My 7-year-old Cat

charlotte8

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My 7-yr-old cat passed away quickly on September 4. She had discolored urine and had been drinking a lot of water. She had small dark feces. For 24 hours, I gave her amoxicillin to which she responded temporarily. I hand-fed her tuna which she accepted readily. This happened during Hurricane Dorian (I live in Florida) and no vets were open. When she was a kitten, she had a prolapsed rectum and got surgery that was intended to prevent the problem in the future. After that, she did well for several years. My question is whether her early health problem had anything to do with her death or if there was an underlying problem such as cancer or FIP that I wasn't aware of. I know this is only a description of what happened but was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or insight about it.
 

neely

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My deepest regrets and sincere sympathies on the loss of your cat. :angel:
Without an exam when she took a turn for the worse which was not possible due to Hurricane Dorian it's hard to say what led to her passing. Here is a link that may offer some helpful info. regarding her urine symptoms:
Cat Pee 101: Is My Cat’s Urine Normal?
 

MissClouseau

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I'm so sorry for your loss. :rbheart:

As it's been said without necropsy nobody can be sure but I highly doubt it was FIP. With wet FIP there is fluid in the abdominal region that is visible to eye when it gets bad enough to show other symptoms. With dry FIP death doesn't seem as quick as a couple of days after you see symptoms like lack of appetite, as it tends to lead to organ failure which doesn't happen quickly.
 

joyfulrose

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I'm so sorry for your loss <3
As everyone else said there's no way to know for sure now. But what I do know, is a lot of what you said is so similar to what happened with my baby. I lost her 9 months ago and it's still so very hard because we never did get to find out for sure what was wrong.
I was told by a few different vets that they highly suspected she had FIP or cancer.
Similar to your cat, my baby(she was 17) was taking amoxi drops (amoxicillin) for an unknown infection seen on her blood test results. The amoxi drops seemed to make her feel better at first and she started eating well- much more than she had been for a long time. When it came to the last day or two of her last dose of amoxi drops, that was when i had noticed her abdomen looked a bit distended and swollen, she also began sitting in the hunched up/meatloaf position a lot. A couple days later she was in and out of the litter box and was having trouble urinating. Like your cat, she would also drink lots and lots of water. At the same time all of this was going on she was only passing very small dark hard stools. I worried she had a UTI when she continued to have trouble urinating or that she was also possibly constipated. I took her to 4 different vets and all of them suspected wet fip because of the fluid in her abdomen. None of the vets we had seen thought all of this was due to her having a UTI or being constipated. They were not able to do anything to help her. I tried everything that i could think of to help her, but nothing seemed to work and she seemed to be declining day by day. She started to get weaker and every time after she would urinate she would lay in her litter box. Sometimes she would be laying down on her stomach in the litter box and try to defecate and sometimes nothing would come out, other times it was very small hard stool. The last two days she was wobbly when she walked. I remember she would walk a few steps then lay down on the floor.. like she was too weak or too tired to move. On the very last night she urinated on my bed twice ( she had never ever done this before) She also felt light as a feather. I could feel every bone in her little body. When i carried her i was so gentle, all i could feel and see was the fluid in her abdomen. I took her to the ER and they told me that my cat was dying and there was nothing they could do. They refused to run any tests that night because they said that even if they did, they still would not be able to save her. They just said they highly suspected she had FIP or cancer. All of this happened in a matter of two weeks. :(

It was truly devastating and I know how hard it must be for you not knowing for sure what happened. I don't know if what happened with your baby was the same as what happened to mine but I am only telling you because i found a few similarities. Of course it could have been something else entirely going on. I'm so so so sorry for your loss. May your sweet kitty RIP
 

di and bob

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It sounds a lot like kidney failure, or diabetes. When you lose a younger cat like this, the speculation of why can prey on your mind and emotions for a long time, even forever. I can tell you from experience it does no good to go over all the what ifs, and the could haves should haves, it does not bring relief and changes nothing. It just brings more heartache. You tried to help her, you did what you could at the time with what you had, please let your broken heart begin to heal. I truly believe there was no way to prevent what happened, she died at home, in the place she loved so much, with your love surrounding and comforting her. She knew she was loved, and for her, that was her everything. You gave her that. Knowing what took her from you will not change what happened, instead concentrate on those seven wondreful years you had her in your life. Don't make her death more important then her life. Her life was so much more important. Just as you would want for her if you were the first to go, so she wants for you. That is love. What she shared with you can never be taken from you, "Death cannot take that which never dies". She wants you to find joy in life again, to bring sunshine back into your life because she herself loved life so much and now she lives on through you. She will be forever as close as your thoughts and prayers. Send her thoughts of love and comfort, not sadness and tears. She is at peace because she knew your love. She followed your life's journey for seven yeras and though she follows a new path now, it will forever parallel your own, because your souls are tied together with bonds of love....
My heart goes out to you, I know what kind of pain and soul searching this brings. Please know I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers, you have friends at this site that will help you through this.....take care.....RIP beautiful gril. you will never be frogotten, you will forever have a secure place in a loving heart. May the good Lord bless and keep you until you meet again!
 
