Red Eye

Question
Hi, i have a 3 yr old Himilayan siamese cross. Last October he had red eye, I took him to the Vet and he gave me antbiotics. He stayed on this medication for a couple of weeks. His eye got a bit lighter but not back to normal. Slowly it seemed to get better, but last week he started sneezing and not eating, I took him back to the vet, they gave me novamoxin. I gave him this medication twice a day and gave him water and food. By 4 days he seemed to be getting a bit better. The fifth day it was downhill. I got him in today after 7 days, hes gone yellow in the ears and mouth. The Vet told me to put him on a drip overnight , but assed that hes not doing good and that I would need to spend 200.00 a day plus 200.00 for blood work and no guarantees. I did not expect that. Being that Im only employed part time and cannot afford this I dont know what to do. my cat is only three years old and Im finding this very hard to take. I have another cat thats younger and shes not showing any signs, and I have 2 dogs. What should I do with the animals I have??

Answer
Gregg,

Based on the fact that you've said that your kitty is yellow in the ears and mouth my suspicion would be that he's got liver failure. I don't know that it's necessarily fair to keep him going indefinitely. If he stopped eating for more than about 24 hours that could have caused his liver to malfunction, especially if he was carrying a little extra weight to begin with. My suggestion would be to talk with your vet about what the most humane option is for this little guy at this point but I suspect euthanasia will come up. I'm so incredibly sorry, I wish that I had better news about this little baby. I would say that your other animals are probably safe, but again check with your veterinarian as s/he knows more about the history in this case than I do. Please feel free to contact me at any time with any further questions that you might have. I'm willing to offer support in the event that you do have to put this kitty to sleep, so please don't feel that you've got to listen to those people who will inevitably say that your kitty was 'just a cat' - he is a special friend and in the event that he does need to go to the Rainbow Bridge much earlier than you would have hoped it's okay for you to grieve.