Need advice

My 10 year old cat threw a clot on Monday. She is on IV fluids & Plavix to
see if the clot will resolve. She doesn't appear to be in pain. I know it
is possible she might throw more. What are the chances she will survive
this and what about her quality of life after? I know that she will need to
be on meds and the vet said *maybe* 1-2 years on a regimen of Plavix, Lasix
& Enalapril.

Kathy

On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:12:42 -0500, "kat" wrote:

My 10 year old cat threw a clot on Monday. She is on IV fluids & Plavix to
see if the clot will resolve. She doesn't appear to be in pain. I know it
is possible she might throw more. What are the chances she will survive
this and what about her quality of life after? I know that she will need to
be on meds and the vet said *maybe* 1-2 years on a regimen of Plavix, Lasix
& Enalapril.

Kathy


Saddle clot? I lost one that way even younger. And 10 isn't really
young. The main problem with clots is that there is usually an
underlying heart disease. I'm no expert on what happens if they get
better; in my case, the vet called and said that the ultrasound showed
other clots that could come out any time and recommended putting him
to sleep. So we did.

Before they found the clots I thought that things might be ok. If the
clot dissolved then his legs would be fine and everything would be ok
even if he had to be on medication - until the next time.

Purrs.

On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:12:42 -0500, "kat" wrote:

My 10 year old cat threw a clot on Monday. She is on IV fluids & Plavix to
see if the clot will resolve. She doesn't appear to be in pain. I know it
is possible she might throw more. What are the chances she will survive
this and what about her quality of life after? I know that she will need to
be on meds and the vet said *maybe* 1-2 years on a regimen of Plavix, Lasix
& Enalapril.

Kathy


Any news?

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:12:42 -0500, "kat" wrote:

My 10 year old cat threw a clot on Monday. She is on IV fluids & Plavix
to
see if the clot will resolve. She doesn't appear to be in pain. I know
it
is possible she might throw more. What are the chances she will survive
this and what about her quality of life after? I know that she will need
to
be on meds and the vet said *maybe* 1-2 years on a regimen of Plavix,
Lasix
& Enalapril.

Kathy


Saddle clot? I lost one that way even younger. And 10 isn't really
young. The main problem with clots is that there is usually an
underlying heart disease. I'm no expert on what happens if they get
better; in my case, the vet called and said that the ultrasound showed
other clots that could come out any time and recommended putting him
to sleep. So we did.

Before they found the clots I thought that things might be ok. If the
clot dissolved then his legs would be fine and everything would be ok
even if he had to be on medication - until the next time.

Purrs.

Yeah that's kind of my thinking too. I'm hoping the use of Plavix might
change the usual outcome but I've prepared myself for the worst.

Kathy

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:12:42 -0500, "kat" wrote:

My 10 year old cat threw a clot on Monday. She is on IV fluids & Plavix
to
see if the clot will resolve. She doesn't appear to be in pain. I know
it
is possible she might throw more. What are the chances she will survive
this and what about her quality of life after? I know that she will need
to
be on meds and the vet said *maybe* 1-2 years on a regimen of Plavix,
Lasix
& Enalapril.

Kathy


Any news?

Well I went to try and get her to eat Wed. night and unexpectedly ended up
bringing her home. She looked so bad that I didn't want her to die there.
I think it might have been the pain meds she was on. She is more alert,
eating a little bit, drinking, using the litter box and even a little
grooming. Still no movement but her temp is back up to 100 (from 96 or 98 -
can't remember which). The vet thinks she might have some flow because of
the temp and the fact that she seems more comfortable than most with this.
We are in a holding pattern but I'm not kidding myself - I know she could go
at any time and may never regain use of her hind quarters. If that is the
case, I will do what is necessary.

The vet checked some literature which said it could be 7-14 days before
there is improvement and up to 2 months for sufficient motion and even then
there might be some residul damage. As long as she remains stable I'm
willing to give it two weeks and see what happens. I'm hoping the use of
Plavix (fairly recent development) might change the usual outcome even if
she does regain motion.

Kathy

"kat" wrote in message
...

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:12:42 -0500, "kat" wrote:

My 10 year old cat threw a clot on Monday. She is on IV fluids & Plavix
to
see if the clot will resolve. She doesn't appear to be in pain. I know
it
is possible she might throw more. What are the chances she will survive
this and what about her quality of life after? I know that she will need
to
be on meds and the vet said *maybe* 1-2 years on a regimen of Plavix,
Lasix
& Enalapril.

Kathy


Any news?

Well I went to try and get her to eat Wed. night and unexpectedly ended up
bringing her home. She looked so bad that I didn't want her to die there.
I think it might have been the pain meds she was on. She is more alert,
eating a little bit, drinking, using the litter box and even a little
grooming. Still no movement but her temp is back up to 100 (from 96 or
98 - can't remember which). The vet thinks she might have some flow
because of the temp and the fact that she seems more comfortable than most
with this. We are in a holding pattern but I'm not kidding myself - I know
she could go at any time and may never regain use of her hind quarters. If
that is the case, I will do what is necessary.

The vet checked some literature which said it could be 7-14 days before
there is improvement and up to 2 months for sufficient motion and even
then there might be some residul damage. As long as she remains stable
I'm willing to give it two weeks and see what happens. I'm hoping the use
of Plavix (fairly recent development) might change the usual outcome even
if she does regain motion.

Kat, I hope she improves and think you are wonderful for taking such good
care of her.

"cybercat" wrote in message
...

"kat" wrote in message
...

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:12:42 -0500, "kat" wrote:

My 10 year old cat threw a clot on Monday. She is on IV fluids &
Plavix to
see if the clot will resolve. She doesn't appear to be in pain. I know
it
is possible she might throw more. What are the chances she will survive
this and what about her quality of life after? I know that she will
need to
be on meds and the vet said *maybe* 1-2 years on a regimen of Plavix,
Lasix
& Enalapril.

Kathy


Any news?

Well I went to try and get her to eat Wed. night and unexpectedly ended
up bringing her home. She looked so bad that I didn't want her to die
there. I think it might have been the pain meds she was on. She is more
alert, eating a little bit, drinking, using the litter box and even a
little grooming. Still no movement but her temp is back up to 100 (from
96 or 98 - can't remember which). The vet thinks she might have some
flow because of the temp and the fact that she seems more comfortable
than most with this. We are in a holding pattern but I'm not kidding
myself - I know she could go at any time and may never regain use of her
hind quarters. If that is the case, I will do what is necessary.

The vet checked some literature which said it could be 7-14 days before
there is improvement and up to 2 months for sufficient motion and even
then there might be some residul damage. As long as she remains stable
I'm willing to give it two weeks and see what happens. I'm hoping the
use of Plavix (fairly recent development) might change the usual outcome
even if she does regain motion.

Kat, I hope she improves and think you are wonderful for taking such good
care of her.


Thanks We have a recheck scheduled for Monday and will see if she needs
SubQ fluids at that point. I was encouraged by the amount of food she ate
yesterday (3 oz.) but today she is turning up her nose both times I tried.
Might have to try syringe feeding. I haven't done it before but I got some
info from the assisted feeding group so hopefully it will go smoothly.

Kathy