Think My Cat Is Dying

[Jessica Martin]

Sparky is not doing so well ,very constipated,lethargic,still breathless on and off.
But he still makes his way to the kitchen when he feels hungry and I hand feed him .
His belly is still swollen I just wish I could do more to help him.
Looks like I'm going to have to consider euthanasia if things don't improve soon .

 

[LucyL]

Sparky is not doing so well ,very constipated,lethargic,still breathless on and off.
But he still makes his way to the kitchen when he feels hungry and I hand feed him .
His belly is still swollen I just wish I could do more to help him.
Looks like I'm going to have to consider euthanasia if things don't improve soon .

Have you tried antibiotics? You could possibly get some fish ones and dose according to body weight. The Merck Vet Manual online is a great resource for figuring out how much of a substance you can give a cat, and what you shouldn't give them.

 

[grenade]

I'm an old member who hopped back on here to comment on your post.

PLEASE TAKE YOUR CAT TO THE VET AND RUN ALL THE NECESSARY TESTS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S WRONG.

If you think your cat is dying, then seek emergency help.

If you already saw one vet and they couldn't do anything, go find another.

No one here is a veterinary expert, and even if one of us was, there's no way we could suggest anything that'd help without examining the cat in person and doing a bunch of bloodwork & diagnostics.

Don't gamble away your pet's life by reaching out to a random assortment of strangers online for veterinary advice.

 

[alywest]

Sparky is not doing so well ,very constipated,lethargic,still breathless on and off.
But he still makes his way to the kitchen when he feels hungry and I hand feed him .
His belly is still swollen I just wish I could do more to help him.
Looks like I'm going to have to consider euthanasia if things don't improve soon .

So sad, I hope that he improves but if not, know that you are doing the right thing to not prolong his misery. It's so hard, I know, even when they're old. My heart goes out to you.

I'm an old member who hopped back on here to comment on your post.

PLEASE TAKE YOUR CAT TO THE VET AND RUN ALL THE NECESSARY TESTS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S WRONG.

If you think your cat is dying, then seek emergency help.

If you already saw one vet and they couldn't do anything, go find another.

No one here is a veterinary expert, and even if one of us was, there's no way we could suggest anything that'd help without examining the cat in person and doing a bunch of bloodwork & diagnostics.

Don't gamble away your pet's life by reaching out to a random assortment of strangers online for veterinary advice.

So her cat is old, and if you read her OP you would see that she did indeed take him to the vet and even tried to give her cat the meds prescribed and he refused to take them. So no offense but your post is redundant and pretty rude.

 

[LeeLemonoil]

I strongly oppose this idea. While much hints at infectious etiology and I‘d suspect enteritic condition some random antibiotics can do much harm in such a state including provocing septic shock (counterintuitively but true nonetheless)

Have you tried antibiotics? You could possibly get some fish ones and dose according to body weight. The Merck Vet Manual online is a great resource for figuring out how much of a substance you can give a cat, and what you shouldn't give them.

 

[Jessica Martin]

Hi all who are interested,
I'm in turmoil over my poor cat Sparky.
This morning I decided enough was enough and I tried to get him into his carrier, I was going to take him to the vet to be euthanised but he got so stressed and is so weak his breathing became bad I couldn't do it.
He mustered up some strength to go and hide .
I was so scared he would die alone under the bed but I left him be for awhile. An hour to later he emerged looking for food. I hand fed him his raw food and he went back to his normal place in the living room which is the case he lies on to extend his neck someway he he feels comfortable.
He actually ate the biggest amount of food ever in this sickness time I was quite shocked. This is causing me a lot of stress .

After this happens I went back online to research. Potassium deficiency seems to be a big player in kidney disease but some of the symptoms can be hyperkalaemia not hypokalaemia which he ticks every box for ,

I am so perplexed.
Could I possibly help him in any way with cream of tartar DMSO possibly sodium bicarbonate topically on his back I would be very careful to clean as I know the dangers of DMSO so taking in everything that's on the skin or fur.
I also note that DMSL potentiates the strength of any thing that goes in with it, so measurements would be crucial.

I suppose what I'm asking is
1- would this harm him in anyway
2- could this possibly help him .

Last thing please don't keep saying take him to the vets this cat is super Stressey by nature so as you can imagine everything is heightened at the moment. I absolutely love my cat and don't want him to suffer at all (he obviously is suffering I'm not sure what I mean anymore I just want him as comfortable as it can be given the situation we are in )
If everything fails and I could end his life at home myself I would do it

Any good suggestions greatly appreciated bye for now

@LucyL @LeeLemonoil
Thanks , Such conflicting advice regarding antibiotics nothing new there

 

[Elderflower j58]

sorry just to clarify, I managed to get lots of chicken hearts and blended 3 hearts into his food which he seems to really enjoy as recommended for highest taurine content. He has eaten another big meal for him 1.5 hrs later.
From what I have researched a dying cat equals not wanting to eat or drink. But his appetite is building, which seems to contradict.
The reason I have asked about cream of tartar is because it is a form of potassium which is a huge player in chronic kidney disease/renal failure.

