What made you sad today?

[Deskisamess]

My oldest son is in South Korea, about 25 miles north of the outbreak there. We don't have any current news from him, but the school he works at didn't have their full graduation ceremony because of the worries about the virus.

[PeterT]

We went and had a long chat with the vet this evening and saw all the blood work results. It comes down to they are mystified; very low red blood cell counts but all other counts / tests show nothing.

She's obviously breathing a lot more deeply than usual trying to get oxygen into her system, but is only breathing through an open mouth very occasionally.

We're trying some steroids twice a day for a few days and will just continue to monitor her over the weekend.

She is still eating well but is quite lethargic; spending a lot of her time just sleeping or resting on her sides. Very little interest in grooming herself.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by PeterT

We went and had a long chat with the vet this evening and saw all the blood work results. It comes down to they are mystified; very low red blood cell counts but all other counts / tests show nothing.

She's obviously breathing a lot more deeply than usual trying to get oxygen into her system, but is only breathing through an open mouth very occasionally.

We're trying some steroids twice a day for a few days and will just continue to monitor her over the weekend.

She is still eating well but is quite lethargic; spending a lot of her time just sleeping or resting on her sides. Very little interest in grooming herself.

Did you do an X-ray or an ultrasound? Sometimes they show a tumor or an infection when blood test results are relatively normal (one of my cats had a chronic liver/small intestine problem which was diagnosed only by ultrasound, the only symptom was weight loss.)

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Our cat has been behaving differently of late, peeing on the runner near the front door, not eating all her food, pooping in the basement under the stairs.

Took her into the vet on Saturday; blood work done, weight taken. She's lost a kg of weight (over 2 lbs) and her blood seemed thin.

My wife had a call from the vet this morning. Mabel is ill, possibly blood cancer; her red cell count very low

Sue (wife) seems reconciled to having her euthanized later this week.

Feeling sad.

Sad to hear about your cat. Our mama cat had exactly the same issues and I brought her in on Wednesday and she has chronic kidney failure and a heart murmur. Also has mild anemia related to the kidney failure. Other than fluids and a nausea pill, not much to do except encourage her to eat. She can't do steroids due to the heart murmur (would give her a heart attack). It is possible she has lymphoma, but we're not treating for it so not testing for it either. She's 14.

Edited to add: She has the opposite problem. Not lethargic, still plays and such, but it's a real effort to get her to eat. She is no longer vomiting, so maybe will gain some ground on the weight.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Sad to hear about your cat. Our mama cat had exactly the same issues and I brought her in on Wednesday and she has chronic kidney failure and a heart murmur. Also has mild anemia related to the kidney failure. Able to do limited treatment. She's 14.

Sadly the chronic kidney failure is not really treatable, though sometimes cats live with it for years. One of my kidney kitties lived for 3 years, another for 6 months and still another only 2 months. One of my present dearies has it too, it was diagnosed in October. He has lost some weight, but is still pretty sprightly. We'll see how it goes.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by PeterT

We went and had a long chat with the vet this evening and saw all the blood work results. It comes down to they are mystified; very low red blood cell counts but all other counts / tests show nothing.

She's obviously breathing a lot more deeply than usual trying to get oxygen into her system, but is only breathing through an open mouth very occasionally.

We're trying some steroids twice a day for a few days and will just continue to monitor her over the weekend.

She is still eating well but is quite lethargic; spending a lot of her time just sleeping or resting on her sides. Very little interest in grooming herself.

When they move around, cats are extremely high energy. Most other animals they meet would never be able to beat them in a short sprint. They are blazingly fast. But even a turtle might beat them in a marathon! Hence the need for them to sleep all the time. Years ago my vet told me that their high energy storage can get easily interrupted by illness, even a simple illness like a tummy ache. When that happens, they can get perilously close to the point of no recovery if they don’t get treatment or manage to get over their illness fairly soon without treatment. They need to constantly eat a lot and drink a lot to stay alive. A couple of years ago my now 19 year old Faded Torty suddenly became lethargic and was throwing up her food and stopped eating. Previously she had been a constant bundle of energy, and still is. Since she was 17 and I had already lost one kitty years before after a long battle with cancer, I immediately thought the worse. I took her in and the vet determined that she only had a tummy ache/infection. A few pills later and she was back to being a bundle of energy, and still is. I guess it is like us humans when we get a bad case of the flu. We pretty much crawl in bed and act as though we might not get out of it. It doesn't take much to get a kitty's health sideways, and it has to be dealt with fairly quickly, but with proper treatment they often bounce right back. So hopefully your bundle of furry wonder and joy will bounce back too.

