Friend's cat needs help beyond what I can, and have, done

@suewalsh1 They live in Champaign, IL. I suggested a gofundme to her and she is embarrassed to do that. I don’t want to set one up that goes to my bank account because that isn’t right. I will talk to her again about that this evening and see if I can get her to do that then post it here.

@suewalsh1 That is lucky that your dog didn’t have cardiac problems. She is confident in her vet (there is a vet school in town too). Glad your dog died of old age. Very sad when that happens though.

@Kidsandliz I know
But the best part was she was diagnosed right away, and medication controlled the problem. I don’t know what inspired me to go straight to Angell, but I’m glad we didn’t struggle through a lot of tests first. I love my vet, been with her for 25+ yrs. She’s great for ear or eye infections and simple stuff, but if there’s a next time, I’ll do the same thing and go right to the specialist. Vet Schools are great too, the students are well supervised.

@Kidsandliz If she’ll set up a gofund account I can toss a few dollars into it.

@Kidsandliz I live not far from a major university with a vet school which accepts outside pets, especially those with tricky or odd problems. You didn’t say whether your friend had checked with the vet school near her or not.

@magic_cave she has a youcaring account I helped her set up last night. www.youcaring.com/Gizmo I don’t know if she has checked with the vet school yet (she is in IL) - I will have to ask. I do know her vet is very good, has access to the latest technology, uses it judiciously rather than as scattershot/a profit center and helps families (for example he gave her a price break on the surgery Gizmo will have Monday, presuming he is doing OK enough to have it) when he can. I was tempted to tie a rope around his clinic and drag him and his clinic back to MS with me (I stayed at her house on my way home from NE OH, I used to live across the street from her). LOL

@suewalsh1 It it good your cat was diagnosed right away and that you have good choices depending on the type of problem an animal is having.

@magic_cave PS thank you for being willing to donate.

@suewalsh1 woops meant to say dog. I have cats on the brain. One of mine I just had to intervene with her determined efforts to get at an aloe plant I was just given - you’d think she’d learn as aloe is bitter (1 leaf is gone, 3 more are mauled, dirt all over the window sill). I finally had to hang it from the curtain rod and move the cat tree so she can’t reach it. This is why I don’t have plants. I had a cat who managed to kill a window box full of lawn grass I planted for him and his buddy (these guys died in the late 1990’s) by lying in it all day. Died of no sun.

@Kidsandliz I agree. Your friend has the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Veterinary Teaching Hospital | 1008 West Hazelwood Drive | Urbana, IL 61802 | Small animal :: 217.333.5300 only 10 min away. Sometimes it just makes sense to go right to the specialists. Like I can go to Angell Memorial Hospital in Boston. They’ve got all the diagnostic and imaging equipment and the experience to get it right without guessing. Sure made a difference in my dog’s life.

@Kidsandliz LOL, the little darlin’s!

@suewalsh1 Yes clever little demons of destruction all in the name of curiosity and fun.

@suewalsh1 They have a done ton of lab work, treated for likely problems which has made no difference… this apparently is the next step.

@suewalsh1 You were incredibly fortunate!!!

@Kidsandliz You mean about my situation? You bet! But also I was unwilling to be cut open big time (so the oncologist could visualize well) on the basis of an ultrasound. Plus, what they thought I had from the results of the US (cancer aside) was completely wrong! The MRI with contrast was definitive, so they didn’t have to cut me open to explore. Not every doctor is the best, even if s/he is well-meaning. Being a well-informed, pro-active patient is huge also.

@Kidsandliz As long as your friend is confident in her vet, stay with a winner!

@suewalsh1 Yes she is confident in her vet. He is a really good vet, is up to date, compassionate…

@suewalsh1 The proactive part - yeah - have had to be that with my several cancers too. Not all doctors appreciate that either… I fired oncologist over that.

@Kidsandliz Good for you! A lot of them have huge egos that only want to hear “yes your lordship, you’re so smart”. They need to want to work with you cuz ultimately they work for you. It’s so important you feel comfortable with the plan cuz, at the end of the day, you have to live with the outcome, not them.

@pitamuffin doesn’t gofundme take a good chunk of the money though? At least if they donate directly to the vet, no money is lost.

