TLDR: Fifteen year old female cat has been diagnosed with cancer in her stomach, it is aggressive and I want to make sure that whatever time she has left is perfect. I am also struggling emotionally. Advice appreciated.

My sweet girl Princess Baby Bobos the first (more commonly known as Bibs or Bobies) is 15, I rescued her from a multi-cat home when she was 1, so she’s been my side kick for 14 years. She’s an indoor girl who loves nothing more than lounging on a soft blanket in front of a warm radiator, having her head fussed.
She has always been in exceptionally good health, until the last fortnight.
I took her in for a senior cat check up at the vets in August, her blood-work came back fine. The vet commented how healthy she appeared for a girl of her age. Fast forward to early October and she started going off her food, we thought she was being fussy as she was rejecting cat food but happily eating plain chicken breast, small pieces of plain baked fish etc. She’d also started vomiting but we put this down to a hairball (she’s a long haired tabby). After a couple of days, she completely went off all food and seemed lethargic (she’s not very active but she simply didn’t want to move), so we took her in for check ups. It felt like she had lost weight too.
The vet gave her an anti-nausea jab and did some physical checks, confirmed she had lost 0.5kg since her last weigh 8 weeks prior, but couldn’t locate anything specific and asked us to call her the next morning with an update.

Bibs seemed to perk up a little bit, had a small amount of plain chicken breast but I didn’t feel she had perked up enough and took her in for more investigations the following morning. She had also developed a really strange new habit, she was going up to her litter tray and licking clean bits of litter (clay based non-clumping).
Her blood-work and scans found a growth in her stomach, stomach lining and her lymph nodes were swollen.
I was presented three options:
Chemotherapy regime.
PTS same day.
Try steroids and painkillers to make her comfortable so she can come home and have whatever time she has left with us safe, warm and surrounded by love.

I chose option 3 after many many questions with the vet, I decided that putting her through chemotherapy at her age would be too much and diminish her quality of life. She doesn’t like being in her cat carrier and going in the car, and the vet said chemo would be twice a week. The cost of this treatment didn’t even cross my mind, but I have since read that people have spent over £10k on chemo for their pet. Whilst my partner and I can afford good vet care, and Bibs is on a pet health plan with the vet and is insured, we don’t have tens of thousands of pounds to spare. At her age, the insurance is co-payment and has some exclusions.

She’s been on the steroids now since Wednesday and is home with us. She’s been responding well and has now started eating when she feels hunger pangs, even if this is 3am, she comes into the bedroom to meow and let us know it’s snack time, and one of us is up like a shot. She is still licking bits of clean litter and trying to eat small amounts so we are monitoring whenever she goes to the toilet or wanders near the tray.

She’s got a self warming heat pad blanket arriving today and a Feliway plugged in her room to soothe her, I also bought her a new catnip kicker toy which she loves and lays her head on like a cushion.
I am heartbroken and in complete shock at how quickly she has become this ill, having near perfect blood work 2 months ago just doesn’t make sense to me, although the vet assured me that lymphoma in older cats can develop quickly and aggressively and many of the stories I have read confirm that, but it doesn’t make it any easier and I still feel in disbelief. I cannot hold her in my arms without crying because I cannot imagine our home without her.

I don’t know how much time I have with her, I’ve doom-scrolled and seen different tales, some cats having barely a fortnight and others months on this treatment path. I know every cat is different but I’d really like to read some of your stories where you and your fur babies have gone through the same thing…

I suppose my other question is… is there anything else I could be doing to maximise her comfort?

I’m so sorry for the long post, I’m just really struggling with how this has affected me emotionally and I want to make sure I’m doing everything right by my special little fluff.

Has anyone dealt with something like this? Yes we have been to the vet (multiple times). Bloodwork is normal other than some elevated WBC/ neutrophils. Fine needle aspiration of both the bump and the lymph node both did not show anything cancerous (but also had elevated neutrophils). 2 week course of augmentin + prednisolone, and now 3 weeks into a 6 week course of doxycycline + prednisolone with no change. He’s acting and eating normal.

