My poor sweet 15-year-old baby is sick - vomiting a lot, including fresh blood. We're about to leave for the vet. I'm scared. Scared for her, and scared of what I can afford right now. This seems ominous. My poor fur baby.
LaylaBird
- Status
Jasmine is vomiting blood
It's so hard when they are sick and we aren't sure what, if anything, can be done and is doubly sucks when cost has to be factored in.
I hope whatever is wrong with Jasmine is easy to fix and nothing really bad is wrong with her. I'll be praying for you and her.
Thanks Rain! Reading about Shadow makes me think about how Jazzies is approaching her very senior years and I'm really not looking forward to it in some ways.
She and I were really close, and we're not as close now that I have Layla. They're okay together but Jasmine would definitely be happier and more comfortable if Layla just were not here. I realize that I put my own happiness before hers and it's a bit heartbreaking.
I hadn't planned to get a dog but after moving from the city to the country (and starting to work from home) I was just totally at loose ends and began to crave structure, and also company. Layla has given me a reason to get my butt out of the house numerous times a day, and she's my best friend now. But Jasmine has paid for that and it saddens me a lot.
Anyway Jasmine is okay - she's had an anti-nauseant and fluids, and had a blood panel done again and shockingly her blood looks better (urea and creatinine in particular). So that's good news. The vet is essentially treating the nausea and we'll hope the issue just resolves itself. I did switch her food but I can't imagine why that would cause bleeding.
To find out the real cause is simply cost prohibitive so I may never know.
They've finally convinced me to try a senior diet. I hate the ingredients in this crap food - like one of the first ingredients is wheat gluten and this cat does not do well on grains. But they seem so sure that it's the best thing for her and I can't justify not even trying it. I CAN return it for a full refund even if the bag is open.
They're also recommending some new drugs to help slow the progression of renal failure. The stuff will cost a pretty penny, but it sounds like a really innovative way of managing phosporous and nitrogen within their digestive system. Which makes me wonder why I need this freaking food!
I'm sort of hoping that she just refuses to eat it and then I can return it... But I'm also nervous about what I should actually be feeding her.
Before this happened, I had her on canned Wellness, and when she stopped eating that I switched her to Acana Pacifica kibble. I sometimes feed her some raw ground beef or raw pieces of beef but she's awfully picky so that's about the only raw meat I can feed her.
She and I were really close, and we're not as close now that I have Layla. They're okay together but Jasmine would definitely be happier and more comfortable if Layla just were not here. I realize that I put my own happiness before hers and it's a bit heartbreaking.
I hadn't planned to get a dog but after moving from the city to the country (and starting to work from home) I was just totally at loose ends and began to crave structure, and also company. Layla has given me a reason to get my butt out of the house numerous times a day, and she's my best friend now. But Jasmine has paid for that and it saddens me a lot.
Anyway Jasmine is okay - she's had an anti-nauseant and fluids, and had a blood panel done again and shockingly her blood looks better (urea and creatinine in particular). So that's good news. The vet is essentially treating the nausea and we'll hope the issue just resolves itself. I did switch her food but I can't imagine why that would cause bleeding.
To find out the real cause is simply cost prohibitive so I may never know.
They've finally convinced me to try a senior diet. I hate the ingredients in this crap food - like one of the first ingredients is wheat gluten and this cat does not do well on grains. But they seem so sure that it's the best thing for her and I can't justify not even trying it. I CAN return it for a full refund even if the bag is open.
They're also recommending some new drugs to help slow the progression of renal failure. The stuff will cost a pretty penny, but it sounds like a really innovative way of managing phosporous and nitrogen within their digestive system. Which makes me wonder why I need this freaking food!
I'm sort of hoping that she just refuses to eat it and then I can return it... But I'm also nervous about what I should actually be feeding her.
Before this happened, I had her on canned Wellness, and when she stopped eating that I switched her to Acana Pacifica kibble. I sometimes feed her some raw ground beef or raw pieces of beef but she's awfully picky so that's about the only raw meat I can feed her.