@RiotDemon Yeah, I think it comes to around 8%. There is also YouCaring.com. That one may be less. Those are the two I’m familiar with because of a neighborhood tragedy - lots of money was raised through both. Just trying to throw out some ideas that might help Gizmo!

@pitamuffin maybe they could do both. If people don’t feel comfortable donating directly, they could do a fund site. That way they get the most out of anyone that donates to the vet, and they still get donations from more anonymous people.

@pitamuffin I’ll check out youcaring too and do my best to convince her to set up an account at one or the other and then send it to me so I can post it.

@pitamuffin Yes youcaring takes less. I just researched that. Wish I had known that when I set up my own gofundme account to pay for cancer crap and health insurance. I finally talked her into setting up an account - actually I did it for her while she was on the phone with me as she is not all that tech savvy (although it is not hard) so that is done. Thanks for bringing up that site, I had never heard of it.

@RiotDemon I have set up a youcaring for her (in her name not mine) and if anyone wants to donate directly to the vet or her I can provide the info.

@Kidsandliz I called the vet directly today and put money on Brenda’s/Gizmo’s account from my debit card. As soon as I mentioned Brenda’s name, the lady said “for Gizmo?” so they know them well.
The vet clinic is VCA Heritage Animal Clinic. 2102 N Dunlap Ave. Savory, IL 61874. 217-356-2200
She said Gizmo is on the surgical schedule for Monday - yay! Keep us updated!

I made a typo in the vet’s address it is 2101 N. North Dunlap Ave… when I sent it to @suewalsh1 not 2102… which I had told her, although with the name of the vet on the envelope it would get there anyway.

@RiotDemon Yes they are testing for that… Thickening of the intestine is what the ultrasound showed. They are hoping for irritable bowel and actually started this by treating for that except Gizmo has not been responding to that.

@Kidsandliz this makes me super sad. My cat is currently on prednisolone to help simulate his appetite because he lost tons of weight. Luckily he did respond, to a point. He gained weight, but not really any of the muscle mass he lost. So he still feels bony, even though he has a belly. It’s a waiting game right now. I don’t want to put him through cancer treatment, if it turns out that he has that, since he’s older. Prednisolone is one of the things he would be taking whether it’s cancer or irritable bowel disease.

@RiotDemon cats react very differently to cancer treatments than humans. My DVM daughter could explain it better, but oddly, chemo doesn’t make them sick

She has an old cat, 17ish? who a number of years ago had a lobectomy followed by chemotherapy for lung cancer. Cat will die of old age. It cost a lot yes, even with her employee discount (corporate vet group)

Good luck to both of you and your kitties

@Cerridwyn Thanks.

@Cerridwyn thanks for the thoughts. If it is the type of cancer my vet thinks it might be, all the cost would probably only prolong his life for a year or two. I could never afford it.

I’m hoping it is just the irritable bowels, and I don’t have to find out that he has cancer.

@RiotDemon Gizmo is on prednisolone - something they tried early on (and he is still on it), which so far, does not appear to be doing anything much. How old is your kitty? One of my cats, who died in 2001 at 13, had cat cancer caused by the vaccinations (which is why they now do it in their hind leg so they can just amputate that and cure it - my cat had it around her spine in her neck). I did surgery twice with her and she had another 2 good years before I needed to euthanize her. Interesting to know that chemo doesn’t make cats sick.

@Kidsandliz he’s around 14. Not 100% sure since I adopted him. He was estimated to be around 1 at the time.

@RiotDemon I have 3 who are almost 16, each with medical problems (one with multiple issues) and one who is almost 6 (that one had a buddy who died suddenly at 3.5 which was a heart breaker- cuddling with me that night, dead in the morning). Fortunately all of mine are doing OK at the moment. I hope your cat turns out to “just” have irritable bowel. So hard when our sweet little kitties are sick.

@RiotDemon I’m sorry for your pain too.

@RiotDemon I hope your little kitty is going to be OK… It is so sad when our little fur babies have health problems like that.

@RiotDemon How is your cat doing?

