Thanks Sean!

Yes, overall improvements, but today she's having a pukey day... about three times so far.  But she still managed to pee, and go outside for an hour, on her own, without puking. 

I am more and more convinced it's the feeding tube!!!  I'm hoping she'll get some rest and wake up feeling better.

I brought work home with me this evening... so... bleh!

Have you talked to the vet about the possibility of taking her off the tube and seeing what happens?

Yes, vet advice seems a good idea Connie.  All the best to Tigger you et al.

:(  She is acting quite a bit under the weather today.  Maybe it's the gallbladder and not the tube...
As for the feeding tube, last I talked to the vet, couple of weeks ago, he inquired about whether she is eating on her own. The tube comes out when she is eating on her own 100%. It's still some ways away from that. Probably after the surgery - if there is a surgery.

Let's hoope she bounces back again in aday or two...

We all hope so too!  Hugs to you, Tigger and everyone.

Happy thoughts to you and Tigger.
We're still thinking about you two...

Hey Connie.

Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know I'm sending possitive vibes your cat's way.

Take care.

Thanks everyone :):):)  Tigger and I appreciate it very much!!!

Well, it was poo again causing her setback!  One of theese days I'll learn. Being she pooed recently, I thought she wouldn't get backed up so soon.
After the big one last night, she was eating and purring in the evening and this morning.

I think saturday we definately need to go for a vet checkup and see what's next.

Yes, I think so too!  I am sure the Vet will be surprised and how well she is doing and hopefully can do more to help her along on the road of full recovery. 

Hmm... she was puking some yellow bile this morning. That's not a good thing - it may mean her liver is getting plugged up again, and the window of opportunity for a surgery may be closing.

Doctors appt tomorrow at 10:15, so we'll see. I'm all nerves... and worrying he'll tell me there's nothing he (or the surgeon, which is a different doctor) can do for her... like they said two months ago.

Very nerveracking. I'm starting to think I'm going to lose her all over again :(

i am hoping with all my heart that Tigger can be operated on soon to remove the tumour thats causing her problems. but as i said a while ago don't get your hopes up too much Connie, Tigger is a very poorly cat. i am glad she seems to be having more good than bad days at the moment and hope she continues to improve and be more stable.
animals can pull back from the edge in a miraculous way sometimes and Tigger knows she is loved and cared for by you Connie.all that i can suggest is think that everyday Tigger is with you is a bonus.
i am not a religious person but my thoughts and as much positivity as possible are with you and Tigger.
loads of love and hugs to you and Tigger.
andy

We do so hope that you get good news at the vets Connie.  Do ask the vet if there is a chance of the surgery succeeding; we reckon it's better for Tigger to quietly slip away under anaesthetic than have to suffer later.  Maybe you will get a miracle cure, maybe the miracle has been the extra time you've spent with her.

You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you and Tigger. Hope all goes well with the vet.

We're all pulling for Tigger here and hoping for the best outcome at the vet's office.

Thanks everyone, you guys are so sweet!

The Vet visit went quite well. She was relaxed during the drive, did well at the Vet - she was really hamming it up over there with her purs and snugglles. She's their little miracle kitty.
The feeding tube is doing fine, so is her pooping. He took blood and urine to check. As for the surgery, my vet says even talking about it over his head, and he recommended that we should have that conversation with the surgon - especially considering that Tiggers is a fighter... and on a general phisical exam, her heart and lungs look in a good shape. We'll know more tomorrow after blood and urine analisys.

We have an appointment on Monday afternoon with the surgeon, to review her condition, and talk about possibilities, if there are any.  I'm not eager to put her through the surgery at all, but it doesn't hurt to talk it over, and get a reality check, and some more knowledgeable feedback. My doc says that the surgeon lady is a straight shooter, and won't try to push for something impossible or super risky.

As for Tigger, after the vet visit we made a quick stop to visit her daddy (my ex). He came down to the car and spent about 15 min snuggling her up. She was BEAMING, and purring, and rolled up-side down in extasy for him. She was very relaxed during the ride home.

I expected she would be exhausted after that, but no... she stuck her nose into my cornflakes, and lapped up a lot of milk and some cereal, then went down her kitty steps to the front door, and wanted to go outside. She sat in the grass near the front door for the last hour or so, till the gardeners started making noise... she came back in, on her own, bounced up the stairs and now she's napping. Whe's still wobbly, but she's trying to put some bounce into her step going up the stairs.

