The pet-specific bad news thread

[Mrs Pingu]

Aw, poor old Big Tom. You did your best for him.

[rogerzilla]

Tigs has uveitis, possibly caused (as blood test suggests) by an old bout of toxoplasmosis, asymptomatic at the time.  His right eye became very inflamed and cloudy.  The good news is that it is responding well to a huge dose of steroids, oral and topical, and is clear again - we just need to start tapering the dose down.  I really thought he was going to lose the eye, but the opthalmologist is pretty good.  It's the same eye that had the rare feline eosinophilic keratitis 8 years ago, but that seems to be a coincidence.

[Flite]

We said goodbye to Big Tom

Sorry to hear that, but he was lucky to have you to care for him.

The symptoms sound very like those one of our cats had years ago, but the vet operated straight away and found a cancer that had spread too much to treat. So we agreed to let him go rather than bring him round to say goodbye.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Often, if you step back and ask the question - is this treatment more for me, or for him, the answer is clear.

I agree with this.

Condolences, Helly

[hellymedic]

Often, if you step back and ask the question - is this treatment more for me, or for him, the answer is clear.

The hardened medic in me saw Big Tom as irretrievably moribund.
The budget needed for ANY further treatment was becoming way beyond my means.

I have blown a whole month's pension on a very short admission and the visit <30 hours later, lasting less than an hour. There are limits to my budget and to life.

Veterinary expenses OTOH seem unlimited...

[JonBuoy]

One of my sister's cats was quite poorly a couple of days ago and was whisked off to the vets.  Ended up seeing a cat cardiologist and an embolism was diagnosed.  I thought that he probably wasn't coming home but is now looking significantly better although still not moving too well and the effect on him is described as 'life changing'.  I suspect that all the local wildlife is rejoicing.

[rogerzilla]

One of my sister's cats was quite poorly a couple of days ago and was whisked off to the vets.  Ended up seeing a cat cardiologist and an embolism was diagnosed.  I thought that he probably wasn't coming home but is now looking significantly better although still not moving too well and the effect on him is described as 'life changing'.  I suspect that all the local wildlife is rejoicing.

Is he/she on medication?  I had a cat that suffered an iliac thrombosis and initially recovered, but their remaining time is usually very limited once they start throwing clots.  Josh lasted two more weeks before he got a lung embolism and had to be put down,  but it was a pretty good two weeks - he was climbing fences and hunting!

[JonBuoy]

One of my sister's cats was quite poorly a couple of days ago and was whisked off to the vets.  Ended up seeing a cat cardiologist and an embolism was diagnosed.  I thought that he probably wasn't coming home but is now looking significantly better although still not moving too well and the effect on him is described as 'life changing'.  I suspect that all the local wildlife is rejoicing.

Is he/she on medication?  I had a cat that suffered an iliac thrombosis and initially recovered, but their remaining time is usually very limited once they start throwing clots.  Josh lasted two more weeks before he got a lung embolism and had to be put down,  but it was a pretty good two weeks - he was climbing fences and hunting!

I'm not sure about the medication.  He has problems with one of his front legs so climbing/hunting is out but breathing seems much improved and he seems to be eating OK now.  Fingers are crossed...

[hellymedic]

Tom usually weighed 7kg.
Until last Friday, he was eating up to 5 x 100g Felix pouches every day.
He stopped eating at the weekend.
Admission weight on Tuesday was 5.5kg, which to me suggests something more than a few days without food.
Tom was usually overweight but David said he felt thin when he last picked him up.
Tom lost another 400g by Wednesday night.
We'll never know what ailed him but I'm sure it was more than a sore throat.

[SteveC]

One of our vets said that the best way (sometimes the only way) to know that a cat is really ill is when it stops eating. They can be quite good at not showing pain or discomfort.
Very sad for your loss, Helly.

[hellymedic]

Thanks all!
It's David who's really cut up.

[T42]

Bye-bye Big Tom.

Condolences, Helly.  Hard thing to go through - we've had it a few too many times now.

[hellymedic]

Bye-bye Big Tom.

Condolences, Helly.  Hard thing to go through - we've had it a few too many times now.

Thanks!