@Kidsandliz Thanks for asking. He’s doing ok. He’s actually been on the prednisolone for months now. Last I spoke to the vet, he wants to keep him on it, but a slightly lower dose because most of the weight he gained back was in his gut. He looks ok to most people, but when I pet him, I can feel how bony he is. He lost a lot of muscle when he wasn’t eating, and he might never gain it back. As long as he keeps eating a good amount, the vet doesn’t want to change anything for a few more months. He’s acting normal and happy. He’s currently batting a toy around the kitchen.

I couldn’t afford the biopsy test to be 100% sure it was cancer. Since he made progress with the prednisolone, it’s been put on the back burner. I’m wondering if it’s irritable bowel disease because even before this started, he would puke easily when stressed out, for example, if my alarm went off in the morning, if I didn’t feed him right away, he’d be throwing up. Since he’s been on the meds, he hasn’t really thrown up, even if I’m slow to wake up.

@Kidsandliz I went back through my photos. It’s actually been a lot longer than I thought. The worst was actually way back in June 2016.

So, that gives me more hope since there’s been no decline since then except for a bout of diarrhea in August.

I forgot to mention, I changed his food to regular friskies because the vet said to feed him whatever he’ll eat. The crystals are such a minor thing compared to what was happening to him, and it had been so long, and a once occurrence, so…

The amount of food I had bought to try to find food for him was ridiculous. I bought everything I could get my hands on. Eventually I bought him dry friskies and regular friskies. After a week of the prednisolone, he was gobbling that stuff up.

To be fair, my other cat didn’t like all the other food I was buying, even though everyone online said most cats couldn’t resist the foods I was buying.

Here was when I had a tiny glimmer of hope. He was picking through the dry food for certain flavored pieces and eventually he just started tearing the bag apart and dumping the food everywhere.

I was laughing and crying.

Here’s a recent photo of both my cats.

@RiotDemon Now that photo is too funny - that is about right. I have to put in a closet the food bags or one of mine, even if the food dish is full of the same stuff, has to bite a hole in the bag to eat from there.

I see you have working cat traps in your house (the boxes). They look like they are best buddies.

@Kidsandliz that food photo was the first time he really started to eat again. I didn’t even care that he was making a huge mess. I was just happy to see him eat. I ended up scooping all the food into a rectangular container and just left the lid off with the container laying down. He would crawl halfway into the container to eat even though I dumped some out for him. I remember at the time I was so happy yet still upset, hoping that he would want to eat more the next day.

I got really lucky that my cats are so friendly with each other. When I thought I was going to have to put the one cat down, I was more upset because I knew my orange cat would be devastated. My orange cat would meow for his buddy if I accidentally locked him in my room.

They love their box. Sometimes they fight over the box, but ten minutes later they’ll be sharing it again. I love if I get up in the middle of the night, they’ll usually be snuggled together on the couch.

@Kidsandliz I’ve shared this and asked people to share it along. I hope Gizmo gets the exposure he needs.

@Kidsandliz Tell her we’re all pulling for her and Gizmo and she did the right thing! That said, how do I give to the vet directly? I’m @aol.com

@Kidsandliz Thanks for your effort to get the account set up. I just visited it. Caveat: They don’t take Paypal.

@RiotDemon Thank you!

@suewalsh1 I will email you shortly with that information. Thank you so much!

@magic_cave I saw that. Gofundme doesn’t take it anyway. She does not have paypal. If you trust me enough I do have paypal and I can send her the money that way. Not sure she is willing to set up paypal as she worries about stolen information (she is not tech savvy and would never pay a bill on line…) or if you want I can send you her address or the vet’s address. I can see if I can convincer to set up a paypal account.

@suewalsh1 email has been sent with this info. Thank you!

@Kidsandliz Anyone who feels comfortable with giving right to the vet, that works too. The phone lady knew Brenda and Gizmo when I called.The vet clinic is VCA Heritage Animal Clinic
2102 N Dunlap Ave. Savory, IL 61874
217-356-2200

And in case you get someone (it is a big vet practice) who doesn’t immediately know who she and Gizmo are - tell them to look on Monday’s surgery schedule as Gizmo is on there. I hesitate to post her last name here without her permission since this is a public forum but email me at my user name at yahoo if you want it or go look on www.youcaring.com/Gizmo as it is on there. You need to tell them to put it as a credit on her account since you have to pay at each visit and so her balance is zero (right now she is just stashing these bills on her credit card to worry about later).

