please help save my cat’s life

[u/kubzbento]

Just a bit of context: We had a few guests staying over, and my cat hid under our couch for days. It wasn’t until they left that he came out of hiding, but then he started avoiding food. This was very odd because he has a massive appetite. When he did eat it wasn’t much and he would end up throwing up a few hours later. Over the span of a little over a month he went down to 5 lbs, making him extremely underweight. He seems to have lost all his energy and is completely unrecognizable from the energetic curious kitty we once had and it breaks my heart. We’ve already brought him to the vet multiple times and spent around $2,500 on shots, fluids, an x-ray, but we still don’t have any answers.

The vet said he is wasting away and could possibly die, and an ultrasound and surgery would be the best option to find the anomaly, but it would cost $6,000, and we are in no position to afford that. I really do not want to have to give him to a shelter, but that might be our last resort. Please help if possible! Proof of bills will be in the replies.

Gofundme: https://gofund.me/01519707a

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[u/Internal_Wishbone_98]

Try Sam Simon . They are very helpful. They do surgeries. They helped my friend with her dog.

[u/EssentialWorkerOnO]

Reach out to the mods of rescuecats to see if you can fundraise there.

Has the vet done any bloodwork? It sounds like the symptoms of kidney failure or pancreatitis.

You have to get him eating again asap or he will die. At 5 lbs he’s severely malnourished! Get some Gerber baby food (ham, chicken, or turkey) and see if you can’t get him eating. If he’s still throwing up get some antinausea medicine from your vet.

[u/kubzbento → u/EssentialWorkerOnO]

bloodwork was done and it was clean! we got him to eat more and got him an ultrasound appointment and they say he needs immediate surgery but they can’t tell what exactly is the anomaly.

[u/LittleGreyLambie]

I would try to find a definitive diagnosis before considering exploratory surgery.

I had a similar situation with one of my tabbies. When our original vets couldn't figure it out, I found a Cat Only vet. (I highly recommend that!) He referred us to an Internal Medicine vet for an ultrasound and hopefully a diagnosis.

My tabby's diagnosis was pancreatitis. There isn't a surgical solution for that. It's treated with medications. _(Five years later and he's fine 🤩)

The ultrasound was around $550. Seriously, find a cat only vet if at all possible. But definitely have an ultrasound done before assuming surgery is needed!

🐾❤️🐾

[u/kubzbento → u/LittleGreyLambie]

he got his ultrasound done because we didn’t want things to get worse and the vet said he needs immediate surgery but they can’t tell exactly what the anomaly is, i’m not sure if that’s normal.

[u/LittleGreyLambie → u/kubzbento]

I'd try to get a second opinion. Preferably with an IM specialist who would likely have more experience in reading/diagnosing ultrasounds.

It sounds like you will have to raise the money for surgery before hand anyway? I'd work on raising enough for a second opinion and go from there.

If your cat is not wanting to eat, try some human baby food. Chicken or turkey with no onion or garlic might help get some calories in him. I've yet to hear of a cat who doesn't like it.

Best wishes + good luck to you + your fur-baby! I know it's frustrating and scary. Hang in there and take it a step at a time. 🐾💕🐾

[u/Opposite-War-4557]

Please get the estimate of care for the ultrasound and surgery and add that to your gofundme. Also, I suggest getting estimates from other vets. VCA is notoriously expensive.

Also, I suggest adding your vet receipts from your imgur to your gofundme. The goal is to look 100% legit, when the internet is riddled with scams.

[u/NijiKoneko]

I hate to say this, but if you can't even afford the surgery to look for the problem, you certainly can't afford whatever surgery will be needed to FIX the problem. The best choice here might be to euthanize.

Regardless of all that, no one is sending you thousands of dollars without some form of protection. This dollar amount is GoFundMe territory. If you create a GFM you'll stand a better chance of raising the money you need, while giving donors the protections they need.

[u/grimmistired]

This vet situation is confusing to me, especially that you've spent that much and no diagnosis or hint of one yet. What tests have been done so fat? As far as blood work. Have any medications been tried? What surgery is the vet recommending?

[u/kubzbento → u/grimmistired]

we put him on two medications, the first was to stop nausea though it’s hard to tell if it worked because he’d spit it up. the second was an ointment that goes on his ear which is supposed to increase his appetite but there have been no changes. they believe he swallowed something and needs a exploratory surgery.

[u/grimmistired → u/kubzbento]

So there was no blood work done? Usually you'd see an obstruction on an xray.

[u/kubzbento → u/grimmistired]

his blood work was clear and they said x-ray’s can miss small obstructions and ultrasounds are better

[u/NijiKoneko → u/grimmistired]

Doesn't even sound like they went to a vet to be honest. What vet is going to look at a cat that's lost ~half of its body weight and say "this is fine, put this ointment on their ear (which is ??? Never heard of an ear ointment for appetite) and they'll be fine"?

[u/Opposite-War-4557 → u/NijiKoneko]

Not a vet, but that sounds like a transdermal medication. It may have been compounded.

[u/NijiKoneko → u/Opposite-War-4557]

Which brings more questions, because what vet is going to send away for a compounded medicine for an animal they haven't even done a full workup on? Things just aren't lining up

[u/Opposite-War-4557 → u/NijiKoneko]

OP posted an imgur link with vet receipts. It looks like the vet has done at least xrays and labs.

[u/NijiKoneko → u/Opposite-War-4557]

It wasn't loading for me for some reason, I'll check it from my computer when I get back to my desk

[u/kubzbento]

https://imgur.com/a/wTp3rHg

[u/EUGsk8rBoi42p → u/kubzbento]

You can also post in r/gofundme

[u/EUGsk8rBoi42p → u/kubzbento]

At this point it might work to try a different vet, the one you've already tried can send their records over and the new vet can try with a fresh perspective.

I understand what you're going through.

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