Conference misery::feline

    
    
    Liz,  has his gums turned yellow at all? Has he been checked for 
          feline lukemia? I hope that it is nothing serious, many 
          years ago we had an indoor/outdoor cat that stopped eating and 
          drinking and lost a lot of weigh. What happens when you lift 
          his skin up, does it snap right back or kinda stay like that.
    
    Shaw

  We get headaches & stomach aches. They go lethargic and refuse to eat & drink,
so in many cases not eating doesn't reflect on the real problem.

						Trace

    It's very important that a cat does eat however;  I think that even
    a few days of not eating may bring on liver damage.  Also dehydration
    is dangerous.  I would check with your vet to be sure these things
    are being paid attention to.  I'd also consider calling teh Cornell
    vet hot line at 1-800-KITTYDR.
    
    Please let us know how your kitty is doing,
    
    Karen
    

    I just had the dim recollection that some dietary deficiencies
    can cause tremors, etc.  Does Moche eat regular cat food, or
    something else?  Most
    commercial cat foods are nutritionally balanced, as I understand it.
    

    
    		Thank you all for responding back.
    
    		RE: 947.1 Tufts said Mochas gums were alittle slow bouncing
    		back but didn't look to bad. They didn't look yellow or
    		anemic. Mocha was checked a few years
    		back for the feline lukemia and has had the shot since then
    		to prevent it every year. He is an inside cat but he has
    		not been recently tested. I probably should have him tested
    		again. Maybe in some cats it can show up later on.
    
    		RE: 947.3 Yes Mocha gets fluids under his skin from me
    		everyday. I give him 150 ml to 200 ml's a day. I also 
    		force feed him with a food syringe when he dosen't eat on
    		his own.
    
        	RE: 947.4 Mochas diet consisted of Science diet dry every
    		morning and then about 3 months ago he just stopped eating it.
    		At first I thought he finally got sick of it and wanted 
    		something different.
    		
                I also fed/feed him friskies buffet in which the
    		veternarians say is good to give him. He's been
    		eating that since I've had him.
    		
		Then I thought maybe it has to do with stress. We recently
    		moved into a new house and I thought maybe it was stress
    		that was causing his symptoms but the vets think it highly
    		unlikely.
    
		I did read somewhere that tremors could be caused my
    		poisoning of some sort but the vet ruled that out as
    		well.

    Lead poisoning can cause tremors, I think.  Often gotten from
    eating paint chips, but a blood test can determine if it
    exists.  Poisonous plants around that he could have eaten?
    

    	
    
    	I mentioned that to the doctor at Tufts that maybe it was
    	Lead poisoning by route of drinking water but she said he would
    	have major side effects such as blindness ect.. and it would happen
    	very quickly.
    
    	His blood test the other day reveiled that he is really high in
    	potassium. The doctor said that it could point to the disease 
    	called Addisons. Mocha is there at Tufts today to determine
    	if he has it. There is no cure but they can live with the disease.
    	They are given corizone and or hydracortizone for the rest of their
    	lives. 
    
         Mocha is also having a slight/tiny lump aspirated to see if thats
    	 whats causing him problems. If it was he may have to get
    	 chemotherapy to get rid of it. 
    
         He is also having the feline lukiema test done today.
    	
          Waiting is so hard. Wish him good luck!!!!!!!!!!!

    
    Kitty prayers for Mocha and fingers and paws crossed ;-)
    
    Shaw

    Bigs hugs for Mocha and you,
    
    Karen

    May all go well with Mocha.
    
    Marilyn and Tigger

    
    		We found out on friday that Mocha does have the disease
    		Addisons. So he will need to take a cortisol type drug
    		forever. I read up a little bit on the disease and it
    		says that it's an immune disfunction disorder. It robs 
    		ones body of potassium and hormones and sodium.
    
    		He still is not eating on his own, poor baby. I have to bring
    		him back to Tufts to get a chemistry profile done as well		
    		as check his kidney profile. He did after three weeks start
    		drinking on his own so that was great to see.
    
    		If anyone else has a kitty with the disease please let me
    		know how they are doing.
    
    		Thanks,
    
    		Liz & Mocha
    
                       

    I found some humongeous page on the web from the National
    Institute(s?) of Health on Addison's Disease, presumably just in 
    humans.  I can't easily transfer it in soft copy to my work system
    (I'm at home) so I'll put a printout to you in interoffice
    mail.  What's your site adddress?
    
    Or if you have a web browser, it's at
    http://www.niddk.nih.gov:80/AD/AD.html
    
    Karen
    

    
    
    		Thank You Karen,
    
    		I will try to get the info from the web site you listed.
    	
    		- Liz

    Liz, hope Mocha will start feeling a lot better soon!  (And you, too,
    you've been under a lot of stress yourself!)
    
    Hugs,
    
    Kate, Oscar, and Misty (who is in the doghouse with Dad)

    		Hi,
    
    		Mocha had another chemistry profile done and for some
    		reason his protein levels are getting lower. 
    		Everytime he goes it seems to drop.
    
    		The doctor thinks that THIS added problem is not do to the
    		disease Addisons but Mocha may have a problem with his
    		kidneys or liver. She said that alot of cats his age
    		have problems like that. Anyone elses kitty have one
    		of these problems and what did you do to help them?
		
    		- Liz

    If the vet thinks there is a kidney or liver problem, he should
    be treating that.  Kidney disease, I know, requires a certain
    type of diet...
    

    Liz...  
    
