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- Jun 5, 2020
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Hello everyone, I'm new here but I've browsed some topics before on this board. I was hoping that someone can help me find some answers, as I've dealt with no less than 4 vets in the past weeks who all gave me different diagnoses and opinions. Please bear with me.
I recently put to sleep my beloved 15 year old cat Xerxes. He had kidney disease, but his values were in the Stage 2 range and he had not lost any weight. In fact, his values had stayed stable for two years and even throughout this entire ordeal. The first peculiar thing that happened was that 2 months ago, he suddenly went blind, I rushed him to the ER vet and he had very high blood pressure, they said due to his kidney disease. They were able to save his vision and he started on amlodipine, it was under control. The vet did find low potassium and calcium in his blood work however, and his kidney values were still stable. I noticed some things around the house, he was drinking more water and he was urinating more, and when he slept next to me, his stomach was very noisy and grumbly. His appetite had not changed at all, in fact, I felt he was ravenous. I had him checked for hyperthyroidism but he checked out fine. However, he would eat some of his food and walk away, then come back and finish the rest. I assumed it was because he had some indigestion. No vomiting, weight loss or diarrhea. For the next two weeks, things were fine and his high blood pressure was under control.
However, I had a family emergency and I had to take him on a plane, I was very worried about leaving him alone when he needed his medication daily. We stayed with my mom, and he did not do great there. She has other pets, and a noisy grandchild, and he clearly did not love it. He was coming out from under the bed to eat and drink however. One day, I was sitting with him, and he ate his lunch as usual, and he went to use the litter box. He could not defecate and was in so much pain that he vomited all over the room and was yowling in pain. I had another kidney cat who had the exact same thing with kidney disease due to constipation. I rushed him to the ER vet, who gave him fluids and 4 enemas because apparently one was not enough to help him defecate. They checked his kidney values, the same as usual. After this episode, he was not the same cat.
After he came home, he stopped eating and hid under the bed a lot. I got so worried that I called the vet again and was not offered any anti nausea medication or an appetite stimulant, only told to try hand feeding him. I got him to eat a little boiled chicken after a few days. However, this did not last, and on day 5 after the enema, he was so listless and lethargic, looked so miserable, I took him back to the ER vet. Well, they took his blood, and this time, in 5 days, he had become very dehydrated and anemic. He was at 33% the first trip with constipation, and within 5 days he's down to 24%, falling to 19% with fluids. He was given 200ML fluids and kept overnight as well. The vet took his numbers again, still same kidney values, but she tells me that she thinks this is end stage kidney disease (how, when his numbers were so low?). One thing I really noticed was that when he came home, his belly and abdomen were very distended now from the fluids, when they were not ever before.
I brought him home again via plane to our apartment because I was so worried about him. However, he did not do any better here, he didn't eat, he was weak, he collapsed on the way to the litter box and peed by the box. I'm thinking it's bad anemia due to the prior vet visit. I take him to his regular vet the next day, she confirms he has anemia at 19%. She encourages me to take him to the ER vet in town, so I go right away, the same day (literally 2 hours later). This is when things get even hazier. This vet says he's not anemic and seems very confused by this, and she says she did a test and he's not anemic. I have a bad feeling and almost feel like I need to take him away to another vet. They also leave me alone for 2 hours, which is pretty ridiculous given that all they did on him was an exam and an ultrasound. She tells me that "oh with these older cats, his kidney values aren't bad, so I always suspect cancer. We should do an ultrasound." So I consent, she tells me to wait for that. She comes back and tells me she thinks he has lymphoma, because his liver had an abnormal texture, and he had fluid in his abdomen. She recommends putting him to sleep. I am emotional, I'm on my own, and I consented, because she made it sound very bleak. I find out later that fluid in the abdomen (ascites) and liver with an abnormal texture can mean several other things that were not even considered.
I'm writing this right now because I have done a lot of research since, and I really don't think lymphoma is what killed him. He had none of the symptoms. I believe his symptoms are more in line with something else, and I want to see if anyone can help me or has had something similar they've dealt with. Prior to the travel, he was doing pretty damn good, I just don't see that taking him on a trip would cause a "lymphoma" flare up. I want to also emphasize that this vet had all his prior test results and history, and I communicated all this to her and I do not know how she came to this conclusion. It didn't seem like a lot of attention was paid to him. It was as though no one was actually listening to me and she had some bias towards cancer before the ultrasound even came back. He was a pretty happy go lucky cat until I took him on the plane to my mom's house, he was also fine until the constipation/enema, that's when he rapidly went downhill. I know my cat better than anyone, I was quite attuned to him and him to me, and I just don't think that's what took him from me. I wish I'd done a necropsy because I have a lot of questions, all of this happened in the space of 1 week and a half. I am also wondering if something could have been done for him, and if I made the wrong choice. I know you aren't vets and you haven't seen him, but I do have his records available. I feel that all his vets failed him and I'm trying to get some closure.