So... Monday afternoon, I'll know more about whether there's anything else that can be done for her, or of it's the best to just let her live it out.

All in all, I'd say that sounds FANTASTIC! 

Ditto!

Heh, she fell asleep on the doormat, in filtered sun, at the front door (There's tiny courtyard there). I'm wanting to bring her in cause I can't watch her out there for very long, and there are people walking dogs and kids storming around on occasion... but my honey says, leave her be.
She went half ways along the side of the house (outside) till she found a spot to poop. I dunno where she's getting all this energy from.

Knowing and seeing her zest for life, I'd feel awfully giulty if I at least don't talk to the surgeon, and see if there's any decent chance for her to recover and have few more good years.

WOW, she decided to go outside for the third time today. I dunno where she's finding the energy.  What an amazing precious little girl!

Hooray for Tigger! - You go girl!!!

Good idea to talk with the surgeon, especially given your vet's description of her nature.
Hope all goes well with that visit, as it did at the vet visit.

Your Tigger is so wonderful!  We're so glad that she's got more bounce :) and that the visit to the vet went well.  You are a really good person to let your ex visit with Tigger, so glad she enjoyed it.  We hope and pray that you get good news from the surgeon; it's good that she will tell it to you straight.  We're lucky that way with our vet.adhjk;=7  I was going to erase that as Griselda just walked across the keyboard but I'll leave it in as her message to Tigger lol.

Whatever you decide to do, know that we support you.  Love and hugs to you, Tigger et al.

Hi I have been tied up with an abused pup that we lost over the last week. Found him dumped by my husbands job.. he passed away, we could not save him...

I have gone through the posts and am so glad Tigger is doing well!!! Little angel. Let us know when she is going to the surgeon for a consult!

Hugs and Love, 

Ariana and the "Boys"  

All your hard work, care, and dedication have given Tigger some wonderful days already! Always hoping for many, many more in the future.

Ariana, it's sad to hear about the puppy. He did not pass away alone, and unwanted, though. Thank you for taking him into your hearts, if even for a very short time.  

Ariana it is sad, but you took care of him.  It is hard but worthwhile doing.

My sincere best wishes for your "baby". They really are like children.

Your "Tigger" look an aweful like my "Slibbers" (a male) Pict of him HERE (4th cat in the gallery).

CardinalBiggles, Tiggers read what Griselda wrote, and she says she understands it purrfectly.    ...all you and I see is "adhjk;=7" 

Ariana, I'm so very sorry the pup didn't make it. I'm sure you did everything you could to save him... maybe he'll be your little angel now.

Thanks Scanmead! How are things with you, you;ve be quiet for a little bit? :)
**
**Animajikgraphics, those are adorable pictures! Thanks for sharing. I love to see people's little furbabies.

Bubba and Tigger have a gallery here: http://www.cb-design.net/mainset.htm 
just ignore the somewhat broken main page, and go with the menu on the left. Pics are about 5-6 years old.

And now TIGGER REPORT:
Just seemed appropriate to put it in a new post!

She would up going outside four times by the time yesterday was over - all on her own power, no carrying her around!  She's already been out once today, to poo. She's taken to pooping outside on the grass, and has been frowning on the litterbox.

Now, the Vet report - he sent all of the paperwork to the surgeon lady, and is glad we'll at least talk about possibilities. Mostly he keeps repeating, woow, she's an amazing little kitty, and definately a fighter.

Her blood/urine work, while still pretty messed up is much better then it was. Her bilirubin, which was 40 (vet says he's never seen it that high), went down to 20. 20 is still sky-high, normal is 0-1, but, it went down by half, which is a good sign! Same with her liver enzymes, still high, but not as high as they were.

The only thing that's not all that good, but the vet says it's not super alarming is that her sugar is very high. He says that's propbably from her system, and pancreas, being very stressed, but he says it's also very treatable. Also, no more electrolyte replacement for her, because it has a lot of sugar.

soo... we'll see what Monday brings...  She may need a CT scan to take a closer look at what's going on inside.

.... and, off she goes outside again, in a sort of a wobbly trot, and into the gras and some sun to bask in. She even walked right under the dog's nose. Poor dog got all flustered.

