There’s been no change. She vomited again last night.
If anyone knows any other vets out there, I’d be happy to give them my vet’s number for a consult. Because there is no apparent physical reason for her to be vomiting every couple of hours.
She’s still on IV and sedated fairly heavily to keep her from going after the incision. They’re not going to try to feed her today, and I’m guessing they won’t do it tomorrow, either.
We are currently at a loss as to what to do.
She’s staying at the vet’s at least until Monday.
This sucks.
I stumbled upon you and Gracies story from reading Laurences blog. I’m so sorry you and Gracie are going through this.
Have you heard of Pet Flora?
Do you have a Holistic vet in your area?
I just searched for Holistic medicine and cat vomiting and Pet Flora was one of many things that came up.
Good luck and I’ll be praying for you both.
Meryl, I don’t know who your vet is, but you could try talking to our vet, we think he’s super. It’s Dr. Michael Zuccarro at Brook Run Animal Clinic 262-8621. If you need help getting hold of him as a “new client” I’ll try to help out.
*hugs*
Robyn
Would your vet consider consulting the Royal College of Veterinary surgeons in London?
I’m sorry. We hope she gets better soon.
If you want, I think I might know a pair of good vets in the DC area. Our real estate agent mentioned them when we moved in, although they may only do dogs. Let me know and I’ll try to track them down.
Sorry Meryl, this must really stink.
My vet is near Manassas so they’re probably too far away, but they’re great. They helped my friend’s 19 year old cat and her kidney problem and they do wonderful work with my annoying, evil dog. They even claim to like him!!! Which is saying an awful lot (emphasis on “awful”). Personally, I’m just fattening him up so when I get my jacket I can have a nice meal too. I didn’t name him Kagogi for nothing.
Old Bridge Vet 703-494-0094.
I’m much too far away to suggest a good vet but I know some people who are very knowledgeable about cats and their medical problems. If I find any leads I’ll pass them on ASAP.
Still praying for a complete recovery for lovely Gracie.
Our internal medicine specialty vet is awesome, but a bit too far away to be of much use to you. However you can search up one of your own via the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine – http://www.acvim.org/Specialist/Search.aspx
Meryl,
I know that Gaithersburg MD is a bit of a haul for you, but these people helped my Punkin earlier this year. You have to have a referral from your vet, but they do incredible work.
http://www.vcavra.com/
I’m going to have a long talk with the vet on Monday morning. They have to bring someone else in. Gracie can’t last much longer before stuff starts shutting down from lack of nutrition. IV isn’t enough.
Thanks for the suggestions. I see a bunch of internal specialists about an hour’s drive from me. I’m going to talk to my vet about them.
Hi Meryl,
Lawrence Simon emailed me about Gracie.
I am saddned to hear about your cat.
Since they did an exploratory, did they take biopsy samples? Have they run a PLI/TLI/Cobalamine/Folate test to check her for vitamin deficiency and or pancreatitis?
I am also VERY sad to hear that they have not placed a PEG(stomach tube) or an esophagostamy tube for feeding. It is SO important to keep a cat eating. They will become sicker and die from the lack of nutrients. 24 hour fast past surgery is commmon, but not to go longer than that.
I do also hope they placed her on opiods for pain medication and on an IV CRI drip of pain medication as well. Exploratory is incredibly painful. I actually do epidurals and CRI and pre and post pain meds for the cats I work on for these types of surgeries that my DRS will perform.
Have they given her anitemietics such as Pepcid, Reglan, or Anzemet? Carafate?
Please feel free to ask me if you need any help. Dr Chiapella in Manassas is THE guru of internal medicine in VA. \
Ellen (Licensed Veterinary Technician 13 years in the business.)
Those are all questions they’re going to hear from me on Monday. I know they’ve sedated her because of the surgery, and that they did two different blood tests.
I think I may be taking a trip up to Manassas this week.
Meryl,
I’m sure you probably have a bunch of friends who’ll offer, but if you need a driver to take Gracie to Manassas Monday, I work from home, so it wouldn’t be a problem for me to drive yall up there. Just let me know please.
~~ Robyn
LOL I mean to drive you and Gracie, or drive with you. And since I work from home, my schedule is flexible. Obviously my mind is toast, but the offer is genuine. :)
Ongoing prayers from me and the kitties again. My vet is a wonderful internist; unfortunately, I know New Haven is too far to travel with your sweet Gracie. On the other hand, Cornell’s Feline Health Center has a telephone consultation service (named for Dr. Louis Camuti, the first veterinarian in the US to devote his practice entirely to cats).
Here is the basic info about the service:
Link: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/camuti.htm
I hope this info. might help if the vets in VA are still looking for a diagnosis on Monday. God bless you and precious Gracie.
My heart just aches for you and Gracie. I went through this type of agony with my darling Pluto when he was 11 years old. I lived in California then, so vets’ names won’t help at all, especially since none of the three vets we saw could come up with answers.
My prayers are with you and Gracie.
Marilynn
Sending Kitty prayers… It must be a bad time of year for cats — Lucy suddenly can’t move or feel her back legs at all. So, I’m crossing several fingers (making it hard to type).
One of my Siamese developed this problem. She lost a lot of weight and threw up liquied five or six times a day. I took her to the vet school at Mississippi State. They did ultrasounds of her GI tract and she had a little thickening of her stomach wall. The biopsy showed inflammatory bowel disease and Helicobacter pylori organisms. She couldn’t keep the steroid pills down so the vet gave her a long acting shot of prednisone and said she might have to have another one in eight weeks or so. That was 8 years ago and she is still fine. Cats can have the same bacteria that people have in their stomachs with chronic gastritis.
I’ve heard of that Dr. Camuti. I would think Tufts Vet School would have great vets too.