You're welcome.
I'm so glad that she should be O.K. and hope that the medicines help. Why do they want her on the senior food? I could understand if it was one of the ones for UTI or kidneys but not senior.
I had Shadow on adult food, or ALS food, except for that short time that I put him on an Iams 12+years food. He did awful on the Iams but that's due to the chicken that's in it. If you know the reason for them wanting her on the senior food maybe try and find a good food with a similar protein and fat content and see how she does on it. In my experience lower protein and fat content and a minimum amount of joint supplement are the only difference between a senior food and a regular food.
As long as Jasmine is getting her special time with you, and has a quiet place to relax without being bothered by Layla, I'm sure she's alright. To tell the truth I've been more then tempted to bring home another dog or cat, but I know it would completely stress Shadow out. After Shadow had his stoke nearly 2 years ago he can't handle much change and the CCD just made that worse, he does best when everything stays the same as much possible. I just don't think he would have adjusted. Add to that there's no way I could afford Shadow's care and another pet's.
I'm so glad that she should be O.K. and hope that the medicines help. Why do they want her on the senior food? I could understand if it was one of the ones for UTI or kidneys but not senior.
I had Shadow on adult food, or ALS food, except for that short time that I put him on an Iams 12+years food. He did awful on the Iams but that's due to the chicken that's in it. If you know the reason for them wanting her on the senior food maybe try and find a good food with a similar protein and fat content and see how she does on it. In my experience lower protein and fat content and a minimum amount of joint supplement are the only difference between a senior food and a regular food.
As long as Jasmine is getting her special time with you, and has a quiet place to relax without being bothered by Layla, I'm sure she's alright. To tell the truth I've been more then tempted to bring home another dog or cat, but I know it would completely stress Shadow out. After Shadow had his stoke nearly 2 years ago he can't handle much change and the CCD just made that worse, he does best when everything stays the same as much possible. I just don't think he would have adjusted. Add to that there's no way I could afford Shadow's care and another pet's.
I think they honestly feel that the lower protein will be better for her. It drives me nuts though.
I mean I want them to know that I trust them and value their opinions. But the first FIVE ingredients in this food are some kind of grain product. And this for a cat that had a horrible reaction to a really high quality kibble that had some grain in it - her chronic diarrhea improved quickly once I switched her to grain-free food. She lost weight, her coat improved. So I'm really unhappy thinking about putting her back on a diet that isn't just including grain but based on grain.
I may open the bag and the canned food and just tell them she's not eating them. If I take the food back unopened it sends the (accurate) message that I'm not even willing to try.
Do you think I should try?
I mean I want them to know that I trust them and value their opinions. But the first FIVE ingredients in this food are some kind of grain product. And this for a cat that had a horrible reaction to a really high quality kibble that had some grain in it - her chronic diarrhea improved quickly once I switched her to grain-free food. She lost weight, her coat improved. So I'm really unhappy thinking about putting her back on a diet that isn't just including grain but based on grain.
I may open the bag and the canned food and just tell them she's not eating them. If I take the food back unopened it sends the (accurate) message that I'm not even willing to try.
Do you think I should try?
It sounds like she may have a grain sensitivity so I wouldn't try it. Me being me, I'd probably give her a piece or two and throw out a couple of serving so that I could honestly say I tried her on it. I'd just not tell them how much I fed her.
Personally I've never understood why they even make grain based diets for cats since they are obligate carnivores. Their not being able to survive without meat should say something. I can understand including a little grain to cut down on the cost of the food but not more grain then meat.
Personally I've never understood why they even make grain based diets for cats since they are obligate carnivores. Their not being able to survive without meat should say something. I can understand including a little grain to cut down on the cost of the food but not more grain then meat.
I totally agree and I find it perplexing that vets are so freaking convinced that a diet that is primarily grain is "optimal" for a cat. Maybe I'm just being an ignorant new-age-y person or something. If she hadn't already made it clear that she doesn't do well on grains, and if grains weren't so dominant in this food, I'd be more willing to try it out. But I agree I do feel like at least seeing if she'll eat it and watching her poops would be a fair thing to do.
