Hi Giselle, I'm sorry that you are having to go through this. First thing, and I know this is hard... DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF. I fully understand that is the first thing we tend to do, but knowing the way you love her, it is not warranted. You want the best for her, she knows it and so do we. Second, one way to know if she is dehydrated is to pinch her scruff. If it is slow to return to normal, definitely get her subQ fluid at the vet and have them show you how to do it. When dehydrated, cats feel headachy, their electrolytes get out of whack and they don't want to eat or be messed with. SubQ fluids will address this. Third and most important, listen to the folks here. I am new to this group and I still have a lot to learn. These folks have experience that I continue to take with me to my vet. If he decided not to have an open mind, I would go elsewhere.
From your writing, I don't know if the vet you saw is at your regular veterinary office, but with the reaction you had, you should not have any qualms changing to another and you should definitely let her know why you did. These guys definitely need a sympathetic doctor who understands and takes into account all aspects of this disease. I'm keeping positive thoughts for Pixie, she is obviously a very special girl. --- On Wed, 5/13/09, G D <gisell...@hotmail.com> wrote: From: G D <gisell...@hotmail.com> Subject: [Felvtalk] Pixie didn't eat during the five days I was away To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 5:02 PM Hi everyone, Pixie is my best buddy and constant companion as I work from home. She's a 4-year old female FeLV+. Last Thursday I went away for 5 days, leaving her home alone with a neighbor coming over for at least an hour each day to keep her company, feed wet food, brush, clean litterbox, etc. I returned from my trip yesterday and immediately knew something was wrong -- Pixie didn't come greet me and her dry food and water bowls were almost totally full (how I left them before leaving on Thursday). The neighbor said Pixie didn't eat her wet food either. She is now much skinnier around the midsection/haunches and clearly weak. Straight away I syringe-fed her a wet food & water slurry before rushing over to the vet where the vet on duty found Pixie had lost over 1 lb (since she was last weighed in 2007) and said her gums and eyes looked pale. The vet suggested Pixie might have nonregenerative anemia linked to bone marrow failure. She had some blood drawn, got weighed and had temperature taken but that's it. I'm waiting to hear the blood work results tomorrow. Vet didn't even recommend how to deal with the weight loss and probable dehydration. Didn't suggest x-rays either. This woman basically shrugged when I asked about courses of treatment (like, why bother?) for a FeLV cat who might have anemia. Bottom line: I'm terrified about Pixie and don't know what to do to help her recover. She's my second cat ever, and first cat I've been primary caregiver to. I feel guilty about going away at all last week, but she had been OK on previous occasions when I travelled. I've been syringe-feeding her slurries every 2 hours all day but she doesn't seem to be regaining strength and she's breathing faster than normal and I catch her staring blankly. Any advice from you guys is much appreciated. Thanks, Giselle _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail® has ever-growing storage! Don’t worry about storage limits. http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/Storage?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_Storage1_052009 _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
