying there where he is usually very active. He did yesterday catch a bird and a snake, don't know if he ate any of it. Should we just monitor him a bit longer, or should we take him to the vet? Our vets are open late afternoon for emergencies today. Tomorrow we're going to be out the whole day, only coming back late in the afternoon.

We had something very similar with our cat about 4 years ago. It seemed like touch and go and he was in the vets for about a week. When he recovered we were told he would probably have kidney probs for life and need special diet etc. As it turned out, he hasn't had a symptom since and hasn't changed foods. Vet was really pleased (slightly amazed) at his recovery! Hope this gives u a little bit of hope that there can be a positive outcome even when it looks pretty bleak.

Thanks for all your support, I really appreciate it. When we went to visit him again he ate quite a bit, which the vet was pleased about. It was horrible to leave him there in his little cage and come home.

Cozietosie that's quite a list. I'm no horticulturist and I'm sure we've got different dangerous plants here in South Africa, but there are some common names on there which I would never have guessed could be poisonous. And yes we live on the urban edge, he could easily have come across something poisoned. I would have expected him to bring it home though to deposit under DH's desk, that seems to be what he does!

Jenmcspen thank you that's just what I needed to hear.

It is quite a list but I think you have to read the words as well - most pets won't actually eat the overwhelming majority of those plants because they're simply not attractive to nosh. The particular danger with lilies is that all parts of the plant are toxic, so if cats collect some pollen, say, on their coat from brushing through a patch and then groom it off, they'll ingest it that way.

I'd forgotten you were in SA so you might have very different flora to contend with? This might also be useful reading for you.

PS - almost forgot. Let us know how the lad is doing tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed for him.

Minus weed all over his blanket last night, they've given him more litter so hopefully today he will wee in the tray. He is looking bright and ate during the night. The vet wants to keep him on the drip though until tomorrow, as long as he doesn't manage to get rid of it.

Fingers crossed for Minus x

Peeing on his blanket could be partly because he's at the vets etc. (And feeling bright enough to stage a protest.) I think it still sounds reasonably positive so here's hoping.

This exact thing happened to my cat in April - it was so worrying and I thought I would lose him but he pulled through and seems totally fine ! He went off dry food immediately and only likes wet food now but is well. Fingers crossed for your wee boy x

Mixed news on Minus... urea and creatinine levels are still so high that it's off the charts, but clinically he is looking fine. So he is still in trouble and it can go either way. We can take him home and will have to see how much he eats and how he feels. If he deteriorates there is not much they can do apart from putting him on a drip again and I don't want to put him through that, he hated it.

Mixed news indeed. Has the vet given you any recommendations eg on diet? I have to say that if he dislikes the vet so much and it isn't doing him that much good, my immediate inclination would be to bring him home and give him TLC for a bit to see how he does.

PS - he was young and fit before all this wasn't he?

Yes, he is only a year old and normally very active and mischievous. The vet said at this point it's just important that he eats so we should give him whatever he wants but in the long run he must have Royal Canin Renal, which our older cats are on anyway. It's very weird to think of enticing Minus to eat, normally he eats anything he can get his paws on, including Weet-Bix and broccoli!

Me again. Please don't despair. This too is exactly where I was with my Ziggy a few months ago. His urea and creatinin were off the scale too; he was on a drip for 3 days in vet hospital and then came home to see how he went. It was slow progress with getting him to eat at home - I had to try everything to get him to eat and he didn't take much at all at first. Try Minus with wet food only - Gourmet Perle sachets with Ziggy. I had to take him back twice to the vet hospital to check his bloods and weight and his urea and creatinine were still high at last appointment (though down by hundreds from initial presentation). His weight is down from his old weight but he was overweight before. About 3 days out of hospital he started to poo again. Hooray! He had been severely constipated for weeks. So, the drip treatment seemed to save him and I haven't had to take him back yet. The only difference now is that he only eats wet food.

Thanks Sunbeam. Minus is very lethargic and apart from eating when I brought him home yesterday afternoon I haven't seen him touch food since. We will keep hoping and I will go and buy a variety of wet foods to see if he wants that.

Fingers crossed for the lad. And I think that I'd take the attitude that I take with Seniorboy which is - 'Get some calories down him' and get his system working again if you can. So don't worry too too much about a balanced diet at this point. Unless a food is going to be actively bad for him (with his problems) then try it, cat food or not. Does he like roast chicken for example? (That's a temptation for most cats.)

Good luck to him.

Minus ate about 80g of wet food yesterday and vomited it all up at 2:00. This could be because he has a sensitive tummy. Much worse though is that his whole body looks swollen and the vet says this is a very bad sign, his kidneys are shutting down. Please hold my hand, I'm sitting here in tears at work because I think we're going to have to make the decision to pts over the weekend.

How do you know when it's time? I don't want him to suffer.

I'm so sorry, been following your thread but not posted before. I don't have any advice but I think you will know in your heart if the time comes to let him go.

Poor lad and poor you. It was always going to be just a chance that he had.

Is the vet giving you advice on his condition?

Oh lovely - I'm sorry. I have no advice about when is the right time, but I suppose when you no longer think Minus is going to be himself; what has the vet advised?

Hand holding from me to you.

Oh god you poor thing, and poor poor Minus too. :(

I don't know when it is time to be honest, i'd go with the vet on that. I have everything crossed for you though.

Poor Minus. I'm so sorry LastingLight

I'm so sorry for you and Minus. Am thinking of you through this weekend.

Thank you so much everybody, I can't tell you how much the support means to me. Minus ate most of an egg last night and a little bit of chicken this morning. I don't know if the egg stayed in, don't see vomit anywhere. DH and I both think he is slightly less swollen. So he is still hanging in there, not ready to let go. I think we're going to have to confine him to the bathroom for 12 hours so that we can accurately measure how much he eats and drinks and see if he uses his litter tray. Keep sending positive vibes.

Neither the vet nor the sister I spoke to wants to commit to if you see signs x, y and z it's time. We could take him in for a checkup but that's traumatic for him and there is nothing more they can do for him anyway. So we will just keep monitoring and speak to the vet again on Monday.