After feeding her last night she ended up puking it all up again. Any relief I was feeling yesterday is pretty much gone. I don't even want to try to feed her at this point I just want her to stay hydrated. I just gave her her antacid pill. Poor little thing is so good about being handled, but it's so miserable that twice a day my contact with her is going to be centred around jamming a pill down her throat in the hopes it will actually help (which it didn't seem to last night).
Crappy vet food is a non-issue right now I'll admit. This isn't over and I just hope that it doesn't end badly after a miserable decline for her.
Crappy vet food is a non-issue right now I'll admit. This isn't over and I just hope that it doesn't end badly after a miserable decline for her.
my cat did not have the issues you are describing, he had FLUTD, and he either hated or couldn't digest the Rx diet from the vet. i spent almost a month of mixing that crap with everything, trying to ease it into his diet before i finally switched again. seriously spent a lot of $ on it too 
anyway, i had always planned on switching him to a raw diet, but wanted the Rx as a sort of back-up plan as i went along, but his reaction to it was so bad i had to switch! just so you know that i tried it for a while... there are vet-nutritionists who can help you possibly come up with a homemade diet that would work with her medical issues... have you considered that route? there is also a site, i can find it in a sec, that you put in the animals medical issues and other stats, and it spits out a diet/diets that would be appropriate for her...
btw (((hugs)))
anyway, i had always planned on switching him to a raw diet, but wanted the Rx as a sort of back-up plan as i went along, but his reaction to it was so bad i had to switch! just so you know that i tried it for a while... there are vet-nutritionists who can help you possibly come up with a homemade diet that would work with her medical issues... have you considered that route? there is also a site, i can find it in a sec, that you put in the animals medical issues and other stats, and it spits out a diet/diets that would be appropriate for her...btw (((hugs)))
I'd love to see that link. Though at this point just having her eat and keep it down would make me so happy. The food she threw up yesterday was a tiny bit of raw ground beef, which is normally her favourite and she's never had trouble with it before.
Well the good news is that she made it through all of yesterday without being sick. Yay!
I've reverted back to Wellness canned food and she's gotten about 2 tsp of it, diluted with some water to keep her hydrated. She's keeping it down and seems more herself again. She's peed in her litter box too.
I'm still trying to decide what to do about the Senior Consult that the vet wants me to feed but I think I'm definitely returning the kibble and may try out the canned food, gradually mixing it in, or even just sticking with a 50/50 split. It does have wheat gluten so I'm still not optimistic but at least grains don't seem to be quite as dominant in the recipe.
Here's hoping...
I may also begin to add in a bit of raw - she does normally do okay with raw but it's just that she's incredibly picky about what she'll eat. I suppose I can always feed it to Layla if Jasmine refuses it though. I found a raw pet food dealer nearby and have an order in for Layla so I may add to it.
Thanks for the feedback!
I've reverted back to Wellness canned food and she's gotten about 2 tsp of it, diluted with some water to keep her hydrated. She's keeping it down and seems more herself again. She's peed in her litter box too.
I'm still trying to decide what to do about the Senior Consult that the vet wants me to feed but I think I'm definitely returning the kibble and may try out the canned food, gradually mixing it in, or even just sticking with a 50/50 split. It does have wheat gluten so I'm still not optimistic but at least grains don't seem to be quite as dominant in the recipe.
Here's hoping...
I may also begin to add in a bit of raw - she does normally do okay with raw but it's just that she's incredibly picky about what she'll eat. I suppose I can always feed it to Layla if Jasmine refuses it though. I found a raw pet food dealer nearby and have an order in for Layla so I may add to it.
Thanks for the feedback!
I'm so happy that she did well yesterday and had no vomiting! I hope that she did as well today.
Thanks Rain!
She seems to be back to herself - thank goodness!
I haven't continued her antacid because she seems okay - but I may have her back on new meds soon for her kidneys. I've discovered that rolling the pill in coconut oil and then refrigerating it really helps it go down the hatch.