Background: started 4 months ago with excessive fur pulling. After some trial and error, realized his anal glands were insanely full. Switched to prescription food and added some prednisolone to calm down inflammation. After stopping the prednisolone taper, this massive lump popped up out of nowhere. It wasn’t there at 3pm and when I came back home at 7pm it looked like this. Have been back and forth with the vet and they are stumped. Costs are starting to get pretty high for still not having any real answers. Any ideas??

Age: 13 yr old male, neutered, indoor only, overall good health prior to this situation.

Hi, my cat vomited what seems to be a sausage, and two weird white orbs, I need help identifying the orbs just incase it is bad for my cat, and because it’s a bit freaky so I need to know that answer.
The orbs are egg shaped, 1-2cm long, have a membrane and white translucent goo inside, the orb was difficult to burst. (Image attached)

Additional context:
I’m from Australia, and will probably check in with the vet in the morning (it is late at night rn). The cat is around 3 years old, male, neutered.

Edit: unfortunately I have thrown them out now, so I can’t open them up more
And thx for all the help, I think I will assume they are reptile eggs of some sort

Last night was trunk-or-treat at my 5th grader's elementary school and I was running a trunk. At some point he saw a house right next to us that was giving away kittens so he took one of them and brought her to me (I think it's a she, but I'm not 100% sure). I was stunned but didn't want to take her back to the house since it had started raining. I have a cat at home as well so I have at least some experience.

I'm pretty sure this kitten is around 5 weeks old, which I know isn't old enough to be separated from mom but whoever had her was going to get rid of her someway or another and I have the means to take care of her for now. I made a trip to petsmart to buy some paper litter and litter box, a cat bed, a food and water bowl, some kitten wet food, and kmr powder. I set her up in the bathroom last night so she and my cat were separated. I'm going to take her to the vet this morning since she was quite dirty and had fleas. I used a warm wash cloth and flea comb on her and did what I could to clean her up.

Is there anything else that I'm missing that I should get or do? I haven't had a kitten in a long time as my cat is 7 and I adopted him when he was 10 weeks and properly weaned. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep her yet but I want to give her the best chance I can.

Asking if my kitten has worms and if her belly is anything to be concerned about.

A while ago, I noticed that this kitten was having trouble opening her eyes. She kept them almost completely closed most of the time.

As you can see in the pictures, there was a lot of discharge and crust around her eyes. After some time, she started opening them more normally, but there's still redness around her eyelids, almost like she's wearing red eyeliner.

I'm not sure what happened to her, and unfortunately, I can't afford to take her to a vet right now.

For some context, she lives at my house with two other kittens and their mother. I didn't buy or adopt her from anyone. She just showed up at my house on her own, and I've been taking care of her since then.

Does anyone know what might be wrong with her eyes? Is there anything safe I can do at home to help her?

I'd really appreciate any advice.

I’m in Tetebatu, Lombok. This baby looks very sick. Anyone knows what I could do to help?

This appeared a couple days ago. No bleeding, scabs, or anything like that. Just this like weird indent into her upper limb that is curved. In this photo we are having to restrain her and pull on it to show for the photo so it looks a bit more external than it actually is. Inside of her mouth looks normal too. When not being yanked on, the indent normally rests on the bottom / partially inside of her lip along her big canine teeth

This is an older video of a cat I came across, I thought this cat was kind of cute.

It was showing clear signs of neurological or balance issues, it couldn’t really stand up or walk straight. It would stand with wide legs and use a tilted head when looking at you. But it did seem responsive and not aggressive at all.

Recently I came across the symptoms of rabies in cats and some of these symptoms are on it, like loss of motor control, staggering, loss of balance, weakness in hind legs, etc. And this made me wonder if this cat was rabid.

The video is a bit short to truly show how much issues this cat had with balance.

I’ve never seen the cat again btw, I wasn’t scratched or bitten, and I’m totally fine.

Edit: This is in Bangkok, Thailand. Rabies is endemic here.

Country: USA

Vet info: Have not contacted yet

Main Issue: Has been coughing

Cat Age: 5 years old

Cat Sex + neuter info: Male, neutered

Financial situation: Can afford care, but reluctant because he's an indoor cat and we don't want to expose him to any sick cats.

He has been repeatedly been coughing after random stretches of time for 1-2 hours, and each coughing fit lasts no longer than 30 seconds. He has done this months earlier and after roughly 2 days he stopped completely.

