Please send good thoughts to my Tiger!

Hi Laura ...
Positive thoughts for Tiger...
... what a very pretty pussy cat ...
Please put an update on this blog with the vet's report...

thinking of tiger,i hope he gets better soon..

love and hugs to Tiger and to you hope all goes well at the vets and will look for your update xxx

Good luck with Tiger - he's a lovely boy.

Hope tiger comes home with you this afternoon lauram

Lots of love and luck Lauram. Fingers crossed !! x

Best wishes and good luck Tiger.

Big love and best of luck to little Tiger. Give him extra hugs. I have a vet friend here who is pretty holistic and can ask her for some advice if you like. Take good care

Tracy

Thinking of you too Lauram...chin up....

Well, $429 later, we are back from the vet.
He's going to be fine. He had a massive abcess in his throat - Dr Leathers said they pulled tons of nasty stuff out of there. Since his bloodwork was normal (except, of course, for things that would be consistent with having an infection) the vet is certain the abcess is responsible for his loss of appetite. I was worried about kidney disease - after all, Tiger is getting up there in years - but there were no signs of kidney problems in either the bloodwork or the urinalysis.
But still, $429, ouch! Well, I have some things for sale on Ebay. I suppose I can just sell some more stuff. It's just stuff, anyway, and not as important as my cat.

glad to hear that~ the nasty vet bills are the reason I have decided to go for insurance for our new puppy Henry~obviously they start to either bump you off or charge a mortgage for cover as the animal gets older, which is a cheek when you think about it ~they are quite happy to take your premiums when there is no claim for years on end but when you need it most they run a mile..
Anyway glad he is okay and good luck with ebay!...

I'm so glad Tiger is okay! Give him a pat for me :o)

Arlene, that's why I no longer have the pet insurance - I was tired of it not covering this and not covering that, and yet, as you said, they were happy to take the monthly premiums. I think one of the best things to do is get a good relationship with your vet, be a good client, and then if you need them to work with you, they will. I can't tell you how many times this vet hasn't charged me for meds or office visits.

Isn't it good when you get a good vet? Our current vet is not very good, but we have nowhere else to go, so that's that! Our dogs are in very good health thankfully so we don't visit the vet very often :o)

my friends had her dog put down mon and her vet was a money grabbing pig,they have the full insurance and the vet took it to just under a penny of the full cover and the poor dog was just so ill and suffering,they took her to another vet who put her down staight away as he said it was best for her,your right about finding a good vet who cares

pleased that Tiger will soon be better, I know what you mean about vets--- there seems very little regulation on what they can charge, when I had my dogs and ponies I was reccomended a good vet practice-- word of mouth helps--and their prices for basic injections etc was much less & once the'd seen an animal I could collect repeats rather than visit--- much cheaper, very caring too came here for my dogs when the time came to go to sleep

That's good news about Tiger...
I hope you can sell some items successfully to help pay for the vet bills ...

So glad that Tiger is ok. We had a vet bill for £2.500 five years ago, that really was a big ouch!! Took years to pay off!!! Our 10 week old puppy had meningitis but luckily no lasting effects. She has since had 7 puppies bless her!! We have a feral cat who has taken me especially under her wing (paw) I dread the day she may need a vet as she can be very hissy and scratchy, I don't think she would be very nice to a vet!!!!
A big stroke and cuddle to Tiger. xx

So pleased to hear that Tiger is going to be okay,I am worried about two of my three cats at the moment Ollie has ongoing problems with his mouth/ teeth which has flared up again and Ginge my stray has turned up again with another war wound a very nasty gash on his face.I can though get an appointment for Ollie at the P. D.S. A. and Ginge is letting me bathe his face they are a worry arent they but worth it.

Thanks everyone! I just got up and fed him and he and his best friend Tabby are scarfing down some canned food. What a relief.

I am really pleased every thing has turned out well for Tiger,now all he needs is lots and lots of T l c. :0))

Glad to hear your very good news...

