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[simone]

I've been reading this board avidly since our cat, Lola, got quite ill. Her back leg was lame. Then, she suddenly couldn't breathe & ended up in an oxygen tent. They were 99% sure it was cancer & we'd have to put her down. She fought back & two days later, they sent her home with antibiotics.

After scouring the internet, reading such helpful sites as this & seeing her x-rays, I was SURE it was fungal - but no one would listen. We live near SF - there is no histo/blasto/cocci here. (Sure!) Also, our cat is three legged- she had a fibrosarcoma last year.  A very rare one that wasn't injection induced; cats don't get them unless they are injection induced, & those almost always metastasize.  Hers was not aggressive, & her amputation was aggressive.  She turned into a tough little happy hopper though. But the vets would only guess "lung cancer".

Anyway, I  saw many vets & finally one who would do Mira Vista test, even though she argued A LOT.  No one seems to post/read the "other fungi" part of this site.  There are no active histo sites, & Lola seems to be going through all the same symptoms and troubles as the blasto patients here.  Can we join/post for support & advice?
-Simone

[Wilson3]

Simone and Lola (love the name) welcome aboard 
So sorry it had to be fungal related but that's what this site is all about.
The reason I think the other parts on this site is not as active is because dogs seem to be a lot more common to get blasto. I think I have only heard of a handful of cats getting blasto.
How is Lola doing? When did you find out? Did she start treatment yet? Is Lola a indoor/outdoor cat?
You guys are in my thoughts sty strong and positive and Lola sounds like a fighter as cats tend to be   
wilson3

[evayola]

Have you gotten the results of the MiraVista test yet? I really hope that you can find out exactly what it is. Keep us posted. This site is a great place for support and we can all learn something from eachother.

[carolh]

Our dog Hale Bopp impaled himself with a stick that apparently had fungus because he got a fungal disease.  Doc said it is very rare for dogs to get it, usually only if it is introduced into its body (it was) but that it is common in cats.  A common name is spagum moss fungus."  So yes, cats get fungal diseases.  We treated Bopp for a few months and he was fine so it seems on the basis of this one experience, it might not be as awful as blasto.
Good luck with Lola.
Carol

[simone]

Hi again everybody,

Thanks so much for all your kind responses!  I would have responded sooner, but we've been really overwhelmed here. So our cat has histo, not blasto -which rarely occurs in California. The vet said the sympotms & recovery are often identical so I hope it's ok that I post here.  They did the urine antigen test.  She started itraconazole. We've been really struggling to get her to eat and resorted to syringe feeding.  It's in her back leg (she already has only one since she's an amputee) & her lungs.  She had very low red & white blood cells & platelets. Her vet really pushed to give her a transfusion but we held off on that. Her leg got better but then today suddenly got much worse.  There are a few good days, we get hopeful, & then things get worse.  I am really hating all of this.  Thanks again for the replies!!!

Simone

[simone]

Also, our little girl, Lola gained two ounces this week!

Which for all of you with big dogs, might not sound like much, but she was down from being an almost 7 lb cat (with three legs) to 5lbs 8 oz.  They were really sure we were going to lose her unless we could get some weight back on her.  So those two ounces have made us very excited!  Thanks for the ideas here about getting animals to eat and syringe feeding - they were (hopefully since we are not out of the woods at all yet) life savers for our girl.

The vet joked to us that the good thing about having a tiny little three legged cat is that the itraconazole bills are cheaper   We sure hope she gets to keep her only back leg though since it's in that foot

Simone

[carolh]

This message is for Lola....You go girl.  You're a trooper, that's obvious.  Work with your mom when she feeds you.  It's important.  You'll feel better.  Your treatment might go on for a bit but stick with it, sweetheart.  Prove to the world that cats can be tough and cats rock!
Carol

[Wilson3]

How is Lola doing? I believe a dog on here also had histo ... under other funguses if I remember right there is more info on histo I think histo is not as common as blasto but very close related
give that dear sweet girl a hug from us keep fighting and be strong
wilson3