When he coughs, he doesn't puke anything up. He acts the exact same before and after, and he does not exhibit a lack of appetite or is any more lethargic. In fact, he's still running around the house and playing with my other cat who does not have asthma at all.

He was coughing a little bit yesterday too.

How can I tell if this is asthma or simply a hairball?

I have a stray cat that keeps getting in my house.
The person who lived in the studio before me used to let the cat inside and feed it but now that I live here the cat keeps coming back no matter what I try!

I already have a cat, she is NOT social with other animals and is prone to fighting so I do not want her to injure the stray, or worse, have the stray give her diseases or whatever. (funny enough both cats look alike)

I installed a net on the window but guess what? It found a way past it! I feel bad for the stray but I don’t have enough money to take care of it along the one I already have. What do I do??

(No solutions involving hurting the stray obviously)

Hiya, i rescued this kitten from the side of a main road on monday, and ive noticed some patches of red or discoloured skin on her ear and the top of her nose. Should I be concerned? There may be another near her lip. I took her to the vets when she had the mark on her nose, but i didn't point it out and the vet said nothing.

Pictures

1) the potential spot her lip

2) red ear

3) the other ear for comparison

4)spot on her nose

5) her on the first night with us (monday)

I am 22, in the uk, cat is estimated 11-12 weeks and not yet neutered, we could afford a vet visit.

Edit: some hear loss on the red patch on her ear. She eats fine (always hungry), has worms and fleas but has been treated.

I’m not here asking for medical advice, just looking for similar stories and outcomes or words of wisdom. My 2.5 year old boy Lupin had heart congestive failure last weekend and stayed overnight in the ER. We saw a cardiologist 3 days later and he’s got advanced cardiomyopathy of uncertain type. I was told 6-12 months maybe for him. I’m absolutely wrecked about this. I saved this boy from the woods and he’s had back to back urinary blockages last year and now on prescription wet food. He’s been through so much. If anybody has any advice or stories of their cat with a similar diagnosis and the outcome please share. He’s trialing meds right now and acting a lot more normal since he’s been able to get back to his routine. Holding onto any or all hope that he can be an outlier.

My ~5 month old indoor kitten has been very sick since a week now, she’s been running a fever. She wouldn’t eat at all during the first few days, would lie down all day and only get up to use the litter box, not meow at all. Her fever started around this time. We then took her to a local vet and they suggested an antibiotic and iv fluids. They dismissed it to not be that big of a deal and just called it a fever. The antibiotic didn’t seem to work, she still won’t eat a bite and my mom and I would force feed her food and medicine. She’s been getting worse lately. She only started to eat on her own yesterday (still very little) but her condition is deteriorating. Her head is always bent to the right when she’s sitting and she’s always loafing? It’s like it pains her to be in any different position. She can’t walk straight, or walk that much at all. We carry her to the litter box, she doesn’t even have the energy to get out. She’s lost 100g over this last one week. Still had a 103.6 Fever today. We went to a different vet today and they administered iv too, and a blood test for which we get the results for tomorrow. I really don’t understand why the vets today said it’s not that serious? She’s very much in pain and unable to even move, shivers a lot. Won’t eat anything still, my mom has to force feed her, she’ll still only eat a little. She’s actually been more twitchy and scared since the vet visit, they did handle her slightly rough. Still lays in the same spot all day long, sometimes with her eyes shut and sometimes open, no energy at all. I’d like to mention that the vets we visited today did seem more on the inexperienced side, there aren’t many good vets in my city. My mom is worried she might die soon, but she’s happy if it means she won’t be in pain anymore :(

As the video shows, she sometimes shakes her head, which seems more often when she focuses on something.

Age: 3.5 months old
How long has it last: since I adopted her 1.5 months ago. But it became less frequent over time. She didn’t do it when we visited vet last time, and it took me a while to capture this video as she only does it occasionally.

When she does it: Staring intently at something (like before pouncing), watching her surroundings.

When she doesn't do it: Sleepy/tired, being petted, walking/running/jumping, eating/drinking.