@suewalsh1 Thank you so much for donating to the vet for Monday’s surgery. Brenda is so grateful that people she doesn’t even know are willing to help her kitty.

@Kidsandliz Just FYI, PayPal takes 3%.

@Kidsandliz When my 17 year old cat was diagnosed with intestinal cancer, I had the vet give him a shot of depo medrol each week for a few weeks. It had helped my other cat who had cancer in his sinus cavity. Not only is it stronger than prednisone, the vet said it made sense because it is used in cancer treatment. The only problem was that I had to monitor his glucose levels via urine test strips because it can lead to high blood sugar. Once that happened, we switched him to daily prednisone. I also gave him a quarter of a Valium, which acts as a fabulous appetite stimulant in cats. My cat started scarfing down his food and putting on weight. I will admit I borrowed a pill from him now and again . He lived to be almost 20, but it was hyperthyroidism and kidney failure that did him in, in spite of giving him sub-Q fluids and Tapazole.

@heartny Thanks for the info. I will let Brenda know so she can discuss that with her vet. Amazing he lived so long with cancer and his other health problems. Glad you had him as long as you did.

@Pantheist I’ll get back to you shortly. Thanks.

@Pantheist email sent with info

@BethanyAnne Thanks. I hope so too as Brenda will be devastated if Gizmo dies. Thanks for donating.

Typo in her email address on youcaring is now fixed. If you had emailed her via that before around 10am central time if you re-email it is now no longer a problem.

@Kidsandliz Tell Brenda she should join us over here - we’re a great group of people to chat with. And we have lots of cat lovers. And meh is way better than facebook!

@pitamuffin She is on facebook primarily to keep up with extended family. I have told her about here. Don’t know if she will come to the “dark side” LOL or not and join us. She is not much for forums. I did tell her you don’t need to buy anything to join. Heck I only bought 3 things last year. If buying was a criteria I’d have been tossed ages ago.

@Greenbird325 Yes we have talked about that and the vet school there. I think she might be getting a second opinion there tomorrow but I hadn’t asked her directly today, rather we had talked about that yesterday. The vet she uses is up to date, in a large practice and I do know he has discussed Gizmo with other vets there for ideas and so in that respect Gizmo has benefited from multiple opinions - but I do get what you are saying about the vet school.

@cranky1950 I was raised on an island. I understand what you’re implying, but not everyone raised that way, agrees with you.

“I don’t have anything constructive to add, but I can’t keep my mouth shut so I’ll say my opinion while pretending I’m not.”
-@cranky1950

@cranky1950 My grandmother was raised in farm country in depression era rural Alabama. All my life she believed that the time and money we spent caring for family pets was foolishness, and she hated when pets were allowed in the house. A neighbor asked her to care for his canary when he went on a business trip. She was reluctant to do it but this guy had been a real friend to her so she agreed. She fell in love with the bird. She could talk of nothing else, and after he got back he started making excuses to leave the bird in her care till he managed to smoothly transition into her keeping it full time. So late in life she discovered the joy and comfort that an animal companion provides. Don’t wait until you are in your 70s to let go preconceived ideas and give yourself this gift.

@moondrake once the vet bill gets into the 100s its time to spend the final $50. I’ve had pets all my life, I’d never spend the cost of a good used car on one though.

@cranky1950 My cats are what have kept me sane through 3 cancers, including 2 in one year and one with no cure, being homeless (and managing to hang on to my cats despite that), a daughter adopted at an older age with serious issues I didn’t know about when I adopted her who has had multiple run ins with the law and landed in kid jail multiple times -pissing off judges left and right - and the psych ward and is still making bad decisions, the murder of my brother… and I could go on but won’t. All they want is love and they return that in spades. They give me much more than I likely give them.

While I would not keep alive an animal suffering horribly, I would skimp on food myself to make sure my cats have needed vet care. And that is exactly what I chose to do for Gizmo, even though he is not my cat. He is a loved member of my friend’s family and it will be emotionally devastating for her if she has to put him down at 5. Heck it will be painful for her (and for most of the rest of us who love our pets) even if he dies at 22.