 

[Jessica Martin]

Sorry the above is from me not elderflower, she is my mother and we share the iPad.

 

[Jessica Martin]

Bump

 

[LucyL]

I strongly oppose this idea. While much hints at infectious etiology and I‘d suspect enteritic condition some random antibiotics can do much harm in such a state including provocing septic shock (counterintuitively but true nonetheless)

I've had many cats over the years, and every time the vet didn't know what was wrong with them, (which was most of the time) we got antibiotics. Are you suggesting cat healthcare policy has changed?

You're advice is fine, btw, cats are without a doubt per pound the most expensive animals to maintain. It would be nice to get better answers than "here's some antibiotics". I only hope the switch isn't to current trends in human medicine, where all a vet can do is order insanely expensive scans and tests and read you the guidelines put forth by their vet society.

To the op - I suggested antibiotics because I have personally seen them save a kittens' life when there was really nothing else to do, and i've heard many similar stories of antibiotics bringing a cat back from unknown ailments when nothing else seemed to be working. It sounds like you are doing good research and can make a good guess if they could be helpful or not.

Are you familiar with the website holisticat.com? A few years ago it was a primo resource for cat health. It looks like it is not maintained well now, but a lot of the information is still there. Particularly the forum may be good to search around.

 

[LeeLemonoil]

I've had many cats over the years, and every time the vet didn't know what was wrong with them, (which was most of the time) we got antibiotics. Are you suggesting cat healthcare policy has changed?

You're advice is fine, btw, cats are without a doubt per pound the most expensive animals to maintain. It would be nice to get better answers than "here's some antibiotics". I only hope the switch isn't to current trends in human medicine, where all a vet can do is order insanely expensive scans and tests and read you the guidelines put forth by their vet society.

To the op - I suggested antibiotics because I have personally seen them save a kittens' life when there was really nothing else to do, and i've heard many similar stories of antibiotics bringing a cat back from unknown ailments when nothing else seemed to be working. It sounds like you are doing good research and can make a good guess if they could be helpful or not.

Are you familiar with the website holisticat.com? A few years ago it was a primo resource for cat health. It looks like it is not maintained well now, but a lot of the information is still there. Particularly the forum may be good to search around.

I can only speak for myself, and I tend not to give out medication without a reasonable guess, especially not antibiotics. First, do no harm is my professional credo, but I‘m here on RPF, how many vets are?

I do anamnesis with my hands, eyes, nose, sometimes mouth and also intuition. But sometimes it’s crucial to know if there is a bacterial infection or a parasite or viral issues and that can be done with lab tests the most dependably.

It‘s perfectly fine to do what Jessica does. She knows her cat best and has taken it in her care and responsibility and she obviously cares very much. If the cat is not able to see a vet at this stage then Jessica will decide what to do.
I‘ve seen many cats as well. And I‘ve seen some put over the edge with random antibiotic use, especially old and sick ones. That’s a risk. It’s also possible that antibiotics might help the tomcat.
Jessica asked for our comments and we provided our experiences is all.

 

[LucyL]

I can only speak for myself, and I tend not to give out medication without a reasonable guess, especially not antibiotics. First, do no harm is my professional credo, but I‘m here on RPF, how many vets are?

I do anamnesis with my hands, eyes, nose, sometimes mouth and also intuition. But sometimes it’s crucial to know if there is a bacterial infection or a parasite or viral issues and that can be done with lab tests the most dependably.

It‘s perfectly fine to do what Jessica does. She knows her cat best and has taken it in her care and responsibility and she obviously cares very much. If the cat is not able to see a vet at this stage then Jessica will decide what to do.
I‘ve seen many cats as well. And I‘ve seen some put over the edge with random antibiotic use, especially old and sick ones. That’s a risk. It’s also possible that antibiotics might help the tomcat.
Jessica asked for our comments and we provided our experiences is all.

Would there was a Ray Peat for cats and dogs! One thing I always like to do was source old animal husbandry texts and read the care - diet etc and treatments before antibiotics and Big Kibble.

By what mechanism do you think antibiotics are causing sepsis in older animals?

 

[LeeLemonoil]

In a diseased old cat with serious symptoms like swollen belly, diarrhea, nausea and so forth when there is an infectious cause going on can be in a subseptic condition that can become a true sepsis when the antibiotics used are inadequate. Lethality rises in sepsis when the initial antibiotic is inadequate to kill the pathogens.
There is some complex situation going on then of the antibiotics intensifying toxin burden from killing off pathogens while the Immunsystem can be temporarily suppressed by the therapy and the actual pathogens survives and the immunsystem cones back the more erratic / septic for it afterwards.