I've done it with Layla but finally decided to try it with Jasmine and although she didn't eat it willingly, it was FAR easier for her to swallow.
I seem to have more time with my sweet kitty. I realize that she's actually probably about 16 now. If I could get another year or so it would be a wonderful thing. I just don't feel it's her time.
With that said, having had a scare like this now, I feel like it may be one of those "early warning signs" reminding me that her remaining time is relatively short. With Layla and all her issues I've found it hard to give Jasmine equal attention.
But Layla's settled down a fair bit - and I want to enjoy Jasmine and give her tons of love so that her golden years are happy. And so that I have no regrets when my friend of so many years is finally gone. I've been selfish at times when she was younger, and put my needs before hers, but those times are in the past.
She seems to be back to herself - thank goodness!
I haven't continued her antacid because she seems okay - but I may have her back on new meds soon for her kidneys. I've discovered that rolling the pill in coconut oil and then refrigerating it really helps it go down the hatch.
I've done it with Layla but finally decided to try it with Jasmine and although she didn't eat it willingly, it was FAR easier for her to swallow.
I seem to have more time with my sweet kitty. I realize that she's actually probably about 16 now. If I could get another year or so it would be a wonderful thing. I just don't feel it's her time.
With that said, having had a scare like this now, I feel like it may be one of those "early warning signs" reminding me that her remaining time is relatively short. With Layla and all her issues I've found it hard to give Jasmine equal attention.
But Layla's settled down a fair bit - and I want to enjoy Jasmine and give her tons of love so that her golden years are happy. And so that I have no regrets when my friend of so many years is finally gone. I've been selfish at times when she was younger, and put my needs before hers, but those times are in the past.
Today Jasmine crossed the rainbow bridge. Ultimately she probably had a GI cancer. Her vomiting had come back for awhile and then stopped - but so did her poops. She was actually enjoying food immensely, and looking frail but bright eyed and comfortable. She wasn't in pain.
Yesterday she stopped eating though (she'd be eating really well and I couldn't figure out where it was going since she was hardly pooping). Last night she vomited some bloody bile for the first time in weeks. When I checked on her this morning she was still alert but her eyes had a different look.
The vet who's been looking after her was on-call for emergencies today. I decided it was time. It was very hard to say goodbye especially when she was still somewhat "there" and seeming not too bad. But I didn't want to wait until she was in really terrible shape. I told myself that when she stopped eating that would be a sign. And the vomit. And the eyes looked focused but sort of gaunt. Today was the right time.
She was calm in the office, and "a champ" when the catheter was put into her vein. It was peaceful, and just as fast as the vet warned me it would be. Shockingly fast. It blew my mind to see her go from awake to asleep and beyond in one second. Her light just went out. I could almost here her soft little "I'm not feeling well" purr still. I could almost see her rolling over and tucking her head to expose her belly for a rub. It was so fast.
I buried her in our backyard under the mint, in a box with clean cotton sheets, catnip and her mouse that she used to like. Putting dirt on that box was very hard. I can't believe she's under the ground as I type this.
I've lost a lot of pets but many by accident - cats hit by cars and so forth. This is my first pet who's lived a full life and it's the first time I've been there when a pet has died. I feel confident that the time was right - not too soon and not too late. But holy shit it hurts.
She had a funny meow. She loved pats and attention. She hated being picked up but as she matured she came to appreciate it for short periods. She was very pretty. She liked to come for pats when I was sitting on the toilet haha. She was always happy to see me and she'd greet me with a blink and then roll over for a belly rub. She was more herself before I got Layla and I feel guilty about that. But I know her last days were good, her last years were good, and her life was much better than it might have been if I hadn't taken her in after finding her in an apartment lobby in Montreal in 1996/97.
I miss her already and I can't imagine having another cat. I love my little Jazzies so much, she was such a neat little character.
Goodbye sweet little cat.