Yay - Go Tigger!
Cats are tenacious buggers at the best of times, they never cease to amaze me :)
Spook sends her regards to Tigger and I'll be keeping stuff crossed for the surgeons verdict

Her Brother Bubba always stays close when she and I are outside, and if I leave him inside the house, he meowls in panic.  He's standing guard over her!

The stinkeye she's giving me is not her usual expression, but the "This thing better not flash in my face kind of a look"

Connie, thanks for the updates and pics.  What a trooper your little Tigger is.  I hope the news is good on Monday.  Giving my furbabies extra hugs and snuggles so they will send them on to Tigger...

Connie! My kitty Jr is a diabetic, try putting Tigger on a food called Core http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_wellness_dry_core.html   Jr sugars were so high, and after a few weeks on Core his sugars went down to nearly normal! It has no grains, only protein sources. All my kitties eat it now. Plus stress increases your sugars too!

So glad the other numbers all are falling into normal ranges! Or at least closer!

Love and Hugs to you and the Fur babies!!!

Ariana

ThanX to all the kind people who were caring of poor little Jonesy, such a lonely sweet dog. I really miss him.

Ahhhhhh!!! She manages to look regal even under pressure! What a sweetheart! You go Tigger!

Love and Hugs

Ariana and the "Boys"!!!

It's hopefull she may pull through :) I think she will. best wishes................. good lookin cat BTW.

A little story for hope. I have a red tabby named wouf he's 11 yrs. about 6 months back he got all tore up by a dog, and the vet thought I should just put him down but I couldn't. So they fixed him up best as they could. Well, he pulled through, walks with a limp now, but healthy.

Tigger can make it too. She looks like she is happy and wants to keep going, that's a good thing.

cheers.

Mike.

Thanks for the good news on Tigger, Connie.  It sounds like she's feeling much better and is happy. 

Vickie

It's good news that the numbers are getting better.  We hope and pray for good news on Monday; thanks for the photos of Tigger and Bubba. 

Cats can be very protective of one another; we found a starving cat many years ago and we managed to get her through her enteritis.  Our cat Ninja would stay with her and sleep beside her.  Unfortunately the strain was too much for her heart and she died in her sleep.  We knew she had died as Ninja came up and slept with us.  It was as though he was saying "she doesn't need me any more now".

Hugs to you all, and hoping for a good Monday!

Tigger is definately living it up!  She spent good part of the day yesterday outside... with me hovering every few minuts (so I didn't get anything done yesterday).

She even went as far as trying to stalk a bird. I was watching her spot, when all of a sudden she walks off, tummy dragging on the ground. I freaked out for a moment, and stood up looking after her, only to see she's walking low to the ground, trying to stalk a bird sitting in a nearby bush. No worries, the bird was never even close to being in any danger. It was nice seeing Tigger have a spirit to try.  My kitties have collars with bells on them, so they never catch a thing, bells alway alert any prey.  But, they're mostly indoor cats.

Tiggers is asserting her independence more and more. Sitting outside again today. She decided to change her sleeping spot for the night, and she ate most of her breakfast on her own... and is getting around on her own, getting less and less wobbly.  So, she's definately 'living it up'.

Go Tigger!

Jr caught of all things a mouse in the house a few months back... must of been hiding in the garage. Well I did not get there in time, but for an indoor guy he was lightening fast!

I'm so glad it is a good day for her! Have a beautiful day, and fingers crossed we all want Tigger up and active! : )

Hugs and Love

Ariana and her "Boys"

You know, it really isn't fair: cats look gorgeous even when they're sick or get very old.  Tigger is looking very sleek! 

Just out of curiosity, what week would you be in had the vet's initial diagnosis were correct? Maybe Tigger has been battling 2 things all this time? 

Tigger got sick around Dec 20th. That's 5 days short of three months - almost 12 weeks.
About 9 weeks since he said she only has few days left.

I'm thinking the Vets initial diagnosis made her a lot worse. After loading her with food thinking she has the fattly liver thing, her bilirubin went to 40. Now that her food intake is way down, just enough to sustain her, the bile is down to 20...

I'm little peeved that the ultrasound wasn't done sooner, but... ALL of her symptoms pointed to the fatty liver. Only when she didn't respond to treatment that the vet suggested looking at more things. If the ultrasound was done sooner, she'd still be pretty close to in the same boat she is now. She is actually a bit livelier now then she was when I first noticed her sick.... but a lot skinnier. She did manage to beat treatment that was making her sicker - IMO.