Tom is the first cat we've lost. Tom moved in around November 2017, joining our once pet-free home.

We don't know his age.

[SoreTween]

Aw, sorry Helly, it's horrible when a fur friend goes.

One of our vets said that the best way (sometimes the only way) to know that a cat is really ill is when it stops eating. They can be quite good at not showing pain or discomfort.

Don't rely on observation of eating alone.  First one we lost carried on eating until the cancer was untreatable, he hid the pain he must have been in.  2nd one that fooled us around eating was certainly eating very heartily indeed, more than our other two.  Turned out he'd got hyperthyroidism and was still losing weight, I realised it was more than just old age when he went under 4kg (from a healthy, younger ~5kg).  Caught it in time and he's on twice daily tablets for life, back up to ~4.6kg despite eating less.

All three now get weighed every Sunday.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Refusing food, hiding; these are all signs that the animal is upset, but not a guarantee that they are on the end path. We nursed one cat through weeks of not eating, feeding him marmite dissolved in water to get him to drink and as an appetite stimulant.
He lasted another 6 months, blind, with horrible injuries that didn't heal. But he was really happy and died lying on an old jumper laid over youngest son's feet, still purring away.
Conversely, my 'first' cat (the first one that was really mine) seems perfectly healthy, eating, but a little skinny. Then (reportedly, I was away at uni), she uncharacteristically started yowling at my bedroom window at night a couple of nights in a row, then disappeared, never to be seen again.

[Jaded]

One thing I tend to remember when cats are ill is that, simplistically, they go downhill 7 times faster than we do, so it can seem quite fast to us, if we are using humans as a reference.

[ian]

Is all true, when cats go they tend to go fast, or you get into the cycle of bringing them back, which is putting off the inevitable, perhaps expensively worthwhile if they still have a decent quality of life.

We're spending a small fortune on tests for our pair, who are fine, but have declining kidney function which I suspect is perfectly normal ageing for animals that never eat a vegetable. I'm not getting into an argument with my wife though even though I secretly think it's pointless, they're never keen on the renal food, but that's mostly what they get. There's nothing much else we can do, so I'm not sure constantly testing their creatinine levels is much more than a way to fund the vet's next skiing holiday. I reckon they've got a couple more years in them, I'll worry when they stop biting me.

[hellymedic]

One thing I tend to remember when cats are ill is that, simplistically, they go downhill 7 times faster than we do, so it can seem quite fast to us, if we are using humans as a reference.

Big Tom was on 5-7 pouches of Felix every day until Friday 6 October, when he stopped eating, totally. He still appeared hungry, attempted to eat but gagged and didn't appear able to swallow.
He was down to 5.5kg on Tuesday when taken to the vet, having been 7kg beforehand.
D said he felt THIN, which he certainly hadn't before. I don't think a few days off food makes cats or people thin!
Vets found nothing in the gullet but inflammation in the upper respiratory tract. Chest X-ray was apparently clear.
He went downhill in the next 24 hours, still unable to eat or drink.

Vet on final visit (just after midnight 12 October) found abdominal mass.

Five days is rather rapid decline for both humans and cats...

[Woofage]

Sorry for your loss Helly 

[rogerzilla]

Tigs has disappeared, some time between 0900-1030 on Wednesday.  No sign of him anywhere.  He is a bit of a tart and visits other houses, so someone may have "adopted" him (he won't wear a collar and someone might hope he's a stray).  The immediate problem is that he is on a high dose of steroids for uveitis and his eye will deteriorate rapidly if the steroids are suddenly stopped.  We are doing leaflets today, he's registered as missing with the microchip issuer, and we've checked the local vets.  A neighbour has put a message out on Faecebook.

[rogerzilla]

And, 84 hours later, he's back, drenched and a bit lighter.  Goodness knows where he was.

[Pingu]

 

[Jaded]

 

[Jurek]

Good news 
When I was living in Harrow we had three cats. One of them went AWOL for around 5 months.
When he came back (at 05:00am in February - I was trying to coax him out from under a car in bare feet) he had a Miss Kitty with him.
The other two (boy) cats were having none of it.

[Flite]

So pleased Tigs is home.