@cranky1950 And yet you didn’t stay out, did you?

@cranky1950 @moondrake is right. An animal companion won’t get your ass to the lumber yard like a good used car, but will show you unconditional love like I’m wondering if you’ve ever known. Pets weasel their way into your heart and open you to so much joy. It’s not about money - if the little guy is sick you take care of him the best you can, cuz he trusts you. Sometimes nature takes its course. If he’s suffering and there’s nothing you can do, you do the hardest but most compassionate thing you’ll ever do and that’s euthanasia. Pets teach love. I get cranky too sometimes but I don’t use the word to describe myself. My guess is there’s a soft spot inside you that scares you silly. (If you want to respond with sarcasm or blow me off, that will only prove my point.) I really hope sometime you can experience what we’re talking about here.

@Kidsandliz Wow, sister, just wow. I’ve always said my rescue animals have rescued me. You are incredible. The world is a better place cuz you’re in it.

@suewalsh1 thanks, but I am no different than most people on this forum. Like everyone else when problems happen you put one foot in front of the other because you have no choice and so you do what you have to do. When you can help others you do that too - just as you and a bunch of others on this forum have done - for Gizmo, for me, for others like those school teachers, that non-profit that funds third world small/family business owners looking for loans…

Unfortunately not everyone loves their pets. Sometimes pets are just things people keep around. I remember not too long ago someone mentioned that their cat would be punted across the room. That doesn’t scream love to me.

@RiotDemon You can love your pets and still not want to spend crazy amounts of money on them. If your choice is going into bankruptcy or begging for money on the internet to treat a cat that may have a terminal illness that’s up to you. But making a different choice does not make you a bad person.

@sammydog01 no, but when the same person talks about kicking their animals… I can understand why they don’t want to spend money.

I get not wanting to go bankrupt. If my animal is so sick that it gets to that point, I will put it down. But when there’s a chance, and I can afford it, I will do it.

@cranky1950 I grew up and live in the suburbs but we have a country vet. She is down to earth and gives us options. I like that.

@Kidsandliz You don’t mind if I quibble with the ‘no different’ part, do ya? Everyone’s got something to recommend them I’ve been told, but some got an extra dose of compassion, courage and humility. And you’re being a super friend to your friend.

@mehbee Thank you so much!!

@purrfctangel There have been several cat threads here and lots of cat lovers. Also periodically different people post about causes and some folks band together to support them. Last fall we chose some teachers from a site where teachers can post what they want to buy for the classroom and people can then choose to donate money. Some members then funded a bunch of people, one at a time (to be sure they were completely funded, then they’d move on to the next person). There is a also a sub-group on here that lends money (sometimes sharing a person) via a website I have forgotten the name of to 3rd world small business owners (for example some sheep or whatever). There are a handful of other things that have gone on here too.

@Kidsandliz @purrfctangel Even us dog people are rooting for Gizmo and donating. All animals, including the two legged kind, deserve love and support. The loan site is https://www.kiva.org. It’s both humbling and empowering to search through and select who you are going to help. They usually pay back the money quite quickly, then it is loaned to someone else. There are a number of donate-a-sheep (or goat, goats are better, they give milk and can eat anything) sites, probably the best known is https://www.heifer.org. I sometimes give gifts through them in the name of deceased loved ones.

@moondrake
Will definitely check this out. I’ve done rescues on everything from alley cats to alligators… including dogs, horses, sheep, turtles, fish, squirrels, birds. Ive found all to be so grateful. Some of the two legged rescues, not so much.

@purrfctangel Some of us also help each other. On more than one occasion we’ve seen mehmbers open up to assist one another, whether it’s in ideas, materials, items, and/or monetary contributions.

@Kidsandliz You (sorta) know me.

@narfcake Yes I believe I do (grin… and some gold stars for you)… and yes @purrfctangel this forum has developed a community and culture that includes helping others in multiple ways.

@accelerator I don’t think she meant the food stamps were going towards cat food. I was under the impression she used her food stamps to buy the people food, so the people could put their food money towards the cat.

