I posted last month about my 14.5 year old cat, Bo, who was diabetic, had epilepsy, and started having diarrhea. This last month has been a real struggle. He had been battling diarrhea since November. My vet tried multiple antibiotics, steroid injections, powders, and probiotics with nothing really working. I began taking Bo to the vet every 2-3 days for subcutaneous fluids to help with dehydration.
Unfortunately, on Tuesday Bo started having seizures again. Prior to Tuesday, I had not seen any seizures since Labor Day of 2013. I took him to the vet for them to check him out. They kept him overnight and gave him subcutaneous fluids. Unfortunately, Bo's body started to not absorb the fluids. Instead, they would just collect in his abdomen. My vet explained to me that the blood vessels would no longer hold water and it would just leak out instead of being absorbed. He said this was the result of poor nutrition...which was the result of all the diarrhea. My vet said he had a pretty good idea Bo had intestinal lymphoma. He said the only way to accurately diagnose this was by performing a biopsy. Both the vet and I agreed that doing a biopsy was not even an option at this point....considering Bo's weakened state.
The vet also expressed concern that Bo began having difficulty seeing and focusing and was very reluctant about walking and moving around. I brought Bo home Wednesday and I noticed Bo's condition had deteriorated as the vet had described. The vet reassured me that Bo was not in any pain or suffering right now...but that intestinal lymphoma could get "pretty messy and pretty ugly." I didn't want to put Bo through that....so I brought Bo home Wednesday and gave him lots of TLC. My parents drove over from Crawfordsville on Thursday to spend the day with Bo while I was at work. We all decided that Bo had fought long enough...and it was time for him to be at rest.
Bo had a good last day on Thursday. My parents gave him lots of attention. He drank quite a bit of water and even ate some chicken. I suggested for them to give Bo some catnip. He always loved that...but couldn't have any these past two years with his epilepsy (catnip was a stimulus that could possibly trigger seizures.) My parents said they gave him 3 small plates of catnip and he really enjoyed that. I spent a little time with Bo after work giving him some more catnip and petting him. We took Bo to the vet Thursday evening and they put him to rest. Bo didn't fight at all....so I knew it was the right decision to make.
Today I received a single white rose with a card that read:
"With our deepest sympathy. Dr. Hoffmeyer, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Havens and all the staff at the Parkside Animal Hospital." So thoughtful, so sweet and so touching for my vet to send that to me. Needless to say, it brought some tears to my eyes.
I still have one black cat, Jax. He is almost 9 years old. He seems to be handling Bo's departure better than I am. I'm spending extra time with Jax and giving him lots of TLC. Its going to take quite some time.....but eventually, we are going to be able move on. I'll eventually begin to smile, instead of tear up, when thinking of Bo and all the great times we had together. Bo wasn't "like family" he WAS FAMILY.
Unfortunately, on Tuesday Bo started having seizures again. Prior to Tuesday, I had not seen any seizures since Labor Day of 2013. I took him to the vet for them to check him out. They kept him overnight and gave him subcutaneous fluids. Unfortunately, Bo's body started to not absorb the fluids. Instead, they would just collect in his abdomen. My vet explained to me that the blood vessels would no longer hold water and it would just leak out instead of being absorbed. He said this was the result of poor nutrition...which was the result of all the diarrhea. My vet said he had a pretty good idea Bo had intestinal lymphoma. He said the only way to accurately diagnose this was by performing a biopsy. Both the vet and I agreed that doing a biopsy was not even an option at this point....considering Bo's weakened state.
The vet also expressed concern that Bo began having difficulty seeing and focusing and was very reluctant about walking and moving around. I brought Bo home Wednesday and I noticed Bo's condition had deteriorated as the vet had described. The vet reassured me that Bo was not in any pain or suffering right now...but that intestinal lymphoma could get "pretty messy and pretty ugly." I didn't want to put Bo through that....so I brought Bo home Wednesday and gave him lots of TLC. My parents drove over from Crawfordsville on Thursday to spend the day with Bo while I was at work. We all decided that Bo had fought long enough...and it was time for him to be at rest.
Bo had a good last day on Thursday. My parents gave him lots of attention. He drank quite a bit of water and even ate some chicken. I suggested for them to give Bo some catnip. He always loved that...but couldn't have any these past two years with his epilepsy (catnip was a stimulus that could possibly trigger seizures.) My parents said they gave him 3 small plates of catnip and he really enjoyed that. I spent a little time with Bo after work giving him some more catnip and petting him. We took Bo to the vet Thursday evening and they put him to rest. Bo didn't fight at all....so I knew it was the right decision to make.
Today I received a single white rose with a card that read:
"With our deepest sympathy. Dr. Hoffmeyer, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Havens and all the staff at the Parkside Animal Hospital." So thoughtful, so sweet and so touching for my vet to send that to me. Needless to say, it brought some tears to my eyes.
I still have one black cat, Jax. He is almost 9 years old. He seems to be handling Bo's departure better than I am. I'm spending extra time with Jax and giving him lots of TLC. Its going to take quite some time.....but eventually, we are going to be able move on. I'll eventually begin to smile, instead of tear up, when thinking of Bo and all the great times we had together. Bo wasn't "like family" he WAS FAMILY.
