Our 7-year old cat began having problems the week before last. It started out as hacking and…read morevomiting as with hairballs, but by Thursday night she was not eating at all, and if she did drink a small amount of water, she'd immediately vomit it back up. She became a bit lethargic and was obviously losing weight. I called Friday morning, but our normal vet could not see her until the next Monday. I found that MAC could see her immediately because they are walk-in only.
The doctor saw her quickly and after an exam, gave us a very reasonable quote for suggested procedures (bloodwork, IV fluids, hospitalization). We left her there for treatment over the weekend. The staff did call with updates. On Monday, a technician called to say they had no good news but were going to run more bloodwork. I asked if they had done an x-ray to check for an obstruction and she said no, and acted like that was a strange request.
Later in the afternoon, the doctor called to say things were not good. He told use she had FIV (feline AIDS). That was news to us, and a very unusual disease for an indoor cat to have. He said her inability to keep anything down was likely due to a GI infection she could not fight off. He said there was nothing they could do for her and that she would probably not live much longer without eating or drinking. He said this is common with FIV cats. While he did not suggest euthanasia, when I brought that up, he seemed to think that was a good option.
We went that evening, expecting to see our cat on her deathbed and to say goodbye. When we got there, she was fairly active and seemed fairly normal. After some discussion, we decided to take her home, fully expecting to be back in a few days when she began to go downhill. When we checked out, we were charged some additional fees for more bloodwork, but it was still very reasonable.
For the next few days, she was still fairly lethargic, and vomited a few times after drinking. Once or twice, she did eat a few morsels and keep them down. She sis not seem to be in any pain and did not seem to be getting worse, but she needed to eat. On Thursday, we called our regular vet and got her in there. I brought all the bloodwork records from MAC. Oddly enough, none of that included the FIV test results, and when our vet did the test, it came back negative! Our doctor said that the test is very accurate. She did an x-ray, and saw what might have be a soft object in her stomach, so we had an endoscope done. That shows nothing - no tumors, no foreign objects, all was good.
Since the, she has slowly started easting again and has been less lethargic. It remains to be seen what is (was) wrong, but at least she seems to be improving. I think MAC does a good job, but I question the validity of their FIV test (especially since it was not listed on their bloodwork results). I also question the doctor almost letting us euthanize our dear pet. I just believe they could have been more diligent in doing more diagnostic work (x-rays).
