My sweet boy Aslan (big orange tabby, 11 years old) started vomiting and having diarrhea in August 2024.
I had many tests done and the vet confirmed IBD with x-rays.
I put him on a novelty diet and gave him the antibiotics prescribed.
A few weeks later he stopped eating.
I couldn't afford a feeding tube, but knew he wouldn't mind me feeding him (he was my bottle baby), so I started syringe feeding him blended rabbit patè multiple times a day.
We tried every appetite stimulant but none worked.
After 11 weeks of syringe feeding him as much as I could get in him (about 10 oz pate a day), he continued to lose weight (from 22 pounds to 14 pounds) and I was becoming a mess.
I was so worried about Aslan that I started neglecting my own health and was desperate for him to eat on his own again.
I did research and came across many articles and people saying that Prednisolone helped cats with IBD.
So I asked the vet for prednisolone.
On the second day of prednisolone, Aslan stopped drinking water.
After the first week, he developed red, swollen eyes, and an extreme upper respiratory infection along with pneumonia.
We started lowering the doses, but by the 3rd week, it was too late.
Aslan developed heart failure.
He was suffering. He was in pain. He became emaciated, weak, and lethargic.
I had to put him down on 12/16/24
I feel like it is my fault. If I hadn't asked for the prednisolone, he wouldn't have suffered or had heart failure. He wouldn't have died.
And the messed up thing is, I knew that was a rare possibility, as I read that some cats died on it.
I just didn't think my boy would be in the tiny percentage of that happening.
All of his previous tests were good, and his x-rays showed he had a normal heart.
That's what absolutely devastates me.
Before the steroids he was a happy, active, playful loving cat. After it, he faded away and became a shell of himself. And he suffered!
My decision caused that suffering.
It's been over a month now since I put him to sleep and I feel guilt ridden. I cry constantly.
I feel by asking for that medication, I killed him.
I can't forgive myself for his death.
I failed him.
I miss my big sweet soul cat, Aslan.
I had many tests done and the vet confirmed IBD with x-rays.
I put him on a novelty diet and gave him the antibiotics prescribed.
A few weeks later he stopped eating.
I couldn't afford a feeding tube, but knew he wouldn't mind me feeding him (he was my bottle baby), so I started syringe feeding him blended rabbit patè multiple times a day.
We tried every appetite stimulant but none worked.
After 11 weeks of syringe feeding him as much as I could get in him (about 10 oz pate a day), he continued to lose weight (from 22 pounds to 14 pounds) and I was becoming a mess.
I was so worried about Aslan that I started neglecting my own health and was desperate for him to eat on his own again.
I did research and came across many articles and people saying that Prednisolone helped cats with IBD.
So I asked the vet for prednisolone.
On the second day of prednisolone, Aslan stopped drinking water.
After the first week, he developed red, swollen eyes, and an extreme upper respiratory infection along with pneumonia.
We started lowering the doses, but by the 3rd week, it was too late.
Aslan developed heart failure.
He was suffering. He was in pain. He became emaciated, weak, and lethargic.
I had to put him down on 12/16/24
I feel like it is my fault. If I hadn't asked for the prednisolone, he wouldn't have suffered or had heart failure. He wouldn't have died.
And the messed up thing is, I knew that was a rare possibility, as I read that some cats died on it.
I just didn't think my boy would be in the tiny percentage of that happening.
All of his previous tests were good, and his x-rays showed he had a normal heart.
That's what absolutely devastates me.
Before the steroids he was a happy, active, playful loving cat. After it, he faded away and became a shell of himself. And he suffered!
My decision caused that suffering.
It's been over a month now since I put him to sleep and I feel guilt ridden. I cry constantly.
I feel by asking for that medication, I killed him.
I can't forgive myself for his death.
I failed him.
I miss my big sweet soul cat, Aslan.
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