Considering her bilirubin managed to go down, I'm hoping the bile duct is only very constricted rather then completely plugged up - for now.

By the way, she never did have fatty liver, the doc said fattly liver has a very distinct look on the ultrasound, and nothing like it showed up.

And on a positive note - she fell asleep outside on a blanky, under a pygmy palm tree. Too adorable. I love to see her enjoying herself. She doesn't get to go outside during the week while I'm at work.

Wonderful news and beautiful pictures Connie.

Ariana - so sorry to hear about the puppy - thank you for helping him and making sure he wasn't alone.

We need a few good thoughts too - our 19 year old furry Fred has a horrible cold (first time I've seen a cat with a cold). It really has taken the wind out of his sails.
Hopefully we can get into the vet tomorrow - just not sure if they can do anything for him.

** edited because I can't spell**

Oh no, I hope Fred recovers really quickly. Poor little baby.
Sending him lots of purrs and snuggles, and something to unplug his itty bitty little nose.

I hope the vet can help Fred and that he feels better soon.  Sending lots of purrs and good thoughts to Fred and to Tigger for continued improvement.

Glad to hear that Tigger is feeling a bit better!  It must be wonderful to see her in the garden.  If all our cats purrs can help her feel better, Tigger should be getting feisty!  Griselda apologises for not sending another message but she's busy chasing butterflies today. 

Biff sends this message for her; "Burp!  Sorry, I didn't save any of that pigeon for you, it was very nice, would you like a feather?"  (We came down this morning to find white feathers all over the garden, meaning Biff has had an early morning takeaway lol.  He eats the whole bird, except for beak, legs and a few feathers.  In summer he buries them in the garden, in winter he brings them in and puts them in his litter tray!  The magpies cause him trouble and us a fortune in worming pills lol.) 

CardinalBiggles, may I please borrow Biff for a week or so? Pigeons walk right by my felines, who wouldn't dream of touching the 'things'.  

arbee999, been through a few colds, and had some very good advice, and some bad advice. One vet suggested watered-down nasal spray, which worked fairly well. Another gave steam baths, which left my poor Bear Kitty soaking wet and shivering (at the vet's), and sicker. Basically, make sure it's actually a cold, and keep Fred eating. (Stinky sardines seem to work well, especially if you can find 'no salt added' ones.) 

Connie, ah.... so the 2nd thing poor Tigger was fighting was the wrong diet! Any news about when the feeding tube can come out? 

We're back from an appointment with the surgeon.

News are a mixed bag. What she has is very likely a cancer afterall. A contained one (not metastatic or spreading to other organs), and can stay contained for few more years before it metastatises - but, as we know it's blocking the bile duct.  The doc has seen a number of theese bile duct tumors, and says that only about one out of ten is benign (as in not cancerous)

Tiggers is too weak for the surgery right now, but, we have 2-6 month window here to see if she will continue to improve and get stronger. Eventually she will peak, and tumor will grow and plug up the bile duct completely.

The doc has all of her diagnostics, and says there's no indication of cancer anywhere else, so is she was stronger, she'd be a good candidate for the surgery. She says they can usually get couple more good years with the surgery before it fix deteriorates. 

She wants to do another ultrasound, to study the tumor more closelr herself, rather then just looking at snapshots of it. We're scheduled to do that Friday. She thinks that since the bile is still coming out, maybe the tumor has shrunk a tad, and wants to see what's different since two months ago.

After that, since she is on a slow steady improvement path, there's no hurry to decide about the surgery. Well, especially right now, she's still too weak. If we don't do anything, she would last another few months, 2-6, depending on how fast the tumor grows and in which direction.

Tigger was doing her best to charm everyone at the new doctors office.
The surgeon lady was surprized when she went to listen to hear heart with a sthetoscope, and got an earfull of purrs. She was very surprized about Tiggers very friendly disposition.

I think Tigger was happy this doc was doing a lot of talking and gentle checking, and no needles, poking and proding.

Well, you said it was mixed, and it sounds it.  But still it is encouraging since things overall have improved and not gotten worse. 

Good news that the tumour is benign at the moment.  We do hope that the improvement continues and do know that you and Tigger are in our thoughts.

@scanmead  Wish we could lend you Biff but he's rather a homebody ;)

Definitely mixed, but as long as there is a chance we have hope.  Tigger is an amazing kitty!  More prayers coming your way.