Pets are great to have but really hard to see in bad health. I feel for you as well.

I was at your place and met Poncho, I wanted to take him home with me. I do not do well losing a pet at all. 3 years ago one of ares was real sick and it did not look good. We took him to vet and they thought they could see something in the x rays. they asked us if we wanted them to send pictures to Guelph. Guelph said yes there is something. It just happen a speialise was in doing an operation on another cat and had time for ares. the dogs had ripped apart a rubber ball and the cat ate two big chunks. 3 years latter and he is still doing great. it was over $4000 but so glad we did it. I hope they can help Poncho

I feel for you and your wife, Todd.  Pets are absolutely family members, and when they are having trouble its hard to deal with.  Hoping for a good outcome for Poncho.

We know what you mean when you tell us how upset your wife is. It is painful to see our furry children suffer, yes. I know you are upset too, you just aren't letting on.


The previous two cats we had in succession rang up vet bills large enough for a clean used car. Each time. Now we have pet insurance.

One developed cancer and we became regulars at TVEH (Toronto Veterinarian Emergency Hospital). Our beloved Oliver the puppy cat, despite best efforts... He was a rescue from a dump and was raised with dogs before we adopted him. He wasn't all that healthy when we got him, but diet seemed to quell his gut problems.

His replacement to fill the void he left, Rudy, was an awesome poly-dactyl with 7, 7, 6 and 5 toes respectively. He had all his shots except for rabies. After he got his rabies shot he stiffened up and was in excruciating pain. It would not go away. The cure was steroids, which eventually killed him within a year. At that point we said "To hell with conventional vets".




Our current cat, Rocky, has seen a naturopathic vet twice. He eats raw food and is probably the healthiest cat we've had so far. Kibble is like a drug for cats that can give them diabetes & cancer. We banished it from his diet. Cats are carnivores and don't need all the filler crap in cat food that is common as dirt (it turns them into junkies and it raises their blood sugar more than people realize). Today at 5 years old he has no gut, which is unusual for a neutered male, but a side benefit of no kibble. Actually he does get kibble that we hydrate; the kibble he gets is dehydrated raw meat only.


C'mon, Poncho!

Here's an update: Poncho stayed overnight at the hospital. The doc called around noon yesterday and said he seemed a bit more "perky". His kidney and liver readings had improved on their own. His blood pressure was fine. They did detect an abnormal heartbeat however this could have been a pre-existing issue as a vet told us they detected a "murmer" years ago. They were giving him fluids by IV and strong pain killers. The doc recommended keeping him overnight another night ($500) and doing an ultrasound ($1200). The vet suspected Pancreatitis and said it would cost 3 grand to treat. We simply don't have the budget for this and there was a good chance they'd do this and find something fatal anyway. My wife is extremely good at caring for our animals (she should have been a vet) so she decided to bring him home and see how he progresses and take him to our own vet to come up with a plan going forward. We went back to Charlottetown last night to get him and Poncho was walking around (he has a rear leg limp now) in the examination room. His eyes were extremely dilated and the vet asked if this was normal for him (it's not). He had also not eaten since Saturday morning. The vet sent us home with two types of painkillers to administer (one was an opiod). Quite frankly Poncho seemed to be completely out of it. My wife kept him in the bedroom all night (I slept in the spare room as I had to work today). She was instructed to give the cat one pain med at 11 and the other at midnight. She told me that at 11 she tried giving him a bit of tuna and he ate it. Next she gave him a bit of kibble (kibble is only for treats in our household-she makes all the food for our animals) and he ate that as well. He didn't want any of his own food. He wasn't showing any signs of pain so she only gave him a half dose of the non-opiod pain med. This morning he was walking around quite a bit, purring and even rolled on his back for a belly rub. As the day went on he seems to be improving. He still walks funny on his hind legs. On our invoice they listed the drugs they gave him and the pain meds were different from the ones they sent us home with. My wife looked up these meds and the pain med they were giving him listed pupil dilation, "agitation" and "rear leg paralysis" as the top side effects! His pupils aren't as dilated now and we'll have to keep an eye on his back legs. We have an appointment with our vet tomorrow for a checkup (it's only $70 for initial checkover vs. $295 at the college). As I'm typing this my wife just told me he ate a full plate of his regular food. So, we are still unsure what happened to him on Saturday. He has bad hips and maybe he had some sort of cramping. Maybe a seizure? Heart issue?

He's had another big dose of his food and is enjoying the woodstove.

Fingers crossed, Todd.  Hoping Poncho can make a full recovery and continue to enjoy all the kitty things that he loves!

Glad to hear Poncho is doing better Todd.

I send $200 to Poncho to help him with his Vet bills.