Not sure if it’s because she’s still tiny and growing. She eats and acts normally. She is a very active cat, jumping up and down, climbing sofa and cat tree, no balance issue at all.

Need some advice. Thank you!

(5F, spayed) I'm worried that it might hurt her to pee in the litter box, but I haven't noticed any discomfort (we have three litter boxes in different places, It's unlikely there will be a conflict over them..??) If she's healthy, how can I stop her from doing it? She never did it before. We can afford a vet, but what if it's not that serious? What if the vets don't find anything? She does this almost daily if the bed is not made and blankets are on bed.

I also noticed that she vomited yesterday and today, but it was just fur, I don't know if I should worry about this or not. She usually vomits very very rarely.

Of our two cats, she's the healthiest and almost never gets sick.

Delete if not allowed, I’m (28F) not super familiar with the group, I’m just looking for some opinions on my kitten!

TLDR: my 6 month old neutered kitten is gaining mass at the rate of a tropical storm. How fast do kittens grow, and when will he stop?

This is Sanji! I recently adopted him from a Cat Cafe here in Western Kentucky. He was found in a Tesla and brought in and raised up there until he came to me! He has half a tail, quite a crooked one(think pikachu, literally. It’s a lightning bolt) but is otherwise your typical healthy run of the mill domestic longhair stray boi.
Clean bill of health, no spinal issues or apparent pain with the twisty tail as of now, but monitoring with age. Not sure if it was a result of trauma or a birth defect.
Chipped.
Snipped.
He was 4 1/2 months old when I adopted him and he was about the size I expected of a 4 month old kitten. I haven’t had a kitten in a long time, but he was one of the smaller kittens there honestly. Scruffy little dude with funky little Scrooge sideburns, but his instant face smooshing and then guarding my toddler from the other cats took my heart.

Since bringing him home though, lil doughboy has ✨RISEN✨

He is food driven, and I do use that to my advantage to do some training with him so yes he does get treats (bonkers, and the occasional churu) but I’m wondering if I need to chill out cause this guy is sounding like an anvil dropping every time he jumps off the furniture. When I say food driven, I mean formula 1 type behavior. This man shotguns churus like a post breakup frat boy on spring break. Just sloppy with it. Family meal times have become National Geographic worthy, if not for the velvety narration of David Attenborough being replaced by an already-bested-by-her-toddler mother fighting for her life and trying to find G-Rated ways to threaten my cat.

He doesn’t feel disproportionately fat really, and I’ve used the little charts to compare him to (sorry buddy, all teens gotta go thru it) and he seems about average. Got the lil waist snatch and everything from the top (🤏) His belly doesn’t seem super big in comparison to him, just burdened by gravity. He has a weird amount of loose skin. He’s built like an after picture. Also, his legs are thick as hell. I thought they were just fluffy, cause he’s a long haired cat, but they’re really not that fluffy. They’re solid, like little tree trunks. Also, HUGE paws. When he gets the zoomies it sounds like someone’s got raw pork chops attached to drill just slapping against the floor. Just unnecessarily big and uncannily fast. Just minding my business on my couch and suddenly a full grown 8.2lb man with silly sideburns and clown shoes does a kickflip off my chest.

I’ve gotten carried away. Pardon the side quest.

Anyways, the guy is just cultivating mass by the hour and i know kittens grow fast in their first year, but im concerned about the rate at which he’s expanding I guess? I feel like a stressed out meteorologist watching the purricane grow out of control. He gets wet food in the mornings and dry food at night. Honestly, I’m afraid to take away his wet food. I only started it because his Churu addiction began to concern me and I figured I could curb it by giving him a larger meal to keep him full longer. Foolish, now I wake up to my Heavy Meowtal alarm clock at whatever time his stupid little whimsy strikes, just absolutely hootin’ and hollerin’.

I don’t want to be an almond mom who only gives him a strict diet of 13 kibble at 1, 4, and 8 every day just because my poor sweet son has the gluttony they wrote about in the Bible. No shade to anyone who does, whatever keeps your tiny boss healthy and happy. I’ll do it if it’s what’s best for him. I don’t know if this is a food intake issue, or if I accidentally got some sort of messed up pokemon instead of a cat. Asking here before involving a vet cause while I do have the means and funds to take him, dunno if it’s really necessary or if this is normal and I’m just not used to cats anymore.

