Sad update
My computer has been on the fritz for a few weeks and was in the shop for the past six days, but I got it back today with a sweet new hard drive, so it's time for an update. Unfortunately, it's not a happy update.
I had to say goodbye to both Amos and Niko nearly two weeks ago -- Amos on September 3rd and Niko on September 4th.
Amos had been improving for about a week after he saw the vet and I started giving him daily subcutaneous fluids, but then he crashed again very quickly. On the morning of August 30th, he seemed fine. That evening, he was suddenly unable to stand or walk without immediately falling over. I found him collapsed in the litter box and when I picked him up, he peed all over himself. I set him up in a makeshift bed next to my bed that night and later found him lying halfway in the water dish I'd placed nearby. However, he somehow managed to climb up onto my bed overnight and snuggled up with me. I took him to the vet the next morning and he was hospitalized for two days. They performed various tests, including an ultrasound, but were unable to determine what was wrong with him. They suspected cancer of the bone marrow. I brought him home the evening of September 1st but it became apparent that he was not going to get better. He could barely walk and wouldn't eat, so two days later I made the incredibly difficult decision to have him put down. He went very peacefully and was in my lap until the end. It broke my heart to lose him after 17 years, but I know it was the right thing to do for him. I miss him very much.
Losing Niko came as more of a surprise since he was only 11 years old. He'd been suffering from a chronic autoimmune infection in his mouth for over a year, for which he was given a daily dose of steroids. He also, of course, was hit by the intestinal infection that so many of my kitties went through last month. He had seemed to recover from that and he had a vet appointment the morning of September 3rd just to re-check his mouth. We'd recently reduced his steroid dose to every other day and the vet just wanted to see if it was working. I'd noticed that after we reduced the dose, he'd started having difficulty eating again. He'd chew very slowly and loudly -- it was almost painful to listen to him eat. He'd also been acting lethargic and was hiding out more and being less sociable, but I chalked that up to the intestinal infection and his mouth hurting him. I figured we just needed to go back to the daily steroid dose and he'd be fine.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. His mouth was fine. The infection had cleared up. However, the vet noticed that he was very jaundiced and dehydrated and he was hospitalized for the day so she could do some tests. His blood work was fine, but a urinalysis revealed diabetes and an ultrasound revealed multiple problems that he'd apparently had for some time but that were exacerbated by the intestinal infection. He had stones in his bladder and kidneys and a very serious intestinal issue that was probably related to the autoimmune infection he'd had in his mouth. The vet said it had probably affected his entire GI tract. I'd noticed that he'd had chronic diarrhea ever since the oral infection was diagnosed, but I thought it was being caused by the steroids. Apparently, it was not -- it was all part of the autoimmune disease.
Being on the steroids for so long had caused the diabetes, and the major problem was that he couldn't be treated for both the intestinal disease and the diabetes because steroids to treat the intestinal disease would render insulin for the diabetes ineffective. If one problem was treated, the other would get worse. Also, he'd already been on steroids for over a year so it was evident that they wouldn't help his intestinal disease, anyway.
The vet said that he was in a lot of pain and would only get worse. I didn't want to put him through a long, slow, painful decline, so after Amos was put down that afternoon, I took Niko home for the night and then brought him back the next morning. I talked it over with the vet again and told her that I didn't want to put him down if he still had some good time left, but that I didn't want him to be in pain or suffering. She told me that if Niko could talk, he would tell me that he was ready to go and that it was the kindest thing I could do for him. Like Amos, he went very peacefully while lying in my lap.
This afternoon I picked up their ashes from the vet's office, together with little clay imprints of their paws. Then I cried all over again.
Amos and Niko both deserve their own memorial posts, which I will do this weekend. They were such sweet boys and I miss them so much.
I had to say goodbye to both Amos and Niko nearly two weeks ago -- Amos on September 3rd and Niko on September 4th.
