Sunday, July 27, 2008

E.C. is Sick

So E. C. is really really sick.

Let me start at the beginning of this week.

E.C. hurt her leg. I took her to the vet. She got some Buprenorphin for the pain and she sat around for the next two days looking really stoned and sitting in the same spot being really lethargic. Well, she never really got more active. Instead, she continued to be lethargic and she wasn't eating well. On Friday we took her to the emergency vet service because she started throwing up. A lot. I mean, what looked like her body weight in bile. They gave her I.V. fluids and we went home, hoping the fluids would help and that everything else would subside. After a full day of not eating at all on Saturday, we took her back to the emergency vet. They gave her more fluids, some kitty Pepto Bismol and did blood tests, thyroid tests and took x-rays.
Her blood tests came back okay, except for some liver level which was 3 times the normal level. That, the vet said, could be explained by infection, inflammation, or other things. Not too conclusive. He gave me so meClavamox, which is an oral antibiotic, for E.C. to take. If she's not eating by Monday morning (it's 7:30 p.m. on Sunday as I write), I may have to take her back and have her hospitalized. So far, I've spent about $900 on E.C. this past week.

Anyway, the real zinger is this: the vet said that he was concerned about E.C.'s x-rays (posted below). It looks like she has a "mass" in her lung (maybe lung area....I dunno, I heard the word "mass" and I kinda freaked out). He thinks I should have it looked at more closely with an ultrasound or biopsy. He couldn't give me any more than that, but he said that it could be cancer and he didn't bother to sugar-coat it. So...at this point, my cat won't eat, she looks like hell, and she may be brewing a nice little malignant tumor (not so little). I feel utterly powerless. I can't really do anything but provide the care she needs, and I'm worried that if she needs much more, I won't be able to afford it.

She's such a sweet little pooper. I hate to see her uncomfortable. I'm not ready for her to get really sick...it wasn't part of my plan.



E.C.'s x-rays. The "mass" is circled in red.

3 comments:

Badass Geek said...

I'm so sorry... It can be heartbreaking to go through this.

*hug*

Mary Beth said...

I'm supposed to be leaving you a comment to tell you I'm next in line under you to be interviewed at The Great Interview Experiment and here I am bawling at this post. I hope EC gets better. I just went through this with our cat Tigger - you're sick to your stomach with worry and you have that added stress of "how am I going to pay for this if it gets much more expensive?" Stupid cats go and love you unconditionally and you get all tangled up in them. Good Luck with the vet.

Oh, you can reach me at marybeth494@gmail.com and my blog is at http://marybeth494.blogspot.com

scargosun said...

I really hope that EC turns the corner and is fine is a few days. Did the vet talk to you about possible pancreatitis (sp) it can be hard to diagnose but the vomitting plus meds made me think about it.