My baby cat died tonight on the way to the emergency vet. He had been battling chronic IBD for the past two years. In the past few months, he was rapidly losing weight but still ate. Throughout December, he appeared much weaker (unsteady footing), but he still had an appetite.
Things went a bit south on Sunday afternoon. We came home from coffee with a friend and found that he had urinated all over the floor. He then laid on the cold floor panting and drooling. He seemed to snap out of it quickly, however, and walked around and jumped on the sofa, etc. He even asked for food a few times, but every time I offered it to him, he didn't eat it.
At around midnight tonight, I gave him a few Churu treats, and he ate them. He even walked to the kitchen to ask for food. I offered him food, but again, he didn't take any. I went upstairs to get ready for bed. That's when I heard these low-pitched meows—almost howling—from the living room.
I ran downstairs to find him under the coffee table, eyes dilated, panting, and totally limp. I couldn't believe it, I just gave him Churu treats a few minutes before. When the time came, I knew I wanted to do at-home euthanasia. Given his state, I knew it was time and I had no choice but to go to the emergency vet.
So we got ready to go. It took about 30 minutes to get out (had to prep a baby who was already in bed). When I put him in his carrier, he thrashed a bit. I tried to reassure him that I was there for him.
He died on the way to the vet. It all happened so fast. By the time he was received at the vet, they told me he already passed.
I feel so guilty. First, that he died in his most-hated scenario (being in a car, on the way to the vet) and second, that he seemed to have suffered because he died naturally and without euthanasia. On Sunday, my husband and I agreed that we'd monitor him the next day and make the call to get the at-home vet to come to our house to put him to sleep, but the plans changed quickly when he was in distress this evening.
Other than call the vet earlier last week—when he was eating fine, albeit he was weak—I don't know what I could have done differently to prevent this kind of ending. I don't think I've processed what happened just yet (it happened less than 2 hours ago), but I wanted to hear from others so I can process all this.
Things went a bit south on Sunday afternoon. We came home from coffee with a friend and found that he had urinated all over the floor. He then laid on the cold floor panting and drooling. He seemed to snap out of it quickly, however, and walked around and jumped on the sofa, etc. He even asked for food a few times, but every time I offered it to him, he didn't eat it.
At around midnight tonight, I gave him a few Churu treats, and he ate them. He even walked to the kitchen to ask for food. I offered him food, but again, he didn't take any. I went upstairs to get ready for bed. That's when I heard these low-pitched meows—almost howling—from the living room.
I ran downstairs to find him under the coffee table, eyes dilated, panting, and totally limp. I couldn't believe it, I just gave him Churu treats a few minutes before. When the time came, I knew I wanted to do at-home euthanasia. Given his state, I knew it was time and I had no choice but to go to the emergency vet.
So we got ready to go. It took about 30 minutes to get out (had to prep a baby who was already in bed). When I put him in his carrier, he thrashed a bit. I tried to reassure him that I was there for him.
He died on the way to the vet. It all happened so fast. By the time he was received at the vet, they told me he already passed.
I feel so guilty. First, that he died in his most-hated scenario (being in a car, on the way to the vet) and second, that he seemed to have suffered because he died naturally and without euthanasia. On Sunday, my husband and I agreed that we'd monitor him the next day and make the call to get the at-home vet to come to our house to put him to sleep, but the plans changed quickly when he was in distress this evening.
Other than call the vet earlier last week—when he was eating fine, albeit he was weak—I don't know what I could have done differently to prevent this kind of ending. I don't think I've processed what happened just yet (it happened less than 2 hours ago), but I wanted to hear from others so I can process all this.
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