I recently put to sleep my beloved 15 year old cat Xerxes. He had kidney disease, but his values were in the Stage 2 range and he had not lost any weight. In fact, his values had stayed stable for two years and even throughout this entire ordeal. The first peculiar thing that happened was that 2 months ago, he suddenly went blind, I rushed him to the ER vet and he had very high blood pressure, they said due to his kidney disease. They were able to save his vision and he started on amlodipine, it was under control. The vet did find low potassium and calcium in his blood work however, and his kidney values were still stable. I noticed some things around the house, he was drinking more water and he was urinating more, and when he slept next to me, his stomach was very noisy and grumbly. His appetite had not changed at all, in fact, I felt he was ravenous. I had him checked for hyperthyroidism but he checked out fine. However, he would eat some of his food and walk away, then come back and finish the rest. I assumed it was because he had some indigestion. No vomiting, weight loss or diarrhea. For the next two weeks, things were fine and his high blood pressure was under control.
However, I had a family emergency and I had to take him on a plane, I was very worried about leaving him alone when he needed his medication daily. We stayed with my mom, and he did not do great there. She has other pets, and a noisy grandchild, and he clearly did not love it. He was coming out from under the bed to eat and drink however. One day, I was sitting with him, and he ate his lunch as usual, and he went to use the litter box. He could not defecate and was in so much pain that he vomited all over the room and was yowling in pain. I had another kidney cat who had the exact same thing with kidney disease due to constipation. I rushed him to the ER vet, who gave him fluids and 4 enemas because apparently one was not enough to help him defecate. They checked his kidney values, the same as usual. After this episode, he was not the same cat.
After he came home, he stopped eating and hid under the bed a lot. I got so worried that I called the vet again and was not offered any anti nausea medication or an appetite stimulant, only told to try hand feeding him. I got him to eat a little boiled chicken after a few days. However, this did not last, and on day 5 after the enema, he was so listless and lethargic, looked so miserable, I took him back to the ER vet. Well, they took his blood, and this time, in 5 days, he had become very dehydrated and anemic. He was at 33% the first trip with constipation, and within 5 days he's down to 24%, falling to 19% with fluids. He was given 200ML fluids and kept overnight as well. The vet took his numbers again, still same kidney values, but she tells me that she thinks this is end stage kidney disease (how, when his numbers were so low?). One thing I really noticed was that when he came home, his belly and abdomen were very distended now from the fluids, when they were not ever before.
I brought him home again via plane to our apartment because I was so worried about him. However, he did not do any better here, he didn't eat, he was weak, he collapsed on the way to the litter box and peed by the box. I'm thinking it's bad anemia due to the prior vet visit. I take him to his regular vet the next day, she confirms he has anemia at 19%. She encourages me to take him to the ER vet in town, so I go right away, the same day (literally 2 hours later). This is when things get even hazier. This vet says he's not anemic and seems very confused by this, and she says she did a test and he's not anemic. I have a bad feeling and almost feel like I need to take him away to another vet. They also leave me alone for 2 hours, which is pretty ridiculous given that all they did on him was an exam and an ultrasound. She tells me that "oh with these older cats, his kidney values aren't bad, so I always suspect cancer. We should do an ultrasound." So I consent, she tells me to wait for that. She comes back and tells me she thinks he has lymphoma, because his liver had an abnormal texture, and he had fluid in his abdomen. She recommends putting him to sleep. I am emotional, I'm on my own, and I consented, because she made it sound very bleak. I find out later that fluid in the abdomen (ascites) and liver with an abnormal texture can mean several other things that were not even considered.
I'm writing this right now because I have done a lot of research since, and I really don't think lymphoma is what killed him. He had none of the symptoms. I believe his symptoms are more in line with something else, and I want to see if anyone can help me or has had something similar they've dealt with. Prior to the travel, he was doing pretty damn good, I just don't see that taking him on a trip would cause a "lymphoma" flare up. I want to also emphasize that this vet had all his prior test results and history, and I communicated all this to her and I do not know how she came to this conclusion. It didn't seem like a lot of attention was paid to him. It was as though no one was actually listening to me and she had some bias towards cancer before the ultrasound even came back. He was a pretty happy go lucky cat until I took him on the plane to my mom's house, he was also fine until the constipation/enema, that's when he rapidly went downhill. I know my cat better than anyone, I was quite attuned to him and him to me, and I just don't think that's what took him from me. I wish I'd done a necropsy because I have a lot of questions, all of this happened in the space of 1 week and a half. I am also wondering if something could have been done for him, and if I made the wrong choice. I know you aren't vets and you haven't seen him, but I do have his records available. I feel that all his vets failed him and I'm trying to get some closure.
Its all been overwhelming, surreal, and sudden. I agree that it could have been multiple things, however the problem was that the last vet did not even consider anything other than lymphoma, which makes no sense to me, given the other vets’ competing opinions and what was going on with him. My understanding is you can not even diagnose lymphoma without a biopsy. My own vet suggested pancreatitis, and I’m actually leaning very much that way given his symptoms.
