How to save our cat's life?

[[]V[]essenjah]

Hey,


So, our 3 year old tabby has recently developed some problems. I noticed she had scabs on her ears after leaving her for a trip to San Diego. We had a neighbor take care of her for about a week. I figured maybe she just clawed herself or got caught on something but I did think it was a bit weird. However, the scab didn't heal. Then a week later, her eyes started to get scabs in them and patches of fur started vanishing overnight, sometimes replaced by scabs and sometimes she just had sore patches of skin. We took her to a vet as soon as we had a chance. They discovered that she had a temperature of 105, so they injected her with water to help cool her down and gave her some antibiotics. They also tested her for common problems such as feline aids and checked her records (we got her originally from Petco). The asked us to do bloodwork but we couldn't honestly afford it. She showed up clean.

She got better for about three weeks. She looked and acted pretty much like herself and her wounds seemed to be healing. Then over a weekend, her eyes became swollen, her ears turned red, she began twitching her head like her ears were bothering her. Never once have we ever observed her scratching herself. There were red patches of skin, scabs on her chin, and green pussy looking sacks on her ears.


The vet again gave her a shot of antibiotics, said that her temp was at 95 degrees this time, shot some cold water under her skin to cool her down and said that we needed to run a biopsy to find out more. They said that she appears to have a autoimmune disease but they would have to run a biopsy. They the antibiotics should buy us about three weeks and that if it was an autoimmune disease, that she would require permanent medication to suppress the disease. They also claimed that this medicine would be VERY expensive.

The problem, is that we really can't afford this, on top of trying to move into a new apartment that requires us to pay a hefty fee every month in order to even keep our cat with us. Between the biopsy, the meds, and the fees, we can't afford to keep her.

It has also been a week and she hasn't taken to the meds like before. In-fact, the antibiotics had almost zero effect on her and her disease is progressing really quickly. Within two-to-three days, she has gone from what she was before to almost unrecognizable.

The other weird thing, is that all of these soars, scabs, puss bags, flaky bits in the ears, patches of missing fur, and swollen/crusty eyes, are all taking place only on her head/face. We haven't seen these problems anywhere else on her body.


Does anyone know of any trustworthy places on-line that we can get her some meds for a decent price? Can anyone think of what might be wrong?

Really, our choice is to either try to do the biopsy, find her some cheap meds on-line and have her live with someone else in the family while we support her, or to put her down.


BTW, I apologize for any grammer/spelling mistakes. Had to write this fast.

[Isaac]

I just lost my cat last week, which was my only pet, so I know how hard this is. However, if the animal is suffering and you can't do anything about it you should consider putting it down.

[Grendel]

My guess would be some form of parasite, an allergy, cat-herpes, poison, ... I'm not a vet, don't trust me. Do NOT use the internet to diagnose and/or pick medication. I'd suggest to try to get a 2nd opinion -- find a better vet, someone with more experience who cares. In most cases biopsy = "I don't know what it is but you can pay for the lab to check it out since I'm too busy to research it."

[CDN_Merlin]

I'm with Isaac,

If you are strapped for cash and the animal is suffering, it's best to put her down. I've put down 2 I was close to and balled like a baby each time.

[Heretic]

It may be a form of mange with a secondary bacterial skin infection. Vets will take a sample to see if in fact it is mange. Again it takes a Vet to diagnose the illness of your pet. You could take to the pet to a no kill shelter in you area they may take it in fix it up and re-home your pet. Just my thoughts.

[Duper]

It may be a form of mange with a secondary bacterial skin infection. Vets will take a sample to see if in fact it is mange. Again it takes a Vet to diagnose the illness of your pet. You could take to the pet to a no kill shelter in you area they may take it in fix it up and re-home your pet. Just my thoughts.

Good idea Heretic. There is one of those near here and their docs are great at nailing problems down. The reason being is that they see such a wide cross section of problems come through their facility.

I'm with Gren on this one. Sounds almost like a parasite. Find a different vet. try Heretics suggestion.

