Poorly cat, not sure what to do next.

[Yesreallyitsme]

Our lively 11 year old girl stopped eating last weekend. She got taken into the vet clinic on Wednesday and since then has been undergoing a series of scans and treatment. The scans show that she has stomach and intestinal inflammation, but also a strange thickening at the entrance of her intestines. The vet can’t determine if it is inflammation or something more sinister, and apparently the best way to find out is a specialist scan at the cost of £3-5K dependant on outcome. We have insurance, but have already hit the £2.5K coverage limit.
Ive decided that we will bring her home over the weekend, give her her tube feeds and meds and see how she goes. Best scenario is she perks up and starts to eat. Worst scenario is that she declines.
i don’t think I can face (or afford) putting her through extra treatment that may not help if she doesn’t improve. My head is telling me we may need to consider euthanasia but that’s also completely heartbreaking.
Has anyone been through similar? Advice/experiences welcomed.

Hello, I haven't been through similar illness with a cat but have had cats all my life, having my heart broken a few times now at the end, I know the pain you're feeling so wanted to send hugs and love. Are you picking her up tonight or tomorrow?

Thank you @Frugal25. My husband has gone to pick her up now. I just want her home, whatever the outcome.

I completely get that. I was the same with my last cat. I brought her home not knowing the outcome but having her at home with me was the best decision for both of us. As the vet at the time said to me, be kind with yourself. I'm sure she will feel much more comfortable at home with you showering her with love

I went for the middle ground with Tobias's ultrasound - in my area there's a freelance specialist veterinary radiographer who I think can take a small sample as well. Due to positioning she couldn't take a sample with Tobias, but the entire process of sedation, scan, report etc at my local vet clinic was around the £1k mark. However I do realise just how lucky we are having this person covering my area.

@Allergictoironingdo mind sharing what the outcome was? I hope Tobias is ok.

We kind of had similar - our cat had frequent vomiting over a long period, but the vets were never alarmed as she had no other symptoms, never off her food or not herself. Eventually I pushed for more tests which were all normal, but because we had good insurance they referred us out to a specialist place where they did do all the other fancy (expensive) scans and testing.

Sadly no the outcome isn't good. He's got thickening of the lower bowel walls plus inflammation there, and the few possible remedies are all contra indicated for FIV which he also has - perils of him having been an un-neutered stray for 2 years.

He's now at the stage where he's not absorbing sufficient nutrients from his food and has started to lose weight, so it's just a matter of time - we're hoping for a few months at least but we can never tell. He's only 6!

I never found out what my cats gut problem was. I paid out more than £10k in the end and she lived to 21. She was on a special diet for years and had mostly diarrhoea often under the sofa. She finally did die of kidney failure. She had every test under the sun.

Ots possible that if the gut is allowed to rest for a while your cat might be ok. Mine had steroids at intervals to help with the inflammation and very bland food i.e chicken and rice.

If or when it is time you can have home based euthanasia.

Op if it’s something sinister then what?
So you could spend a fortune, put your little cat through the tests to find something that is going to take her life.
Or you could give her the best life and keep an eye on her along with your vet in case she declines.
She’s not old but at 11 and from what the vet said I would just hope for the best and if you do eventually have to euthanise her I’d recommend having the vet come to you. It’s easier for you and very peaceful.
I know your dilemma I hope your cat is ok. Good luck.

when my cat had issues the vet said that putting older cats through issues and tests is very stressful and can also shorten their life.
we had been offered exploratory surgery by one vet. Went to a different one who said - there is no point if what they find is not fixable anyway.
2 years later I’m still very sad I couldn’t fix him.

Best wishes @Yesreallyitsme with your decision.

It's such a hard combination of thinking - what is best for the cat, is there really a cure, how well does she tolerate vets / investigations / medicine, and also how much money can you afford to pay. We recently went through something similar and ended up making the choice for home euthanasia after trying many various things and also spending a lot of money.