Horrible day

[Mbane42]

Hey everyone,

Just found this site after losing our adopted Bengal cat today. I figured I’d write about what happened because I’m curious if anyone else has had an experience similar to this.

My wife and I took in a Bengal cat at the beginning of this September that was skinny and looked a little ill. She was 9 years old and the previous owner was needing to move states for personal reasons and couldn’t bring the cat with her. The old owner gave us her medical records and told us she had blood in stool issues for several years and had declined in weight in the last year.

This was a big concern for me and my wife as the cat had lost about 1/4th of her body weight in a year according to vet paperwork. We took her to our vet and they ran blood work and found nothing. They suggested the blood in the stool could be Irritable bowls or something that could be solved using dewormer. So we put her on a couple treatments of dewormer and watched her carefully. We tried switching her food but she continued to have blood in her stool from time to time. She had no interest playing but she had a big appetite, loved treats, and climbing everything. She didn’t show any signs of pain other than arthritis pain from her back legs.

Earlier this week she started sleeping more during the day and only getting up for food and cuddles. Last night she stole the treats from our Maine Coon so she was starting to act normal again with her appetite. We woke up this morning to her laying completely limp and eyes wide open, basically unresponsive, and had peed herself. It looked like a seizure with her twitching but she gave no response other than breathing. We rushed her to the vet ER and they believed that it was possibly gastrointestinal lymphoma that caused her issues. They said based off her weight and condition there really wasn’t anything we could do for her as her vitals were dropping and chemotherapy would have been something the last owner would have had to begin because we have gotten her already in the late stages of cancer. We held her at the doctor and she began to regain control of some muscles to swallow and move her front legs but still had a blank expression on her face. She then howled in pain and we knew we had to make the hard decision to euthanize her based off the doctors recommendation.

We only had her for just under two months but her loss came over night. We are happy we were able to provide her a loving home, tons of cuddles, a cat tree, and ample treats in an attempt to fatten her up. I’m curious if anyone has ever dealt with such a sudden loss from lymphoma? I keep reading online and can’t find answers on if the late stages normally look like this for lymphoma? Was this a seizure associated with the cancer or just her simply shutting down and going unresponsive from her vitals dropping? She was acting fine last night so the rapid change just seems so unbelievable. Her symptoms match perfectly with gastrointestinal lymphoma but the whole seizure episode and her being limp for over 30 minutes without any control over muscles confuses me.

I guess I’m just struggling with the idea of euthanasia. I’ve never had to put down an animal before so I’m struggling to accept that it was the best decision for her pain, especially when she began to move again right before we did it. The doctor said regardless of euthanasia her vitals were so low she would have died within two hours..

Any advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Maria Bayote]

Oh my...I cannot imagine what you are going through right now.
Still, I am so grateful and happy that you have given this cat the most wonderful life she can ever have in her last few months. I am sure that she is grateful too.

I have never faced a dilemma to put any of my pets to sleep, but I guess it is only you who could decide on this, considering the factors on hand. And the decision you made is primarily for your cat. The most important thing is that you were at her side as you did, calming her and hugging her in her last several moments.

Hang in there. This is so sad.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

My heart is breaking for you, and yet there is a vast serenity, knowing that you and your wife gave this girl a caring home, and saw her off on her Next Great Adventure with love. That, in the end, is everything. I do not have experience with cats who have lymphoma, but I have had more than my share of experience with humans who have had it. One friend, whose cancer was discovered very late, and who opted NOT to try aggressive treatment that was almost certain to fail, did really very well, far better than expected, and for longer than expected, and then it seemed as if she reached a PNR,,..Point of No Return...and suddenly everything began failing at once, and she was quickly gone. It seems as if this is what happened with your precious cat. I am prone to think that the seizure, if that is what it was, was a response to wide-spread organ shut down. And you did everything you could do, everything that was right, from the moment you saw her to the moment she left you for That Place Where All Things Are Known.

Be very sure that she knows what you did, and what you wish you could have done, for her. And her love for you, now translated and purified into Love, she sends back to you both, to walk with you down through all of your days. Because Love abides. Always, forever, love abides.

 

[di and bob]

As one who was with a cat until the end with a cancerous tumor in the intestines, I know how devastating and horrible it is to watch the decline and the end. He was 16 when he died and as scared and stressed out he was at the vet's, I still believe we made the right decision not to prolong the inevitable for a short while with treatment.
Since lymphoma really can't be diagnosed with blood tests, I can see where she was not diagnosed until it was too late, or suspected. Cancer such as that is often not diagnosed until it has spread through the body and is in the last stages, so your precious girl most likely had been suffering from it for a long time. Especially if the only symptom had been weight loss and blood in the stool. It most likely had progressed to her brain, and so caused the seizure or even a stroke.
We always struggle with euthanasia, it is soul-shattering and absolutely devastating to have to make that decision, especially when we are in a grief-stricken, scared state with high emotions and scattered thoughts. I believe you did the right thing at the time, it is only later when we gain a little more control and go through all those should haves, could haves that come with grief that we doubt and regret what we did. I have sat with many humans who were in the death process, and I have often wondered why we would let someone suffer so when we offer our pets an ending to their pain when there is no cure and life is full of neverending pain. So don't beat yourself up for ending something that would have had her existing, not really living, prolonging something that meant more pain and more fear. I have clung to the saying...." it is better a day early, then a day too late".
I am sorry you did not have more time with her, I wish things could have been different. But for her it was everything. She had a home and a family to love her, she was happy. Thanks to you taking in a 9 year old cat with medical problems. Not something many would do, you will be blessed for giving her what she so desperately needed at the end of her life, someone to remember and love her. The greatest honor any of us would want.
The bond of love you formed with that sweet girl will be with you forever, nothing, not even death can take that away from you, for it is spiritual, so eternal. She will forever be as close as your thoughts and prayers. Just as you would want for her if you were the first to go, so she wants for you. To go forward into life and seek it's happiness and beauty. To grieve what has been lost, but to realize in time how much more you have gained for having known her. To gain strength from her love and go on, to pass that love on and to make it even stronger by adding more. She is at peace because she has your love. Take care.......RIP dear little girl. You will never be forgotten, you will forever have secure places in loving hearts. May the good Lord bless and keep you, until you meet again!

