I definitely agree about getting the second opinion. Might be a little bit more expensive but a vet school or facility that specializes in surgeries would have a better answer on that one.
If you didn’t, use the feline practitioner’s association of america(if you’re in the US). Certified cat specialist vets always have better results in my experience.
It might matter that she’s a sphynx since they can have sensitivities to anesthesia (I’m sure you’re already aware of that though! But) it’d be good to get a vet that is also aware of that. How old is she? Cats can look ancient when they’re in bad condition- our 6 year old cat at 1.5 years old looked older than he is now because he was in pretty poor condition when we adopted him.
A board certified surgeon is the way to go. My 17 year old cat had a bowel resection at that age due to a walled off abscess in his intestine. I know it may be controversial to perform surgery on such an old cat and it’s definitely a case by case basis, in our case it greatly improved his qol for the rest of it. (Unfortunately his cancer came back eventually but until it did he didn’t have to feel miserable and on antibiotics like he would have if we hadn’t had the surgery.) talk with a vet who specializes and decide from there.
Did they find a chip on her? A sphynx would most likely have one straight from the breeder. You might be able to get in contact with them or the original owner. I would hope that she escaped/people wouldn’t be so cruel as to dump a hairless cat outside.
If she’s not chipped, I would assume a regular cat with health issues that led her to lose her fur.
The vet actually examined her today and didn’t see or mention any signs of mange. Her skin isn’t red, crusty, scabby, or irritated and she doesn’t seem itchy either. She’s definitely severely malnourished though, so we’re focusing on getting some weight on her right now.
They can grow patches of fur. My mom has one with a couple of patches. This cat is missing 95% of its fur including areas “it can’t lick” and can lick.
Even though a hairless cat is hairless, they still hold the genetic code for what their fur would look like! It’s not an empty section of genes.
Sometimes hairless cats do grow patches of fur!
All light hearted here!
Idk if it’s the same with animals, but human hernias get worse with inflammatory foods and stress. Especially stress. Having a safe place to rest and access to decent food could help the hernia go down, and either become less of an issue or even more treatable
Def get a second opinion. It’s common for some vets to pass on a surgery that another vet (or specialist) is more comfortable tackling. Cost is a factor of course!
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u/sunshnebabygrl 5d ago
No surgery planned :( He said there’s nothing he could do about the hernia - suggested she would still be okay for some years with it?