So we thought things were doing pretty well with Rosie, after the initial diagnosis of the oral fistula. But then she started slowly refusing to eat, and we realized she was losing weight, so back to the vet we went again, this time for blood tests. Naturally, they came back inconclusive, because apparently nothing with Rosie can ever be cut and dried. They gave us some medication to help calm her gut, we bought out the stock of beef baby food from every grocery store in the surrounding few miles (since that’s the only flavor she showed any interest in), and we settled in to see if things would improve.
And thankfully, they did. Slowly. Of course, she now refuses to eat the brand of cat food she was eating before, but we’re used to that kind of ‘fun’ (because it would be cheaper to buy cans of food by the case, except when the cat for whom you buy it is known to be picky and suddenly decide that a flavor she’s been eating for months is no longer acceptable, thus leaving you with a largely untouched stack of cans that are now useless). Luckily we found a brand she *will* eat, and over the past two weeks she’s been steadily improving, even gaining back nearly half the pound she lost in the two weeks prior.
Alas, along with the returning appetite came the returning mouth issues. We’ve been monitoring it for a couple days to see if it might clear up on its own, but no such luck. Our regular vet couldn’t get us in until some time next week, so we decided to bite the bullet and take her to the one that’s really close to our house (we don’t go to this one normally because they have this annoying tendency to push lots of expensive tests and treatments that are completely unnecessary, and sure enough, they did it this time too, ugh. Lucky we’re both very good at saying no).
Thankfully, instead of sending her home with a bottle of medicine (because while she’s super easy to pill, dosing her with liquid medication is a nightmare), they gave her a single shot that will supposedly do the trick. So now we get to sit back and wait, and keep an eye on hole in her mouth to see if it gets better.
And whatever we do, we are not going to Google oral cancer. Nope. Not again.
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Oh, that’s scary. Furry family members are hard to have sick. I hope she gets better.
I totally understand the challenges of feeding a sick furbaby. My Princess was diagnosed with late stage kidney disease back in November, and it’s been a challenge. She’s doing really well though and has been able to gain back most of her lost weight. But it often requires 2-3 different culinary options before we find something she’ll eat that day… and just because she liked it yesterday is no guarantee she’ll eat it today! Seriously, I have enough cat food in my basement to last a non-picky eater well into the next century!
Anyhow, I don’t know much about mouth issues, but have read that slippery elm is supposed to help a great deal for mouth sores. I believe the preferred method is to boil up some of the powder until it thickens a bit and then (once it’s cooled of course) you give it orally with a dropper. You can also just mix a bit with their food, but I believe that method is more for tummy troubles. Don’t know if that will help, but figured I’d toss it out there…
Good luck with it. I’m sending purrs across the universe for Rosie…
I hope she starts improving soon! That sounds painful. I hear you on giving oral medication. Cat will take a pill without all that much trouble, but last summer pre- and post-amputation he was taking heavy-duty painkillers that were pre-measured in oral syringes that cost a fortune, and afterwards we’d be wondering whether we even got most of it into him.
hi! Your poor cat – hope she gets better. Are you doing the alphabet backwards? Liz http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com
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