@accelerator I bought people food, then gave that people food to my friend so that would free up money to spend on cat bills. You are right you can’t buy cat food with them. You also can’t buy hot food, pre-prepared from the deli (like where they sell things like potato salad they make daily and box it for you in the amount you want), non food items like toilet paper, shampoo, etc. You are not allowed to give your card to someone else to use for anything. You can not sell the food you buy nor sell the use of your card (there are no longer actual paper food stamps). There is no rule stopping you from giving away food you buy yourself.

@RiotDemon Thank you. I re-read and you are exactly correct, that is what she said. She gave her food stamps to allow money to be spent on cat. I feel for these good people. I too am an animal lover and have made extraordinary sacrifices to help animals in distress. Best of luck to them.

@StGermain No she doesn’t. I will tell her when I talk with her this evening to get an update on Gizmo. Thanks.

@purrfctangel That is what Brenda is hoping for… better than the alternatives. I’ll tell Brenda to tell Gizmo you sent head butts. She isn’t too thrilled at the (apparently) $50/mo in meds for IBS but at least that is something that is usually manageable.

@purrfctangel Thanks for the advice and I will keep that in mind. I have 3 nearly 16 year olds who are hyperthyroid (one also is diabetic in remission and stage 2 kidney failure) and the walgreens family plan (to which you can add pets) brings the cost of their hyperthyroid meds down significantly. I am paying 1/3 of what the vet wanted. The generic they carry now even cuts into 1/4ths pretty easily (the previous ones they were carrying tended to crumble).

Yes rescue babies can be so sweet and loving. I had 8 at one point - found homes for 4 although it killed me to do so (they were all fantastic loving kitties, 3 were abandoned by my neighbor and one was dumped outside a restaurant and the owners of that were going to shoot her with a shotgun because she kept trying to come inside so I took her). Had I had a stable job and stable place to live I would have kept them all. I am left with 4 - the aforementioned nearly 16 year olds and one who will be 6 in Feb. The 6 year old had a buddy that I had found in the median strip of a highway in the driving rain but she died unexpectedly one night. My 6 year old is going to need another buddy when the nearly 16 year old she has now bonded with the most dies.

@Kidsandliz you’re experienced at this too. Lol. Another alternative, again like the human medical crisis, are getting rxs from Canada.
Let me know if i can do anything!

@purrfctangel Will do. I hesitate to do the Canadian route since so many of those are fraudulent and not really based in Canada, give fake meds…

@purrfctangel Ok so this is a year later - what Canadian pharmacy is good to get cat meds from? I just scrounged up $496 for a 220 flovent inhaler that will last 2 months for my asthmatic cat. With just having my temp contract switched from full time to adjunct (teaching the same number of classes but being paid now 1/3 of what I was last term) I am not going to be able to afford that in mid/late Feb when it runs out.

Here is a photo of him with his little naked post ultrasound belly that Brenda posted just now. Apparently today, while still eating, he didn’t eat as much as yesterday.
.

@Kidsandliz Can i ask a favor? You’re doing so much already but Can you put updates on fundraising page? I have networked him through my rescue groups and people like to hear how their help is making a difference. It will also help bring in more help. Purrs and headbutts!

@purrfctangel Awesome! Looks like sharing has made a good jump in donations. Good job everyone!

@purrfctangel Sure. I will post an update now and the new pic Brenda put on her facebook.

@purrfctangel Thank you for spreading the word. I just updated the youcaring page and uploaded the photo I uploaded here. Brenda is not home all afternoon. Someone emailed her today about how to contact the vet directly and she will email that person back later today. I am contemplating whether or not I should add the vet contact info to the page or not. Thoughts on that?

Once the surgery is done and there is a diagnosis the goal may be changed a little bit. I forgot to add the, roughly, 3% that gets taken when I totaled what she knew for sure what the costs were and of course once the problem is identified then there may be additional costs. She is just blown away that people she doesn’t know would have donated. I have had fun telling her “I told you so. There are some incredibly generous people out there on meh and beyond”.

@Kidsandliz Um, I added the vet info a couple of days ago. It’s probably gotten buried. Hope that was ok. I think it’s a good idea for people who want to give to her account directly.

@suewalsh1 I’ll put it again down here since it is likely buried under the hidden posts.

@purrfctangel I will do that.

@BethanyAnne I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for doing that.

@Kidsandliz Just wondering how Gizmo is doing - anything new to report?

