(no subject)
Gizmo has always had a mighty white belly, which he likes to groom and show off to all:
But this summer he was acting... off. He wasn't eating. Wasn't grooming. Was lazing around looking at me sadly. Getting skinny skinny.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed his ears were very yellow. Then I noticed his mouth was very very yellow. I took him to the vet.
The vet said "he is a very sick boy" and whisked him away for testing. I went home and cried and cried. Obviously something was wrong with his liver, but they didn't know what. It was likely hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver), but that can occur on it's own or be triggered by other problems. They had to rule out everything else that could be causing it.
They did blood tests and it wasn't leukemia or FIV. They did and x-ray and couldn't see tumours (but they did notice he's had lots of broken ribs and vertebral spines... a car accident before I got him?). They did an ultrasound and didn't see tumours. They did a biopsy and it came back that he has hepatic lipidosis without any obvious cause.
I was so happy! (Not happy that he was sick - happy it wasn't all of those other awful things, which would not be treatable.) All of this took place over a week. I visited him at the vet every day, taking his brushes and petting him and feeding him. He was on an IV to flush the bile from his system. They shaved his belly for the ultrasound. He still let me pet and brush his belly though. I was a complete wreck and took a day off work and just sobbed. I know it's a cat... but I love him! Ahhh
He's been home about a week now. The treatment is... making him eat. So I am feeding him soft food by hand or by syringe about every 20 minutes. He is doing well though, and has started grooming and is slowly getting pinker and fatter!
Just after I found out Gizmo was going to be okay, I read this. I got chills. I read this blog all the time and SIGH. I have such sympathy for this girl. The things we feel for our pets, the choices we have to make. I'm just glad Gizmo's situation turned out differently, and hope hope hope that he gets back to his normal, tubby self.
But this summer he was acting... off. He wasn't eating. Wasn't grooming. Was lazing around looking at me sadly. Getting skinny skinny.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed his ears were very yellow. Then I noticed his mouth was very very yellow. I took him to the vet.
The vet said "he is a very sick boy" and whisked him away for testing. I went home and cried and cried. Obviously something was wrong with his liver, but they didn't know what. It was likely hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver), but that can occur on it's own or be triggered by other problems. They had to rule out everything else that could be causing it.
They did blood tests and it wasn't leukemia or FIV. They did and x-ray and couldn't see tumours (but they did notice he's had lots of broken ribs and vertebral spines... a car accident before I got him?). They did an ultrasound and didn't see tumours. They did a biopsy and it came back that he has hepatic lipidosis without any obvious cause.
I was so happy! (Not happy that he was sick - happy it wasn't all of those other awful things, which would not be treatable.) All of this took place over a week. I visited him at the vet every day, taking his brushes and petting him and feeding him. He was on an IV to flush the bile from his system. They shaved his belly for the ultrasound. He still let me pet and brush his belly though. I was a complete wreck and took a day off work and just sobbed. I know it's a cat... but I love him! Ahhh
He's been home about a week now. The treatment is... making him eat. So I am feeding him soft food by hand or by syringe about every 20 minutes. He is doing well though, and has started grooming and is slowly getting pinker and fatter!
Just after I found out Gizmo was going to be okay, I read this. I got chills. I read this blog all the time and SIGH. I have such sympathy for this girl. The things we feel for our pets, the choices we have to make. I'm just glad Gizmo's situation turned out differently, and hope hope hope that he gets back to his normal, tubby self.