Glad to hear he is all well again.

glad to hear that its all ok, pets are lovely but when they are ill they do cost lots of money. We have just taken are black lab william to the vet for a blood test and are waiting on the result! I am not sure the results will be in our favour... but he has had a good life. Give tiger a big hug from us in sunny brighton.. xxx

So,So pleased Tiger is on the mend, it will not be long before I am sure he will put weight back on and have his appetite back ( Bless Him).
Please keep us informed. I will continue to pray for him, so hugs to him and you from Derbyshire

Just read your blog Laurum & so pleased Tiger will be ok bless him...best wishes to you & all your pets

He isn't out of the woods yet. I had to rush him back to the vet on Monday. He'd been doing well but suddenly crashed on Sunday and was barely moving on Monday morning. The abcess had to be lanced again - it was healing and scabbing over but that was keeping it from draining and so the infection continued to build up. The vet is convinced that it's only the abcess that is causing the lack of appetite and the resulting weight loss, so he advised me to keep wiping that area with a damp cloth to prevent a scab from forming. That way hopefully the infection will continue to drain out. He seems eager to eat and is regaining some of his former activity, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed - but every day I come home from work with a knot in my stomach because I'm afraid I'll find him dead. I may begin bringing him to work with me to keep an eye on him.

Ohhhh dear, I'm sorry to hear that. My thoughts are with you.

sounds like the best thing if you can Lauram-- you'll both derive comfort from that, salt water is supposed to be good for infection and healing would the vet allow you to wipe it with that, I just thought as well does he lick at it, one of my dogs had to wear a collar ( bit like a lampshade) when a wound wouldn't heal

it`s a good sign if he wants to eat so hopefully all will be ok...i feel for you as we worry so much when our pets are ill so taking him to work is a good idea... take care

Thoughts and prayers for Tiger ...
it is so distressing when a pet which is on the mend has a sudden relapse. xxx

Sorry to hear that Tiger had a relapse, sending positive thoughts. Hope it gets better very soon. x

We're going back to the vet again on Monday. I have to work but will drop him off in the morning. He's crashed again. I'm going to hand-feed him baby food and electrolytes very aggressively this weekend. I hope, hope hope he's not eating only because his throat hurts. He's interested in food - if I open up a can of cat food he comes over & eats, but not that much. Maybe he's still sore. We'll see how he does. He's on a different antibiotic and the lanced area is still draining. Tiger is only 13 and I'm not ready to lose him.

How long do cats usually live for ??

I've met people with cats that died at 25! That's exceptional, of course. I think the average lifespan in the US for a strictly indoor cat is 12 years. Average lifespan for an outdoor cat is 2-3 years. My oldest, Snowflake, died at about 20. I felt really bad about it until my vet said, "You do understand that a 20 year old cat is the equivalent of a hundred-something year old person, right?" Tiger's bloodwork and urinalysis showed no typical old-cat problems, such as kidney disease, so he's in good shape.
I've been feeding and watering him with a syringe this afternoon and I think his tummy is finally full. It's now 4:30 am & he's sleeping & I suppose I'll go to bed, too.

Thinking of you, Lauram, and of Tiger ...

I hope you get good results on Monday .. xxx

thinking of you too & hope all goes well on monday..give Tiger a gentle hug from me bless him xx

He isn't going to make it. He looks so tired and sad. His incision is really bleeding a lot, which it hasn't been, but I suspect that's because I messed with him so much yesterday while I fed him with a syringe. It probably just caused the wound to reopen. My vet didn't want the wound to heal, so I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing.
We do have an emergency vet hospital, but the vets there are terrible so I don't even want to take him there today. I'm not sure it would do any good. I just have to hope he holds on until tomorrow morning when he gets to his regular vet. I dug his grave this morning next to the red buckeye.

Laura... you are doing everything you can for Tiger....
He knows you are there loving him...
It is a problem at weekends when it would mean seeing different vets.
Thinking of you. xxx

it`s so hard to try & be positive when poor Tiger is poorly but don`t give up hope cats are a lot tougher than we think they are.... perhaps his wound is bleeding as hopefully all the pus has gone...sending you & Tiger a hug xx

He's eating right now. Not a lot, but he's eating on his own. He didn't want anything this morning but I had fed him a whole jar of turkey baby food when I woke up, so maybe he just wasn't hungry earlier. I'm so frantic I can't concentrate on anything. I'm trying to clean the house and get stuff done but it isn't working because I'm so worried about him. If he survives the night he'll be in good hands tomorrow. I just have to hope for the best. We've all heard miracle stories of animals surviving and pulling through so maybe Tiger will be one of those miracles.

Sorry late to this Lauram...can see how worried you are...and all this happening over the weekend.Sending our good wishes to you and Tiger as he fights for his life..x

I am praying for you Lauram, this is obviously very traumatic for you.