Amos had been improving for about a week after he saw the vet and I started giving him daily subcutaneous fluids, but then he crashed again very quickly. On the morning of August 30th, he seemed fine. That evening, he was suddenly unable to stand or walk without immediately falling over. I found him collapsed in the litter box and when I picked him up, he peed all over himself. I set him up in a makeshift bed next to my bed that night and later found him lying halfway in the water dish I'd placed nearby. However, he somehow managed to climb up onto my bed overnight and snuggled up with me. I took him to the vet the next morning and he was hospitalized for two days. They performed various tests, including an ultrasound, but were unable to determine what was wrong with him. They suspected cancer of the bone marrow. I brought him home the evening of September 1st but it became apparent that he was not going to get better. He could barely walk and wouldn't eat, so two days later I made the incredibly difficult decision to have him put down. He went very peacefully and was in my lap until the end. It broke my heart to lose him after 17 years, but I know it was the right thing to do for him. I miss him very much.
Losing Niko came as more of a surprise since he was only 11 years old. He'd been suffering from a chronic autoimmune infection in his mouth for over a year, for which he was given a daily dose of steroids. He also, of course, was hit by the intestinal infection that so many of my kitties went through last month. He had seemed to recover from that and he had a vet appointment the morning of September 3rd just to re-check his mouth. We'd recently reduced his steroid dose to every other day and the vet just wanted to see if it was working. I'd noticed that after we reduced the dose, he'd started having difficulty eating again. He'd chew very slowly and loudly -- it was almost painful to listen to him eat. He'd also been acting lethargic and was hiding out more and being less sociable, but I chalked that up to the intestinal infection and his mouth hurting him. I figured we just needed to go back to the daily steroid dose and he'd be fine.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. His mouth was fine. The infection had cleared up. However, the vet noticed that he was very jaundiced and dehydrated and he was hospitalized for the day so she could do some tests. His blood work was fine, but a urinalysis revealed diabetes and an ultrasound revealed multiple problems that he'd apparently had for some time but that were exacerbated by the intestinal infection. He had stones in his bladder and kidneys and a very serious intestinal issue that was probably related to the autoimmune infection he'd had in his mouth. The vet said it had probably affected his entire GI tract. I'd noticed that he'd had chronic diarrhea ever since the oral infection was diagnosed, but I thought it was being caused by the steroids. Apparently, it was not -- it was all part of the autoimmune disease.
Being on the steroids for so long had caused the diabetes, and the major problem was that he couldn't be treated for both the intestinal disease and the diabetes because steroids to treat the intestinal disease would render insulin for the diabetes ineffective. If one problem was treated, the other would get worse. Also, he'd already been on steroids for over a year so it was evident that they wouldn't help his intestinal disease, anyway.
The vet said that he was in a lot of pain and would only get worse. I didn't want to put him through a long, slow, painful decline, so after Amos was put down that afternoon, I took Niko home for the night and then brought him back the next morning. I talked it over with the vet again and told her that I didn't want to put him down if he still had some good time left, but that I didn't want him to be in pain or suffering. She told me that if Niko could talk, he would tell me that he was ready to go and that it was the kindest thing I could do for him. Like Amos, he went very peacefully while lying in my lap.
This afternoon I picked up their ashes from the vet's office, together with little clay imprints of their paws. Then I cried all over again.
Amos and Niko both deserve their own memorial posts, which I will do this weekend. They were such sweet boys and I miss them so much.
posted by Catherine at 10:12 PM
3 Comments:
So sorry to hear about your loss. We never seem to appreciate our pets (I was brought up to treat pets as part of the family) Until they are no longer there. I've next doors cat asleep on the couch i have in my bedroom. You know what even though he lives next door, I miss him when he's not around.
Oh yeah the reason why I came on board;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1312645/Broccoli-provide-potent-pill-treat-million-osteoarthritis-sufferers.html
Thanks, Pounce. My pets pretty much are my family, so it's really hard to lose them. It's a good thing I've got so many other cats. I can't imagine how much more I'd miss them if I didn't have the others to keep me occupied. Even so, I miss Amos and Niko every day. I just walked into the bedroom for something and thought I saw Amos curled up on the bed.
Thanks for the broccoli article! I was never a broccoli fan until recently. I'm trying to expand my veggie horizons and I'm finding that some of the vegetables I've hated since childhood are actually pretty tasty if prepared well.
Post a Comment
<< Home