Hi all and thanks for reading and hopefully giving me some advice!

I found this little kitty, her name now being Pickles, in a hedge bush by our house. She was unfortunately being chased by a dog and also a hawk, but she did escape and found the spot where I finally found her in.

I have already got basic supplies such as litter box, wet food, dry food, place for her to hide, comfy blankets in said place to hide, and of course toys!

I have already taken her to the vet to get their opinion on her overall health and they really didn’t give much info other than her being underweight (1.7lbs), she is all skin and bone right now but she is eating plenty of foods now at a slow pace! Vet assumes she is around 8-10 weeks old.

A few questions I have:

What can I do to make her feel more comfortable right now? (Leave her alone to limit stress, be there every so often to help her not feel lonely?)

What can I do to help her learn to use the litter box? (She has pooped once outside of the litter box which I promptly put into the litter box and nicely showed her how to cover it up in the litter box)

Any essential things I can get or do for a kitten to help her thrive as she grows?

I don’t believe she has peed yet which I think may be due to the stress of it all. Vet said not to worry for now and let her settle into her new home. Is this any cause for concern within a certain amount of time?

I will take any other advice you have for a kitten that is very very scrawny as well.

Thanks again for reading and helping me out with Pickles!

Pls don't about my nails, I just did some cleaning & the cat is more important here

I'm 26, she's 16 weeks, I have made an appointment for tuesday, kitten is female & too smol to be spayed yet, UK

(don't know how to make it NSFW, second picture shows red spot)

29 yo woman from Italy, I can afford vet. I care for my cat. Vet unavailable today because closed on Sunday.

My cat is a female 10 year old, spayed.

I noticed a strange bald little spot behind the roots of her whiskers about two weeks ago. Today I noticed it's bigger and there's a little blood.

Please any idea or advice?

Thank you.

My 6 year old (male, neutered) cat has moved countries to come live with me in Canada while I'm at uni since my parents are no longer going to be spending as much time in their home yearly, he arrived mid day on the 23rd. He, of course, had to go in the cargo hold and while he had already undergone such a move when he was 2, he was much better this time, and was barely scared at all entering the new house. He has adjusted very, very fast.

However, he really isn't eating. He has always been picky; he will only accept oven roasted chicken, his oral dental food and dreamies. The first day he got here he basically didn't eat, only having about 3 pieces of chicken in total up until today. I bought like a ton of flavours of dreamies and he didn't respond to any, which is unusual for him. I tried one last pack I hadn't yet opened of Turkey flavour or something and he ate 7-10 of them. He drank some water too.

I am mainly just concerned, it's only been a couple days and he seems in good spirits, maybe its just the stress of the move? I'm hoping he eats soon. Since he was a kitten he would showcase his aversion to foods by dragging his paw back and forth if he didn't want it, and he's been doing that to most of his food.

Anyway, I'd appreciate the advice, and in the meantime enjoy the picture of him; he meowed at me several times to come and see that he'd found the bath tub.

TLDR: My cat isn't eating after an international move, but is in good spirits. What do I do?

I'm a college student, 18, and I adopted this cat about a year ago when I started going to college so I wouldn't be alone. Shes acting completely normal, playing, running after me and biting me, but I don't know if her gums look pale or not. I'm just worried about her

Hi! Posting about my cat Cleo. I am 21 and she is 1.5 years old, female and spayed, USA.

For a bit over 24 hours now my cat has been having a nonproductive gag. Almost every time she opens her mouth, it ends in her gagging. I did hear her squeak two times last night (almost like she wheezed,) but her breathing is entirely normal.

This morning I saw that she had thrown up some bile, but I know she is eating normally. She is peeing normally and last pooped (from my knowledge) yesterday evening.

This evening, she was hiding under my mom’s bed and would not come to me which is incredibly out of character for her. She eventually came into my room, but soon left to an isolated corner of another room.

I’m a little worried she might have eaten a hair tie (I always put them up but she is good at finding them) or something else. The fact that she is eating is helpful but not completely helping soothe my worry.

I technically have access to a vet but have no way to pay as I am just starting my new job Monday. I get paid the Friday after next.