Thank you so much everyone for your replies. I don't have much good news to share, but I wanted to let you know what was happening since you took the time to write.

Thursday she was better - started drinking and eating a little, but had diarrhea. She was responding to the staff, purring and seemed to be more "with it". Our vet anticipated that she would come Friday for observation over the weekend.

Today things were downhill again. She threw up overnight and was again dehydrated (that has happened every day). Her weight dropped again by .25 pounds. She lost about .5 in Jan, the same in Feb, .4 at our last visit, and about a quarter of a pound each day since admission on Tuesday. She was an overweight kitty to begin with, but obviously this is not a good sign. They are considering her not to be in stable condition due to these developments.

I was out of town today stuck in a snow storm, so my husband went over to see her. I attempted to talk to the vet about everything, but was just too emotional, and my husband just didn't ask all the questions I would have, but of course he was very upset too. Our girl purred a little when she saw him but just say on his lap with her legs all splayed out - she did this when I took her to the vet on Mon. He said her eyes still didn't seem right and she definitely wasn't herself.

The vet had 4 options:
1. Referral to Cornell, etc.
2. Barium swallow test
3. Ultrasound
4. Exploratory surgery

We went with the barium today because she can do that in-house - the ultrasound will have to happen at another vet. The x-rays so far don't show anything definitive. She has a full belly (not good since it doesn't appear to be emptying I guess), and a "spot" between her stomach and intestines that may indicate pancreatitis? My husband didn't explain this well to me.

Our vet took her home with her for the weekend to keep an eye on her and keep her hydrated. We will decide on Monday how to proceed, which I think may be the ultrasound unless something changes. I don't think we can afford the Cornell-type route, which pains me so much to say, but its the truth. I love her so much, but I just don't think we can do it. I am going to call the phone number that someone posted for them - thank you.

I will let you all know what happens.

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]