    My little Ziggy is currently being treated for a kidney problem.
    At this time they do believe it is an infection in the kidney.
    He is on strong antibiotics and is also having a constant 
    intraveous drip to flush his kidneys out.   He has had kidney
    problems for the past two years and we have dealt with it by
    keeping him on a low protein diet.
    
    Whenever his kidney problem acts up...the first sign I see is
    he normally will stop eating.   
    
    Sandy

    Heres an update on Mocha. Last weekend Mocha started to sniff and
    eat the rocks in his kitty litter. I called Tufts and told them 
    about it and she said that when cats do that they are most likely
    anemic. Has anyone else gone thru this or ever heard of this
    before? I read along time ago in the canine notes about dogs
    eating rocks but can't remember what the cause was. Mocha does seem to
    be eating and drinking alot better now, so thats good news but then he
    develops other things.
    
    Since that time I've been putting shredded newspaper in his
    box. Don't want him to clog up his belly with rocks/sand and dust.
            
    Mocha goes to Tufts this sunday for a kidney profile as well as a pcv
    to check his red and white blood cell count. Poor kitty he goes to
    tufts almost every week now.
            
    - Liz
    
            

    Liz...My old kitty Mr Meow had major kidney problems and was also
    anemic.   We caught Mr Meow eating his kitty litter but could 
    never figure out why he did this.
    
    It was a year later that I was reading in this notesfile that
    eating litter is a sign of a cat being anemic.  So I have heard 
    of that before and have experienced it.
    
    I do know Mr Meow was told to take some pet tinic which is a vitamin
    that helps the blood...and he did stop eating the litter after that.
    
    Good luck... Your in great hands at Tufts.
    
    Sandy

    Blackie takes a vitamin and mineral pill every day and he
    eats it like it was Pounce, in case it comes to that.
             

    Yes, my Noella, rest her little angel soul, did that and when I took
    her to the vet to find out why we discovered she had FELV and was very
    anemic.

    My little Eirene was eating her litter; that is how we could tell it
    was time for another transfusion. She was severely anemic; the PCV was
    around 12. Her problem was renal failure.
    
    good luck at Tufts,
    Deb

    We got Mochas blood work results back a few days ago and he was not
    anemic at all. He was high again on his kidney (potassuim) profile
    so I have to up his salt pill medication slightly and try to give
    Mocha less of the cortisol drug. He goes back to Tufts in 2 weeks for yet
    another chemistry profile.
        
         - Liz
    

    Best Wishes!
    Nat
    

    	Mocha is sick again. We have upped his salt pill and tryed
    	to lower the prednisone. I think we lowered it to much. He
    	is back to not eating and not drinking. he is also vommiting
    	which he hardly did before he got sick. We got his kidney
    	profile back yesterday and that looked good but now his 
    	electrolytes are high again in potasuim, that is why we are
    	giving him more of the salt pill. He was doing well for weeks
    	now and out of the blue he started getting sick again. I wish 
    	we knew what was wrong with him.
    
    	- Liz 

    I brought Mocha back to Tufts yesterday and they rediscovered the
    lump. They took an ultrasound of it and it looks like there is more
    than one now. They are in the middle of his kidneys so it's going
    to be difficult to aspirate it. The doctor said that he may bleed
    profusley and then may need a transfusion because of the area the 
    lumps are at. The doctor thinks it's lymphoma. We are going to wait until
    after the holidays to have it done to see how bad it is. I am still
    trying to decide if chemo is the best thing for Mocha. 
    
    If anyone has had to deal with this problem and decsion could you let me  
    know how well your kitty did on chemo, what the side effects are and how the
    kittys are doing or how long they survived after the chemo. The doctor
    did tell me that when kittys are on chemo they tend to stop eating and 
    that is what Mocha is going thru now. I don't want to make it worse.
    
    - Liz

    If you decide to go the route with a transfusion, if you have a second
    cat have that cat be the doner; it will save you about $200. By the
    way, my Eirene had a couple of transfusions (her twin brother Panther
    was the doner) and they helped her tredmenously.
    
    Deb

    Bad news we found out last week that Mocha does have lymphoma. Just
    waiting to hear back from the doctor on what type it is and at what
    stage it's at. Then I have to determine whether to go thru with the
    chemo. The doctor mentioned that the lymphoma Mocha has is the one most
    likely to respond to chemo. Thank God.
    
    Who else out there has had to deal with this disease and what did you
    do for the kitty? 
    
    

    I'm so sorry. I know that you must have wonderful memories of Mocha. 
    
    Deb

	I too am so sorry for you.  It's so hard to lose such a good friend.

	Laura

    I'm so sorry about Mocha.  No kitty could have had a better mother.
    I know he is waiting for you at the rainbow bridge.  Please email
    or post whenever you need electronic shoulders...
    
    Karen                
    

    My Mocha lost his struggle with cancer last thursday. I know he is so
    much better off now and in a heavenly place. He will not be in any
    more pain. I will miss him dearly. Mocha you will never be forgotten.
    You were a wonderful friend.
    

                       <<< Note 947.33 by FURFCE::LIZ >>>
                       -< GOOD BYE MOCHA MY FRIEND!!!! >-

    My Mocha lost his struggle with cancer last thursday. I know he is so
    much better off now and in a heavenly place. He will not be in any
    more pain. I will miss him dearly. Mocha you will never be forgotten.
    You were a wonderful friend.
    
I'm sorry about Mocha - he has been added to the SLM listing and will be
remembered there as well !

With sympathy,
Debbi