 

[Antonio65]

I'm so sorry for what you have gone through, but you were her hero in the last two months of her life.
Certain diseases can go unnoticed for months and then show up when it's too late, regardless the several tests and visits a cat can have at the vets'.
You did your best to give her the highest quality of life and she will be forever grateful for this.
Some disease can even trigger some neurological issues, like the seizure you saw in her.

Nearly three years ago I found a cat, she had been abandoned in the middle of a busy road in the middle of nowhere. I picked her up and had her visited by the vets and they told me she was an elderly cat, she was very sick, possibly with CKD. We had even booked a thorough visit to understand what it was and how to help her, but the day before that appointment, she had a seizure that left her unconscious for at least two hours.
I called the vet, but she was away, and when she came back she could only tell me it was time to let her go.

Whatever it was, it gave her this seizure, and the seizure was the end...
I took comfort from the fact she was able to live her last 9 days of her life surrounded by all the love I could give her, just like you did with your kitty.

It isn't your fault.
She's on the softest cloud up there now, and saying "thank you" for giving her a home, love, food and care till the end.

 

[solomonar]

Ive seen people who begged to be released from painful and terminal sickness, but euthanasia is not legal in most of the countries.
It is accepted for our beloved animal companions.
In a way, it looks like we love out pets more than we love ourselves.

Love has many sides, if we accept one, we are bound to accept all of them.

My heart is with you!

 

[CindyH66]

oh, dear.. I am so sorry for your loss. a confusing and painful time, but you did the kind, loving thing .. and she had wonderful last few weeks in her life, and you eased her passing , so her stories ending was not so bad. So many things can go wrong in a kitty and we dont know it. They seem fine , then suddenly they are not. I have shared on here my experience with several kitties. mine as well as my brothers , and a friend of mine. Bella and Angel ..one died this year and one last year. Both had seen a vet not long before , and both had a ' clean bill of health" .. both developed sudden onset of traumatic symptoms , rushed to vet and had to be euthanized there . They both developed " saddle thrombus" .. it is a blood clot that lodges in the lower abdomen, cutting off circulation to legs. they seems fine one minute , then they become suddenly paralyzed and shriek in pain . Since healthy cats dont have blood clots , there is always some underlying problem .. heart disease ? cancer ? something that caused it ... either way, it results in them needed to be put out of misery. Even IF they somehow did emergency surgery to remove the clot , and kitty survived the operation ... they would likely pass in a day or 2 or suffer another clot related incident ( stroke ? another saddle clot ..etc.) as the underlying problem is still present. The vets words, not mine. My brother didn't hesitate to put his baby out of pain ( angel) ; I contemplated amputating Bella's leg and seeing if she would pull thru as her clot lodged lower down and had only affected one leg; but , she was 14 already, and had other health problems and I figured she had been through enough. Angel was only 7 and otherwise healthy as far as we knew. ... I guess my point is.. if your baby had a stroke ( very possible) and blood clot and serious underlying problems that caused it ... chances are you were only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Those issues would still be there , and she may have suffered more trauma had you not done the loving thing when you did . No matter how long we have them.. a few months , 7 yrs .. 14 yrs.. it never seems long enough. She was blessed to have loving family to see to the end of her story. I think you did the right thing !! the hard thing, but the right thing. May you have peace in it .

 

[all4mom2]

Just now finding this, so sorry if not timely...

I had a healthy, robust, full-of-life two-year-old cat die under anesthesia, so I certainly understand the shock of sudden loss and all the questions it leaves you with. In my case, the vet ordered a necropsy, so that answered mine, thank goodness, or I'd probably still be wondering to this day! Surprisingly, any pet owner can also request one, and that might have been helpful for you at the time to figure out what happened, but too late now.

I, too, have very mixed feelings about euthanasia, so I understand that, as well. Who determined that he was "crying out in pain" versus just being in a confused state after what might have been a seizure, and who suggested putting him down at that point?

At any rate, it sounds to me like you adopted an already-sick cat, which may have been one of the reasons the owner "couldn't" take him with her. I think intestinal lymphoma is pretty common, especially in male cats over the age of 6 or so, so I'm surprised your vet couldn't diagnose it. It certainly sounds like he was on a downward course, and there's really no cure for this... If he enjoyed two happy months with you, you did a good thing!

 

[CindyH66]

Thank you for sharing your story all4mom2 ! sorry for your loss, too ! it is never easy to lose a fur baby, no matter how it ends. I am glad your got some closure in your situation.