I've also learned over the years that indoor/outdoor kitties tend to have way more health issues and a shorter life expectancy. I now have indoor only kitties, two little furry rugrats! They are 16 and 19, and other than being grumpy old girls at times, they are doing pretty well for their age. I call my house the GeriCATric Ward since they, as well as me their pet human, are all old now!

I hope your kitty starts to feel better soon, and whatever got her down turns out to be a treatable health issue.

[OtinG]

I’m sad, or at least shocked and angry, that hand sanitizers are extremely expensive today on Amazon.com. I’m guessing 3rd party vendors are taking advantage of the coronavirus epidemic, or at least panic, to gouge customers. Oh well, CDC says it is better to thoroughly wash hands rather than use sanitizers.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I’m sad, or at least shocked and angry, that hand sanitizers are extremely expensive today on Amazon.com. I’m guessing 3rd party vendors are taking advantage of the coronavirus epidemic, or at least panic, to gouge customers. Oh well, CDC says it is better to thoroughly wash hands rather than use sanitizers.

I've only used hand sanitizers in the cat shelter I volunteered in. Never at home. Ain't dead yet.

[Deskisamess]

Soap and water, 30 seconds lathering, that's it. It frustrates me to see see women in public bathrooms using the sanitizers instead of actually washing their hands. It's not soap and isn't meant to be a substitute for soap. In most homes with basically healthy families, the sanitizers aren't necessary.

[Scaledish]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Our cat has been behaving differently of late, peeing on the runner near the front door, not eating all her food, pooping in the basement under the stairs.

Took her into the vet on Saturday; blood work done, weight taken. She's lost a kg of weight (over 2 lbs) and her blood seemed thin.

My wife had a call from the vet this morning. Mabel is ill, possibly blood cancer; her red cell count very low

Sue (wife) seems reconciled to having her euthanized later this week.

Feeling sad.

shit, my 13-year-old dog just started doing all of those things. gonna need to take her to the vet poor thing.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I’m sad, or at least shocked and angry, that hand sanitizers are extremely expensive today on Amazon.com. I’m guessing 3rd party vendors are taking advantage of the coronavirus epidemic, or at least panic, to gouge customers. Oh well, CDC says it is better to thoroughly wash hands rather than use sanitizers.

I prefer the foam hand wash to the gel - lasts longer. According to the media, what's disappearing off the shelves here is lavatory paper.

But, I was at a large supermarket yesterday and we noticed the shelves in the personal hygiene rows were completely empty. The district has a lot of high rise apartments within walking distance of two large universities and several private 'colleges'. So, are the students turning into preppers, or is it Daigou shoppers. My money's on the latter.

BR

[meeera]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I’m sad, or at least shocked and angry, that hand sanitizers are extremely expensive today on Amazon.com. I’m guessing 3rd party vendors are taking advantage of the coronavirus epidemic, or at least panic, to gouge customers. Oh well, CDC says it is better to thoroughly wash hands rather than use sanitizers.

Which is great, but I can't access soap and water every single time I have exchanged money or something with another person out in public, nor can I readily use it to clean my phone screen or wheelchair joystick or that sort of thing while I'm out. When I run out of my hand sanitiser stocks, if the shelves are still empty, I'm going to have to either completely self-isolate or make my own. (Note: if you're considering this, please use the WHO recipe, not the useless vodka recipes floating around.)

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by meeera

Which is great, but I can't access soap and water every single time I have exchanged money or something with another person out in public, nor can I readily use it to clean my phone screen or wheelchair joystick or that sort of thing while I'm out. When I run out of my hand sanitiser stocks, if the shelves are still empty, I'm going to have to either completely self-isolate or make my own. (Note: if you're considering this, please use the WHO recipe, not the useless vodka recipes floating around.)

What? I've moved around in public all my life without any hand sanitizers. Public transport, shopping centers, eating out etc. etc. I wash my hands when I come home, and that's it.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

What? I've moved around in public all my life without any hand sanitizers. Public transport, shopping centers, eating out etc. etc. I wash my hands when I come home, and that's it.

Yeah, then I'm guessing you're not immunosuppressed, don't live with an immunosuppressed or otherwise at-risk person, and have never lived through a significant communicable disease outbreak in your community. (You don't even wash your hands before you eat? You never go to the toilet outside of your house?)

I was responding to the "Oh well, CDC says it is better to thoroughly wash hands rather than use sanitizers." I agree that handwashing is better; it's just not available in all situations.

[PeterT]

Unfortunately we made the decision last weekend to have Mabel euthanized. While she was eating well and using her litter box, there was little if any energy, gums were pale, breathing was quite heavy (almost panting but normally without an open mouth).

Monday evening we took her on her last visit to the vet.

I'm still feeling guilty for having failed her, and boy am I missing those pitter patters as she roamed around, or the purring as she kept us company.