Update 3/22/16: I'm sorry to share bad news, but we found out yesterday-- with the help of an ultrasound--that Puffy had lymphoma in her stomach. This morning, the doctors had more info, that being the fact that it was large cell lymphoma and that the prognosis was not good. They also told us that the lymphoma seemed to have moved to her liver. The fatty liver problem, they said, was secondary to the lymphoma. The lymphoma is probably what caused her to stop eating in the first place. The options they gave us for treating the lymphoma would have given her only a few more months at most, and she would have likely continued to suffer. For that reason, we opted to allow the doctor to humanely euthanize her. We're not people who are quick to go with that option, but it seemed to be the best we could do for her, terrible though it was. Thank you to people gave. The money raised will go to defray her vet bills, to which at least another $1300.00 has been added in the last two days. Many thanks for Danny's and my friends for the outpouring of good wishes, as well as donations and words of advice. Thank you so much for sharing in our trouble and grief.
Earlier: I'm Kathy and the kitty in the photo is Puffy. She's 14 years old and I really hope she will live to be at least 19 or 20. She's a beloved member of my family and has been since she was born.
Puffy has been living with her daddy since October 2015, when he and I started living separately. I let her stay with him because she's comfortable in his roomy home with the animal siblings she's known for a number of years now. Puff's daddy called me last week to let me know she had taken ill.
He said her appetite had declined gradually for a bit and then she stopped eating altogether. When he called me, she had come down with fatty liver, because she was surviving on her stored fat, which had to be metabolized through the liver. She had been at the vet for three days at that point. She stayed for another two days and then they put in an esophageal feeding tube, then allowed her to come home. Danny (her dad) has been administering tube feedings, which were going pretty well for a bit and she seemed to improve a little. She relaxed some and started purring when we would pet her. She put on a pound of weight, after having lost 5 or more pounds.
As Danny and the vet adjusted the diet some this week, Puffy has started vomiting, every time, as soon as she's tube fed. She had been on liquid food last week, followed by a gradual blending in of moist food with the liquid, followed most recently by all moist food mixed with some water (not liquid food, just water). This seems to be when the vomiting started, so it's back to the vet on Friday 3/18/16 and buying more of the liquid food, most likely.
The bill for all of this has come to $1200.00 so far, not an easy cost to meet, but we're doing our best. We know there'll be more to pay, but we're not sure how much more. I'm requesting donations to help with these costs in the hope of our vet getting a handle on this problem and getting Puff to a point where she can and will eat on her own again. Because I don't know how much more will be needed, and because I know that transferring the funds will eat up some of what we raise, I'm setting a goal of $2000.00. We would be very grateful for any help you can give. Thank you for reading. We really love our Puffy Cat.