@pitamuffin I haven’t talked with Brenda in a couple of days as I have been really busy. Last I knew Gizmo had gained around a pound which pleased the vet, but is still underweight by several pounds, and the meds he was on that helped with the weight gain had stopped working. The vet was going to let things ride as long as his weight was stable. The second he starts to lose any weight (which the vet presumes he will do because the meds stopped working and Gizmo still doesn’t act like a completely well cat, they are doing the surgery. Some days he acts fairly normal, other days he acts like a sick cat. I’ll check in with her tomorrow and get an update.

@Kidsandliz Did they ever determine what was wrong with Gizmo? What’s the surgery for?

@heartny No they don’t know what is wrong. The surgery is an intestinal biopsy to see if there is something wrong with his intestines. If they can’t find anything then the default diagnosis will be IBS.

@pitamuffin He still is not very interested in eating much. Vet is afraid he is still too frail for surgery but says if he starts losing weight again (he gained one pound but needs to gain a couple more) then they really need to take the risk and do the surgery. Meanwhile sometimes he acts like a normal cat (in short bursts) and sometimes he acts like a really sick one. Brenda is spending a lot of time with him trying to make his life as nice as possible right now, trying to get him to eat (he ate a piece of powered donut and Brenda figured at least it was calories) enough to maintain his weight.

@Kidsandliz Thank you so much for the update. Gizmo has been in the back of my mind - worried about him.

@Kidsandliz has she tried a bunch of different foods? I tried all the fancy stuff that was recommended… Duck, venison, whatever other stinky wild game foods there were. Cat milk, cat treats… When my cat started eating, it was the cheap friskies, but only the pate, nothing chunky. He was so hungry, he was salivating, but refusing to eat.

I hope they figure out something soon.

@RiotDemon Yes she has tried all sorts of things. Unfortunately he just sniffs most of them and walks away. I suggested syringe feeding. I’ve had to do that on occasion with several of my cats.

I know, long. Not everything fits in a sound bite, though. One of the most valuable resources for me was a website http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com, an independent evaluator. I was looking for something similar for cats, and this may be it:
http://www.petfoodratings.org/quick-cat-food-reference-table/

I suggest your friend go grain free and try to find a limited ingredient food to determine if there’s an allergy or sensitivity involved. Don’t know about cats but this is a common problem for dogs. This is an example of what I am talking about, a highly rated limited ingredient food. I am not pimping this particular food or brand, I feed Taste of the Wild, but I wanted to give you an example.
http://tinyurl.com/j6keeht

@moondrake Thanks. I will pass this on to her. I did the same thing with my cat with kidney issues. Found a nice cheap food that met all the criteria and my cat actually liked it. The “prescription” diet cost a zillion times more and my cat was like, “You’re kidding me right? This is food? Seriously?”

@moondrake Completely the same with cats- unfortunately all most vets know about food is what the marketing people from pet food companies tell them. My cat gets struvite stones and the food to dissolve them does work, but it’s extremely expensive and nutritionally terrible. Not a single vet mentioned this to me, which is cheap, has the same active ingredient as the dissolution foods, and can be mixed with anything. Real shame their educations don’t include nutrition.

@PantHeist My niece is in vet school. As she was turned down for several years she got a masters in animal nutrition while she kept applyig. Hopefully she will be a better vet because of it.

@PantHeist last time I was discussing cat food with my vet, he actually called either the food company or a nutrition company to get more info since he wasn’t sure. At least he tried to find more answers.

@Kidsandliz Awesome! If gizmo’s family is interested, here’s some good info on foods. http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

@PantHeist I’ll pass that on. Thanks.

@BethanyAnne He is still sick, but is holding his own. Vet still doesn’t know what is wrong with him.

@BethanyAnne So do we all…

@AttyVette Right now no as other than needing some meds nothing expensive is going on right now with him. As she has only a fixed, limited income, covering expensive vet bills will always be an issue but fortunately right now Gizmo is stable. Her husband, on the other hand… the generic of an otherwise very expensive drug he needs has been out of stock and backordered everywhere for close to three months. Right now he is doing without which isn’t a good thing. Apparently they/he is in the donut hole with medicare at the moment.