My cat Po (Popoki) has become really sick. I brought him to the vet last Thursday night, and blood tests came back showing that he had anemia. What they didn't show was why? Po went into the hospital last Friday to get an ultrasound of his lower abdomen, to check for bleeding, masses...and whatnot. There was swelling in his stomach and his intestines...but more blood work didn't explain why. It's been thought that he has pancreatitis...and we're waiting on more lab work to come back hopefully by tomorrow. Po came home last night, because he hadn't eaten since last Wednesday, and we wanted to see if it was just because he was really scared at the hospital. He did eat, but I brought him back today because he was dehydrated and felt that they could provide better care. Now they're talking exploratory surgery to do biopsies for cancer or some other medical problem. Estimate for open surgery is $3700 and they can't guarantee anything. I have pet insurance...but they can't tell me what they'll reimburse...until they have a final diagnoses. I'm about $2500 into this already. I always told others that pet insurance would keep you from having to make a decision based on whether or not you have the finances to provide your pet the medical care they need...but that's exactly where I'm finding myself now. And I don't know what to do... :-)

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Hoping for the best for Po, Walt.
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Prayers Sent For Your Cat And For You To Make The Right Decision, Walt.
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You're in our thoughts Walt.
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Wow, I am hoping for the best as well.

It is not easy, I went through something with Hope (my Golden) and I can tell you it turned out to be the greatest investment.

The difference here is that identified immediately what was threatening her life - I dont know how much exploratory work I would have been able to go through.

All the best and please let us know how it goes...
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Thanks for the prayers guys. I may raffle off my entire collection if thats possible...
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Tough decision.
Been in a similar spot myself.
Hope all works out.
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Hoping and praying for you and Po
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The thing is to consider 3 questions, as I just went through this a year ago.

1. How much can you afford to spend? At some point you just can't do anymore
2. Exploratory surgery just sounds bad..... Especially when coupled with "no guarantees"
3. How old is said cat, mine was 12 he had cancer. They said we can poke around inside him and maybe get you 6 months. We said no thanks to cutting our cat open for a lousy 6 months, especially considering the quality of life. He wasn't himself.....you could see he was miserable.

At some point and believe me I know where you are at, it's the hardest thing to do. But put yourself in the same situation would you want someone tearing you open for "no guarantees". You sometimes have to realize you gave your cat the best XX amount of years he could ever have. You've done the right thing and no cat could have wished for better.

This was just my experience I wanted to share, I hope it helps out.

I feel for you, it's a horrible situation. But remember you gave the cat the best life a cat could ever have. I hope this turns out as good as it can brother. Good luck!
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I am sorry to hear this. I lost a great dog a few years ago due to his kidneys shutting down. Will keep the cat and your family in prayer.
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Thoughts and prayers for you and Po!
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My thoughts and prayers are with you and Po, and I wish all the best for you both!
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Tough decisions like this are no fun. Prayers and thoughts sent your way Walt.
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Good luck on your decision. I had to put down a cat a few months back, it was very difficult seeing he was my cat for 16 years. Sometimes it's best to know that your cat had a very good long life, and that he/she was happy.
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It's always a tough call. These little buggers become such a part of a person's daily life and it just tears at you when it comes to an end of life decision for them. My wife and I have always felt that once it becomes a dignity issue for that animal and it is going to hurt that member of our family to an extent that is more than should be asked of the animal to go through, then we will let he or she go, knowing that it will hurt us much more than it will hurt them. I totally feel your pain Walt! Little buggers anyways, they just enrich our lives so much, it is just too bad that they don't live on the same age clock as us. :-)

Po is a beautiful cat BTW!! Awesome eyes!!
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Walt sorry to hear. Hope they find what is wrong and Po is back to health. Prayers sent.
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Thanks for all of the prayers and well wishes everybody. I'm kind of out of it right now but will update more later

Walt
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I would recommend a second opinion. A different vet might have a new insight into what could be wrong before having to do exploratory surgery.

Best of luck for you and your friend.
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Very sorry to hear this.

We went through something similar with my dog a couple years ago. The money issue did come up and after a vet trip to stabilize him and a week in the animal hospital he pulled through. We now have daily medicine and monthly injections to keep him healthy.

At the point where he was sickest and there was really some doubt whether he would live, we just started writing checks. By the time we got him to the hospital and was informed how they work (we had no pet insurance) we just knew we had to try and help him.

I am glad we did, and now that we are no longer in 'that moment' where we had to make tough, quick, very serious financial choices, I can look back and say that I know I would do it again because he meant so much to us.

Our cost for the initial vet and hospital stay were around what you have invested so far, and we spend about $300 every 3 months for his injections. We were first shocked financially by the bills to keep him alive, but have come to accept the recurring cost of keeping him healthy. I couldn't begin to justify telling anyone else what is right to spend, but in our case I don't know if we could have hit a monetary number to actually say no to helping our dog.

I feel for your situation, and I hope things work out for you, your family and Po.
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Hope Po is doing better bro!
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