[Grendel]

Be careful w/ no-kill shelters -- they will transfer animals to regular shelters... If you go that route make your intentions clear from the very beginning. If you have a shelter nearby, talk to them -- they probably can point you to a good vet or even may have seen the symptoms before (take some good pics to show around.)

(And for the record, I currently have 4 cats.)

Edit: A vet that cares will agree to a payment plan...

[Tunnelcat]

As weird as this sounds, have you tried changing your cat's food? She may have an allergy to it, or it may be making her sick. Cat's will wash their faces by licking their paws and rubbing their head after eating and that can spread any allergen or irritant to the head area. The majority of major brands of cat and dog food come from China now. They are notorious for adulterating pet foods with chemicals and other nasty stuff. Look for a product made in the U.S. and see if that makes a difference. You may have to search online for U.S. made products. It's a slim number of products anymore.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/he ... ncern.aspx

[Grendel]

Food made in the US isn't a good indicator (TC, go and talk to the people at Animal Crackers ), a lot of the ingredients come from China (remember the melanin scandal ? Almost all big brand pet foods were affected.) For kibbles, see if you can find Origin or BG ("Before Grain".) For good wet-food you'll have to find a "mom & pop" pet store. Most of the stuff carried by chain stores (Petco eg.) is crap.

[Capm]

Does the cat go outside, is it getting into something? If you can't afford it, don't let the animal suffer, put it down. No matter how attached I am to my cat, if it was going to make me go broke to keep her alive, then she'd be getting put down. You can always get another cat (not exactly a shortage of them out there).

[Grendel]

For kibbles, see if you can find Origin or BG ("Before Grain".)

Orijen, sorry.

[Alter-Fox]

...No matter how attached I am to my cat, if it was going to make me go broke to keep her alive, then she'd be getting put down. You can always get another cat (not exactly a shortage of them out there).

I won't deny you have a point, but that's a pretty cold way to make it, I think.
I wish I could help. I can't stop thinking how scared the cat must be...

[Tunnelcat]

Food made in the US isn't a good indicator (TC, go and talk to the people at Animal Crackers ), a lot of the ingredients come from China (remember the melanin scandal ? Almost all big brand pet foods were affected.) For kibbles, see if you can find Origin or BC ("Before Grain".) For good wet-food you'll have to find a "mom & pop" pet store. Most of the stuff carried by chain stores (Petco eg.) is crap.

Good point. The ingredients for most pet food are commoditized, so the ingredient sources could be from anywhere outside the U.S., even though the food maker claims their product is U.S. made. But there are some companies out there that try to source even their ingredients from within the U.S. I don't know if this guy's list is accurate, but the information is out there if one searches. Like you said Grendel, local mom and pop pet shops have a vested interest in supplying their customers with a better product.

http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/

Another thought I had last night. Flea collars that kill and repel fleas. Those can release very irritating chemicals that the cat's skin may be reacting to. I really hope the problem can be found. It sounds like the kitty is really suffering.

[flip]

I know this is gonna sound foolish to most on this board, but have you tried praying? I went out on the porch the other day and my dog of about 13 years face was so swollen he couldn't see. His jaw was so swollen that they hung over the side leaving his mouth wide open. Looked like somebody had pumped his face and head full of water. Next day he was fine.

[Tunnelcat]

Well, if all else fails, why not? Can't hurt.

[Isaac]

Dear Lawd, please save this suffering cat from those that have decided to do nothing else, but pray...

[Sergeant Thorne]

When it comes to spending life-altering amounts of money on a damn dog/cat, I'm old-fashioned. Sorry to hear it, though. We had a squirrel that scratched/bit itself raw to the point where we were very concerned for its well-being. "Neem" oil ended up being the answer there. I find it odd that you say there are scabs developing without any scratching. That doesn't seem possible. How about biting itself?

[Capm]

I won't deny you have a point, but that's a pretty cold way to make it, I think.
I wish I could help. I can't stop thinking how scared the cat must be...

Sometimes cold is the best way to be about these situations, hurts less on both sides. You shouldn't let an animal suffer, but you shouldn't go broke over one either. You just do what needs to be done and you don't drag it out needlessly.