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- Feb 21, 2021
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We had to have our less than 2 year old cat euthanized this past Thursday and I just need some peace of mind that we made the right decision and that it wouldn’t have mattered if we’d caught the issue sooner, so I’ll detail his story here.
The cat was an approximately 2 year old (probably less) male. Completely healthy up until about 2 weeks ago. About 2 weeks ago, he began sneezing somewhat frequently. He was otherwise normal. About the 4th day, we noticed that he seemed to be becoming very lethargic (basically barely moving from the one corner of our living room) and not eating as much. We suspected some type of upper respiratory infection, so made an appointment with the vet.
After the first exam, the vet suspected something bacterial or possibly viral. He had a fairly high temperature as well. She also discovered that he had enlarged kidneys (she said about the size of tangerines), which made my heart stop as I know how fragile kidneys are in cats. No x rays yet at this point. She gave him hydration, some antibiotics, and prescribed an anti inflammatory for 3 days. She said if it was bacterial, the antibiotic would help. If viral, it would have to run its course. We should monitor him for a few days (eating, drinking, urinating, etc.) and if there wasn’t improvement, we’d bring him back in for x rays and blood work.
After taking the anti inflammatory each day, he seemed to do a little better for several hours. He’d move around the house more. He was still eating wet food (we don’t believe he was eating dry food any longer at this point), drinking water, and urinating. As the dosage wore off by the evening, he’d usually be back to lying in his corner. However as the days went on, we could almost see him visibly getting thinner in his upper body. The eating continued to be less and less and still only a little wet food. No dry and no interest in treats. He drank water, but seemed to be less. Also when he did rarely move about the house, seemed a little ginger in his steps (almost as if slightly off balance), and kind of looked out of it. Definitely not himself.
We took him back to the vet a week after the first appointment and the vet said he looked like a different cat than she saw a week ago. She took blood work (still awaiting the results) and then took the x rays: kidneys still enlarged, and discovered fatty liver. His skin was also now jaundiced. This is when she made the suggestion for euthanization, as he seemed to be getting even worse.
She said that some cats are just born with this type of kidney issue and they can basically function normally until one day, they just can’t any longer. And that even if we knew he had this, we’d just be waiting for the day for these symptoms to pop up. She said he wouldn’t be able to recover. So we made the decision to let him go to take this pain away.
I guess I just have a few questions: has anyone heard of a cat just being born with enlarged kidneys and going from completely normal to so far downhill in a matter of days without anything else causing it? Especially at such a young age? Is that a thing? Was there anything else we could have done? Would it have mattered if we discovered it sooner or would it have been inevitable even if we had known earlier?
And also, if this is a thing, is it genetic? Because we also have his brother, and I’m wondering if we should get him examined for this issue as well. Even if we can’t stop it regardless, maybe we could at least prepare ourselves if he has it as well and those symptoms suddenly appear.
We’re just reeling here as it was so unexpected, and a sudden and dramatic turn in health. He was a wonderful cat, and was so spectacular with our 2 year old and 4 year old boys. He will be missed terribly.
The cat was an approximately 2 year old (probably less) male. Completely healthy up until about 2 weeks ago. About 2 weeks ago, he began sneezing somewhat frequently. He was otherwise normal. About the 4th day, we noticed that he seemed to be becoming very lethargic (basically barely moving from the one corner of our living room) and not eating as much. We suspected some type of upper respiratory infection, so made an appointment with the vet.
After the first exam, the vet suspected something bacterial or possibly viral. He had a fairly high temperature as well. She also discovered that he had enlarged kidneys (she said about the size of tangerines), which made my heart stop as I know how fragile kidneys are in cats. No x rays yet at this point. She gave him hydration, some antibiotics, and prescribed an anti inflammatory for 3 days. She said if it was bacterial, the antibiotic would help. If viral, it would have to run its course. We should monitor him for a few days (eating, drinking, urinating, etc.) and if there wasn’t improvement, we’d bring him back in for x rays and blood work.
After taking the anti inflammatory each day, he seemed to do a little better for several hours. He’d move around the house more. He was still eating wet food (we don’t believe he was eating dry food any longer at this point), drinking water, and urinating. As the dosage wore off by the evening, he’d usually be back to lying in his corner. However as the days went on, we could almost see him visibly getting thinner in his upper body. The eating continued to be less and less and still only a little wet food. No dry and no interest in treats. He drank water, but seemed to be less. Also when he did rarely move about the house, seemed a little ginger in his steps (almost as if slightly off balance), and kind of looked out of it. Definitely not himself.
We took him back to the vet a week after the first appointment and the vet said he looked like a different cat than she saw a week ago. She took blood work (still awaiting the results) and then took the x rays: kidneys still enlarged, and discovered fatty liver. His skin was also now jaundiced. This is when she made the suggestion for euthanization, as he seemed to be getting even worse.
She said that some cats are just born with this type of kidney issue and they can basically function normally until one day, they just can’t any longer. And that even if we knew he had this, we’d just be waiting for the day for these symptoms to pop up. She said he wouldn’t be able to recover. So we made the decision to let him go to take this pain away.
I guess I just have a few questions: has anyone heard of a cat just being born with enlarged kidneys and going from completely normal to so far downhill in a matter of days without anything else causing it? Especially at such a young age? Is that a thing? Was there anything else we could have done? Would it have mattered if we discovered it sooner or would it have been inevitable even if we had known earlier?
And also, if this is a thing, is it genetic? Because we also have his brother, and I’m wondering if we should get him examined for this issue as well. Even if we can’t stop it regardless, maybe we could at least prepare ourselves if he has it as well and those symptoms suddenly appear.
We’re just reeling here as it was so unexpected, and a sudden and dramatic turn in health. He was a wonderful cat, and was so spectacular with our 2 year old and 4 year old boys. He will be missed terribly.
