Hi, everyone.
This is my first post to this site. I joined because my 16 year-old cat, Miles, died suddenly yesterday and I'm still grasping at ways on how to deal with it.
I got Miles from a local shelter in 1998 at a local Minneapolis animal shelter when he was six weeks old. I already had a female cat, Sasha, so he grew up with a slightly older female pal. Sasha passed away almost a year ago from hyperthyroidism. Her death was particularly drawn out, and my wife and I felt that we never wanted Miles go through that lengthy end of life process.
Miles was always one to let you know what he thought – talking all the time. He would greet you when you got home, demanding food and love! He just wanted to be next to us. He would lay on my legs when I worked on my computer, and lay on us when we went to sleep. He was a lover.
Miles and Sasha grew up doing everything together: playing, fighting, and sleeping. When Sasha passed away, I noticed that Miles had changed. He was more sullen and aloof, and much more sensitive to needs his needs of attention. It's like he lost a piece of himself.
Miles was only recently also diagnosed with hyperthyroid - literally a week ago. He was drinking loads of water by this point, and urinating more than usual. He had also lost weight. At his peak, probably about three years ago, he was 15 pounds. Last week he weighed 9.5 pounds. This is what triggered my vet visit for the thyroid diagnosis. I changed his diet to the Y/D low-iodine food, which he was eating for about four days. While I knew he was starting to feel the effects of the thyroid problems, he was acting himself and nothing seemed unusual, until yesterday morning.
Miles woke me up as he usually does by licking my face or arm with his sandpaper tongue. I went and did my normal morning ritual of cleaning his litterbox and putting food in his bowel. I then hopped in the shower. When I got out, I noticed Miles in the living room slumped over on the coffee table. It seemed unusual. He then got up and attempted to vomit, one where you can see he's trying hard but nothing but water and foam is coming out. Still, I've seen him do this before but it usually happens once and it's done. However, this occurred a couple times. H then ran down into the basement and hid in his litterbox, something I've never seen him do before.
At this point I became nervous and concerned, as I knew this was a serious indication that he wasn't feeling well. I picked him up and carried him to our upstairs and put him in his favorite sleeping pillow. I could see him relax. I figured I could work on my computer and keep an eye on him. Eventually, this was followed by more gagging and vomiting fits and he tried to hide under our bed. The fits got worse and he started foaming at the mouth. Of course, I'm freaking out at this point; I called the doctor and brought him to the vet immediately.
While at the vet, they took x-rays and his body temperature. The x-rays showed no blockage in the stomach. He stated the kidneys looked okay, but the heart itself was smaller than usual. What was particularly worrisome was that his body temperature was only 95 degrees. The vet had a difficult time giving a diagnosis on exactly what was going on. He gave us three options: emergency ICU at the local university, a short in-house stay for intravenous liquid treatment, or euthanasia. I was shocked. This is a cat who was running around the house just the night before.
We kept him at the vet for the afternoon to push liquids into his body in hopes that he would bounce back, but he never did. He had more vomiting fits and his temperature never improved beyond 97 degrees. At the end of the day we decided to let him go. He passed away in my arms.
With our second cat passing, our house is now devoid of any pets. It's sad and eerily quiet. My wife and I just held each other last night and cried. For some reason, I keep expecting Miles to run into the room, talking to us as he usually would. There is a void in our family unit. As it turns out, Miles didn't go through the lengthy deterioration that Sasha did -- but it was completely the opposite. It seemed he was his normal, active self-one day, and then literally gone the next. It all seems so unfathomable.
I keep asking myself: what happened? I know he was old, and that he would eventually feel the horrible symptoms of hyperthyroid, but I figured he had a least a year left -- probably more. What this caused by something I did? Did the new Y/D diet have a negative effect on him? Did he eat something poisonous? Does this happen to old cats where the cause can be unexplained? I feel I was so caught up in the moment I didn’t take the time to ask the vet these questions.
I find myself looking for answers as a means to deal with my tragedy. He was such a good boy and I loved him so much.
Thank you for reading.
-Todd