I am new to this forum and full of questions about what happened to my healthy feline on December 12, 2005.
My cat was brought into the vet by my daughter on Dec 11, 2005 at approx 7:00pm. I got a call from the Veteranarian explaining what he thought might be happening.
He told me she lost the use of her two hind legs, that her breathing was irregular and she appeared to be in pain. There was no sign of impact and she is not an outdoor cat, so that ruled out being hit by a car. He said she could be suffering from poison but it was highly unlikely. I told him that Strauss (her name) eats any plants she can get her teeth on, he said he wasnt really going that direction. He said he thought she might have a clot that does this same type of thing, or that she had fallen from something with significant height. He said that due to her age he wasnt sure if I wanted to proceed with tests and treatment... due to her age, she was 13 and fit as a fiddle. There was nothing wrong with this cat until now.
I told him that her age didnt matter, do whatever it takes to save the cat. You see, I am currently posted North of the Canadian 53rd parallel and the cat was living with my daughters grandparents temporarily until my daughter got her own place, so for me I felt helpless way up here and was in shock by this phone call.
He said he was going to give her an anti-inflammatory to see what that would do as he was convinced there was swelling of the spine.
The next day he called me and said that she hasnt changed much. Her white blood cell count was high, she was just lying there and still had no use of her hind legs. He suggested Euthanising her. I couldnt do it without a second opinion. My regular vet was in the city 4 hours away and I trusted him so I asked this vet what he thought of transporting Strauss to the city. He said that I should seek a second opinion and if I was to transport her I should have it done this day. So my daughter loaded Strauss into the car and headed to the city. The vet injected Strauss with liquid because she hadnt drank any water since she got there and he feared dehydration. He did not give her any sedatives because my daughter had to cross the USA border to use the shorter route, not sure what that has to do with sedating a cat....
The drive for my daughter was horrible, Strauss had a seizure half way... her eyes glazed over and she went stiff, was unresponsive, my daughter pulled the car over for 20 minutes thinking Strauss would die. She didnt, she came out of it but was panting. My poor daughter was at her witts end, this cat was her companion since she was 6 and to her it was like dealing with a very sick sibling.
About 5 minutes befor arriving at the city animal emergency clinic ( we knew waiting to see our vet the next day was out of the question) Strauss went into another seizure and reached her paw to my daughter.... and we think that is when she died. My daughter ran into the clinic and brought out the receptionist who carried the cat in her basket to the emergency... Strauss was foaming at the mouth... she was indeed dead.
I am crying as I type this because there are so many unanswered questions for me, its like surreal.
According to Mandy's grandparents Strauss was not eating for two days before this happened but they just thought she was under the weather and didnt make a big deal out of it. It wasnt until Saturday when they came home from shopping and saw her trying to drag herself towards them with her two front paws and was meowing quite loud that they phoned my daughter for help.
The cat has been cremated, I am upset at myself for not getting an autopsy... because I cant sleep, I keep trying to figure out how a perfectly healthy cat can all of a sudden be gone in 28 hours.... does anyone have any idea what this could have been.... I am really beating myself up for not being there and being able to do more.
This really sucks, I feel like I lost a child.
Michelle