 

[Jessica Martin]

Hi my cat is still poorly but seems to be eating quite a lot which I hope is a good thing, my problem is at the moment I have run out of his food and I am making a new batch .
For anyone who does not know I have him on a raw food diet which hopefully helps his kidney problem .

The question I need an answer to is ,is it okay to use beef heart as a substitute for the minced beef or half and half .
I have done some research lots actually and I know when making raw catfood the amount of liver kidney any organ meat is in a much smaller ratio to the muscle meat.
There seems to be some confusion regarding Beefheart lots of sites recommending it as a muscle meat,
Would that mean it's the same as a steak or ground beef beef etc ??

I'm also trying to keep his diet low in phosphorus so I'm using eggshell calcium instead of bone meal this came recommended from some good sites .

I'm pretty useless at reading nutritional profiles could anyone out there compare the profiles of beef hearts to ground beef and let me know if it safe

 

[Taotatoes]

Editing because of first replying out of anger.

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

Hi my cat is still poorly but seems to be eating quite a lot which I hope is a good thing, my problem is at the moment I have run out of his food and I am making a new batch .
For anyone who does not know I have him on a raw food diet which hopefully helps his kidney problem .

The question I need an answer to is ,is it okay to use beef heart as a substitute for the minced beef or half and half .
I have done some research lots actually and I know when making raw catfood the amount of liver kidney any organ meat is in a much smaller ratio to the muscle meat.
There seems to be some confusion regarding Beefheart lots of sites recommending it as a muscle meat,
Would that mean it's the same as a steak or ground beef beef etc ??

I'm also trying to keep his diet low in phosphorus so I'm using eggshell calcium instead of bone meal this came recommended from some good sites .

I'm pretty useless at reading nutritional profiles could anyone out there compare the profiles of beef hearts to ground beef and let me know if it safe

Beef heart has more iron than stake, and it also contains CoQ10. Beef heart has very little vitamin A, which is probably one of concerns of feeding just liver to a cat. It also doesn't contain as much fat as ground beef, which can be a problem for a carnivore animal such as a cat. Adding a little bit of raw fat from the butcher would help with that. Beef heart also has more cholesterol and vitamin B12 for the same amount of protein.

The only thing that worries me about using a lot of beef heart is the iron content. Maybe giving the cat a little bit of bone meal to inhibit some of the iron from being absorbed?

 

[boris]

@Rafael Lao Wai
Is it possible cats need more iron than humans? Because BARF guidelines always say to include blood for iron.

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

@Rafael Lao Wai
Is it possible cats need more iron than humans? Because BARF guidelines always say to include blood for iron.

I think it's possible, but I never read it anywhere. "My" cat certainly likes blood from beef heart and beef liver. Cats really like birds for food, which have less iron than red meat, so I can see blood being important for iron when the cat eats a diet based around birds.

 

[Jessica Martin]

Hi all ,firstly I'd like to thank everyone for their input and suggestions and advice.
Sadly Sparky passed away last night at home peacefully which I am eternally grateful for .
These are the things I think helped him
1. the raw food diet was the best effect as he completely stopped vomiting as he had been vomiting for two full years, even though he was very ill his coat was rejuvenated to a lovely silky and healthy consistency and he came looking for the food up until the day before yesterday.
2. Progesterone seemed to help his breathing and relax him.
3. DMSO seemed to warm him up or could have been the progesterone not too sure which. But he was cold a lot of the time ans warmed him.
4. Coconut oil he really enjoyed and as it is antibacterial and antifungal etc I'm sure it did him good
5. Pumpkin helped him go to the toilet a bit more.
6. Light massaging of his colon as it helped him use the toilet a lot more.

Thanks again for for of your support and hope this post helps somebody else in our position.

 

[LUH 3417]

Hi all ,firstly I'd like to thank everyone for their input and suggestions and advice.
Sadly Sparky passed away last night at home peacefully which I am eternally grateful for .
These are the things I think helped him
1. the raw food diet was the best effect as he completely stopped vomiting as he had been vomiting for two full years, even though he was very ill his coat was rejuvenated to a lovely silky and healthy consistency and he came looking for the food up until the day before yesterday.
2. Progesterone seemed to help his breathing and relax him.
3. DMSO seemed to warm him up or could have been the progesterone not too sure which. But he was cold a lot of the time ans warmed him.
4. Coconut oil he really enjoyed and as it is antibacterial and antifungal etc I'm sure it did him good
5. Pumpkin helped him go to the toilet a bit more.
6. Light massaging of his colon as it helped him use the toilet a lot more.

Thanks again for for of your support and hope this post helps somebody else in our position.

RIP Sparky Thank you for letting us know what worked.