Living with an unwell cat

This isn’t a cat with cat flu or a small infection. This is a life-debilitating illness which we have yet to find a conclusion for.

Some of you know that I have a cat named Holly, and she is really unwell. We’ve taken her to the vets many times, and they haven’t managed to diagnose the issue. This week, we had to take her to a specialist vet in Bristol as a last resort.

It’s been horrible, scary, and frustrating, to say the least. Every so often, she will take a horrible turn. Leading to little to no food being eaten, or barely drinking any fluids. We then have to take her to the vets where she stays overnight. They then manage to stabilise her to a point we can bring her back home. She then comes back rested and seemingly well, but she’s never 100%.

Varying her diet to keep her healthy

We have gone through various diets, starting with cheap meat and biscuit, to hypoallergenic biscuit, which worked for a very long time. No, we’re at a point where we have to water her dry biscuit to make it softer for her. However, this week, she doesn’t want to touch her watered-down biscuit. We’ve now found some high-quality meat that she seems to enjoy. This is good, but I start to wonder how long it will last before she gets put off her food again.

She has a few issues, first off, she throws up. It used to be quite regular and was one of the reasons we went from cheap food to hypo. That really did help in her younger years, but more recently, she’s throwing up again. We took her to the vets, and they prescribed her with pills that helps keep the acid at bay. Then, there’s her other issue… She really struggles to swallow food. We believe it’s because of the acid coming up and damaging her oesophagus, and it gradually got worse. This is why we’re now watering down her biscuit, to hopefully make it easier for her to swallow.

The vets in Bristol took so many tests and plenty of x-rays. Including blast x-rays which fire a load of x-rays while she’s eating to see the food’s journey. Sounds intriguing, and I hope I can see those x-rays at some point.

Endless amounts of medication

She has gone through a large amount of medication. She has pills which prevent her from vomiting. Also, she has pipettes to reduce inflammation in the oesophagus. However, it seems like we’re just fighting a losing battle, and it stresses both her and me out. She used to be able to take the pills in her treat sticks. Making this go down as easily as possible felt like a huge win. Until she stopped eating her treats altogether.

It’s crazy how clever she is. Recently, I placed the pill in her treat stick, and turn it upside down in the hopes she’ll eat it. However, she turns the stick over, sees the blue pill and then walks away. I’m very proud of her, but at the same time, it makes both our lives harder. I now have to restrain her and try to chuck the pill in. She tried to fight me, but it’s still for her best interest.

Hoping to fix her ailments

Hopefully, next week we will get some more conclusive results back and start a proper course of treatment. Of course, we won’t know for sure until that time, and it may still come back inconclusive. However, I’m remaining hopeful because she’s the best cat I’ve ever owned. We have cuddles almost daily, and she’s super social with me.

I will write a blog post about her next week, and hopefully, it will be much more positive. In the meantime, my wife set up a GoFundMe to help with the expensive vet costs. We’ve had some fantastic donations and shares. We’re grateful for every single one, and to everyone who wishes her well. You mean the world to us right now. Thank you.