No Jeep parts or trading for me - poor kitty...

[ShadowsPapa]

Tuvak went in to the vet in March as I finally recognized the signs (later than I should have) of hyper-thyroid. He was getting skinny, walking around and around in the house, pacing, meowing a lot.
So he was put on the one and only drug that works on thyroid problems (at least with cats)
Then this weekend we noticed sores on his face, chin and next to one of his ears. They didn't clear up after a couple of days so back to the vet today. I knew what she was going to say - bad allergic reaction to the drug. The drug is expensive enough, and then at least twice-yearly blood tests after more frequent tests to adjust dosage, but he had to be take off those pills immediately.
That leaves pretty much only one more option.
So he goes into the hospital in a little over 3 weeks, then I have to handle cleaning their litter boxes with care, package up the waste and it has to sit a couple of months before it can go into the garbage.
I may have to sell some stuff to pay for his treatment, we'll see.

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[Cburd61]

Sorry about your cat. Hopefully, it won’t be too expensive. Been there with our Chihuahua. 5 grand when she got pymetria. Was worth it though, it’s given us 2 more years with her. Hopefully several more. You sound like us. When the furry kids get sick, personal wants get set way to the side. Good luck with him.

 

[Shopshirt]

Sorry to hear about Tuvak. Good Luck with kitty. Sending positive thoughts your way.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Sorry about your cat. Hopefully, it won’t be too expensive. Been there with our Chihuahua. 5 grand when she got pymetria. Was worth it though, it’s given us 2 more years with her. Hopefully several more. You sound like us. When the furry kids get sick, personal wants get set way to the side. Good luck with him.

3K

Radioactive iodine injection, a few days in the hospital and then home but not allowed to snuggle with us for a few days.

Pickle has hyper-thyroid problems, too - started him on meds this week. Hopefully he's not allergic or doesn't have bad reactions to it.
The meds work on most cats, some have allergic reactions like Tuvak, others have other complications.
With the meds, it's for life - and blood tests to monitor.

Like I told my wife - he we couldn't come up with the funds, I was going to have a big sale, shop equipment, anything it took.
She's working on the money side of it.

 

[BUZZHEAD]

Sorry to hear that PAPA , I hope he gets well.
I am like you my pets are my kids .They come first

 

[Hootbro]

As someone that has put $15K in medical over my Beagle, I feel you pain. A few thousand here and there adds up.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

As someone that has put $15K in medial over my Beagle, I feel you pain. A few thousand here and there adds up.

He and his brother are Tonkinese. Not that many breeders of Tonks in the middle of the USA - not that don't stick them in cages for months or longer. So we drove to St. Louis to a couple down there who raised Tonkinese in their home,, mostly gave their Tonks free run of the house. (save for certain times of year to keep the guys from the gals)
That was 2011 and wasn't cheap.
Then in 2016 my wife was doing some stitching in the front room, Tuvak and his brother sleeping in beds by the front window - the door bell rings, Barbara put the needle and thread aside on the table she has set up for her quilting stuff and goes to the door. Neighbor who loved to chat about all of the divorces, illnesses, whatever, of the neighborhood. After a couple of minutes, Tuvak walks out into the kitchen with thread hanging out of his mouth. My wife gently pulls a bit to see if he's swallowed it - it comes right out of his mouth. Then she realizes - that's the same thread that was in the needle. So she and neighbor start searching and can't find the needle. I come in and join the search. After a minute or so I figure it's in his mouth or worse. Pick up all food and water - no needle is found. So off to the vet. Xray seen from 10 feet away clearly shows a needle in his stomach. So surgery and a few days at the hospital.
The vets were amazed it made it all the way down, and he and we were lucky it stopped there and didn't go through his stomach lining.
in their younger years, Tonks can leap pretty much straight up 5 or 6 feet and will jump up onto your shoulder. They are more like puppies in a lot of ways.




He was 2 years old here. The front room was a mess - I had one of their toys suspended from the ceiling by a sort of elastic thread and some elastic. It was knotted in a couple of places and at one point when he lets go, it gets hung up over 6' in the air by a knot on the cord. He goes for it and gets it.

 

[Alfonz]

Prayers for Tuvak and Pickles. They become just like your kids, only you are allowed to cage them.

3 years ago our rescued Husky Bella was itching so much that she was bleeding and had open sores. The Vet clinic fixed and stitched up her wounds and did a biopsy on the the wound cells. Came back as cancerous and they gave her 2 months to live without chemo and up to 6 months with chemo. We decided against chemo and she did about a month of steroid medication to heal the wounds. We also changed her food to NO chicken products. Three years later, she is probably the healthy she has been in her almost 12 years. So, we now get second opinions on diagnosis.

 

[Rusty PW]

Pets become furry kids. You love them to death. The bad thing is that they can't tell you when something is wrong.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Pets become furry kids. You love them to death. The bad thing is that they can't tell you when something is wrong.

You know it.
And for the latter - likely the same for dogs, but I know it is for cats - showing weakness or showing that you are unhealthy means certain death by carnivores. You hide it until it's not possible.
And with cats, if they seem to want outside badly, it's possible they are seeing the end coming near and will go find a place to hide until the end.
For the first time in his life - when I had the bad door open, Tuvak stepped right out and onto the steps and my neighbor luckily blocked him. Otherwise, they look but don't want to cross that threshold.
Many times you have no idea something is wrong.
In the case of Pickle, also suffering the same thing but so far - no reaction to meds, although he only started them a few days ago so it's not been long enough to see if he'll react, it was weight loss in the back 1/3 of their body.
They lose weight slowly, and it's hard to see unless you look at them from above.
Pickle really showed nothing for other signs - Tuvak paced, wandered, and meowed a lot more than normal. He'd sit by a door and meow for 10 minutes. (in the past some of his meows have lasted over 5 seconds each) Pickle remains the same personality-wise.
Except he no longer brings his mama "Porky" - a stuffed toy he carries up from downstairs to present to Barbara as a gift, meowing as he's carrying it up the stairs.

 

[Rusty PW]

When Cooper past away. That night, he didn't want to be in the house. He wanted outside in the rain. And he didn't like rain.

 

[legacy_etu]

Sorry to hear Bill. I feel your pain.We just had to put down our dog due to thyroid cancer.

 

[Alfonz]

 

[ShadowsPapa]

LOL - love that pic.
Missed seeing that back then because that's the date I lost a few hours of my day, and a gall bladder.

A question -
Since Tuvak was treated with the radioactive iodine - is there a danger of him turning into some teenage mutant ninja kitty or something?

Have you ever tried to pee and had a cat jump up to your back and climb onto your shoulder?

Yeah, he's back, but seemingly with some superpowers or something.

OTOH, Pickle seems to be under control with the meds - no bad reaction so far. He goes back in for more blood work this Wednesday to see how the dose he's on is doing for him.
man, two of the at once - Tuvak's allergic bad reaction to the meds - Pickle figuring out that when I walk towards him with a pill in my hand - it's time to run, or at least twist his tongue to the side so he can flick it right back out again.

 

[Bird Dog]

Sorry to hear that and hope it becomes manageable. Over the years between horses, cows, 10 litters of German Shorthaired Pointers and our cats I probably could have come close to buying a Gladiator outright if I added up all the vet bills. Here's a pic of Keebler my office assistant

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