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charlotte8

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My deepest regrets and sincere sympathies on the loss of your cat. :angel:
Without an exam when she took a turn for the worse which was not possible due to Hurricane Dorian it's hard to say what led to her passing. Here is a link that may offer some helpful info. regarding her urine symptoms:
Cat Pee 101: Is My Cat’s Urine Normal?
Thank you
 
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charlotte8

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I'm so sorry for your loss <3
As everyone else said there's no way to know for sure now. But what I do know, is a lot of what you said is so similar to what happened with my baby. I lost her 9 months ago and it's still so very hard because we never did get to find out for sure what was wrong.
I was told by a few different vets that they highly suspected she had FIP or cancer.
Similar to your cat, my baby(she was 17) was taking amoxi drops (amoxicillin) for an unknown infection seen on her blood test results. The amoxi drops seemed to make her feel better at first and she started eating well- much more than she had been for a long time. When it came to the last day or two of her last dose of amoxi drops, that was when i had noticed her abdomen looked a bit distended and swollen, she also began sitting in the hunched up/meatloaf position a lot. A couple days later she was in and out of the litter box and was having trouble urinating. Like your cat, she would also drink lots and lots of water. At the same time all of this was going on she was only passing very small dark hard stools. I worried she had a UTI when she continued to have trouble urinating or that she was also possibly constipated. I took her to 4 different vets and all of them suspected wet fip because of the fluid in her abdomen. None of the vets we had seen thought all of this was due to her having a UTI or being constipated. They were not able to do anything to help her. I tried everything that i could think of to help her, but nothing seemed to work and she seemed to be declining day by day. She started to get weaker and every time after she would urinate she would lay in her litter box. Sometimes she would be laying down on her stomach in the litter box and try to defecate and sometimes nothing would come out, other times it was very small hard stool. The last two days she was wobbly when she walked. I remember she would walk a few steps then lay down on the floor.. like she was too weak or too tired to move. On the very last night she urinated on my bed twice ( she had never ever done this before) She also felt light as a feather. I could feel every bone in her little body. When i carried her i was so gentle, all i could feel and see was the fluid in her abdomen. I took her to the ER and they told me that my cat was dying and there was nothing they could do. They refused to run any tests that night because they said that even if they did, they still would not be able to save her. They just said they highly suspected she had FIP or cancer. All of this happened in a matter of two weeks. :(

It was truly devastating and I know how hard it must be for you not knowing for sure what happened. I don't know if what happened with your baby was the same as what happened to mine but I am only telling you because i found a few similarities. Of course it could have been something else entirely going on. I'm so so so sorry for your loss. May your sweet kitty RIP
Thank you for your input.
 
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charlotte8

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It sounds a lot like kidney failure, or diabetes. When you lose a younger cat like this, the speculation of why can prey on your mind and emotions for a long time, even forever. I can tell you from experience it does no good to go over all the what ifs, and the could haves should haves, it does not bring relief and changes nothing. It just brings more heartache. You tried to help her, you did what you could at the time with what you had, please let your broken heart begin to heal. I truly believe there was no way to prevent what happened, she died at home, in the place she loved so much, with your love surrounding and comforting her. She knew she was loved, and for her, that was her everything. You gave her that. Knowing what took her from you will not change what happened, instead concentrate on those seven wondreful years you had her in your life. Don't make her death more important then her life. Her life was so much more important. Just as you would want for her if you were the first to go, so she wants for you. That is love. What she shared with you can never be taken from you, "Death cannot take that which never dies". She wants you to find joy in life again, to bring sunshine back into your life because she herself loved life so much and now she lives on through you. She will be forever as close as your thoughts and prayers. Send her thoughts of love and comfort, not sadness and tears. She is at peace because she knew your love. She followed your life's journey for seven yeras and though she follows a new path now, it will forever parallel your own, because your souls are tied together with bonds of love....
My heart goes out to you, I know what kind of pain and soul searching this brings. Please know I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers, you have friends at this site that will help you through this.....take care.....RIP beautiful gril. you will never be frogotten, you will forever have a secure place in a loving heart. May the good Lord bless and keep you until you meet again!
Your insightful and comforting thoughts have helped me a lot.
 
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charlotte8

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I want to deeply thank everyone who replied with their comforting and sympathetic thoughts. It helps me have a better idea as to what possibly happened. Your messages have helped me so much during this very difficult time.
 
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