Yesterday she stopped eating though (she'd be eating really well and I couldn't figure out where it was going since she was hardly pooping). Last night she vomited some bloody bile for the first time in weeks. When I checked on her this morning she was still alert but her eyes had a different look.
The vet who's been looking after her was on-call for emergencies today. I decided it was time. It was very hard to say goodbye especially when she was still somewhat "there" and seeming not too bad. But I didn't want to wait until she was in really terrible shape. I told myself that when she stopped eating that would be a sign. And the vomit. And the eyes looked focused but sort of gaunt. Today was the right time.
She was calm in the office, and "a champ" when the catheter was put into her vein. It was peaceful, and just as fast as the vet warned me it would be. Shockingly fast. It blew my mind to see her go from awake to asleep and beyond in one second. Her light just went out. I could almost here her soft little "I'm not feeling well" purr still. I could almost see her rolling over and tucking her head to expose her belly for a rub. It was so fast.
I buried her in our backyard under the mint, in a box with clean cotton sheets, catnip and her mouse that she used to like. Putting dirt on that box was very hard. I can't believe she's under the ground as I type this.
I've lost a lot of pets but many by accident - cats hit by cars and so forth. This is my first pet who's lived a full life and it's the first time I've been there when a pet has died. I feel confident that the time was right - not too soon and not too late. But holy shit it hurts.
She had a funny meow. She loved pats and attention. She hated being picked up but as she matured she came to appreciate it for short periods. She was very pretty. She liked to come for pats when I was sitting on the toilet haha. She was always happy to see me and she'd greet me with a blink and then roll over for a belly rub. She was more herself before I got Layla and I feel guilty about that. But I know her last days were good, her last years were good, and her life was much better than it might have been if I hadn't taken her in after finding her in an apartment lobby in Montreal in 1996/97.
I miss her already and I can't imagine having another cat. I love my little Jazzies so much, she was such a neat little character.
Goodbye sweet little cat.
Rest in Peace little Jasmine cat. I am so sorry for your loss, but I think you did right by Jasmine and I am sure she knew it. Hugs for you and Layla while you help each other through this difficult time.
I am so sorry for your loss. I know how much you fought to get Jasmine well, and how hard it is to say that final goodbye. She's better now and not sick anymore. She's exploring on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge with Shadow and Jersey and all of our other pets that have left us but are never far from our thoughts.
I am so sorry to read this , my condolences. How blessed you both were to find each other, I am sure she will keep a watchful eye on you as you did for her all these years.
You truly have a golden heart to be concerned for my baby when you had just laid yours to rest. Bless your heart.
You truly have a golden heart to be concerned for my baby when you had just laid yours to rest. Bless your heart.
I'm keenly aware of how hard it is to see them sick. There's nothing we can do to make them live forever but I hope you get some more really good time. I was lucky that Jasmine was so healthy right up until very near the end but when they get sick at such an advanced age the outcome usually isn't going to be good.
Good luck with your baby!
Good luck with your baby!
I am so sorry for your loss! It is always so hard, no matter the age. Jasmine sounds like such a fabulous little personality.
One of my childhood cats passed a couple of years ago, of kidney failure. Her sister, Shadow, is still with us, and I can sympathize with the concern for the cat's quality of life after bringing a dog in ... Shadow really seemed to enjoy being queen of the castle before Tuva arrived, though they coexist fine. But Shadow still gets lots of pets and knows she is loved, and I'm sure Jasmine did too.
You are such a great caretaker for all the animals in your life, and I am sure they all know it too! Thinking of you in this tough, tough time.
One of my childhood cats passed a couple of years ago, of kidney failure. Her sister, Shadow, is still with us, and I can sympathize with the concern for the cat's quality of life after bringing a dog in ... Shadow really seemed to enjoy being queen of the castle before Tuva arrived, though they coexist fine. But Shadow still gets lots of pets and knows she is loved, and I'm sure Jasmine did too.
You are such a great caretaker for all the animals in your life, and I am sure they all know it too! Thinking of you in this tough, tough time.
- Status
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
