My kitty, Dillon, passed away last night.
We had so many health problems with him. First he had a coccidial infection, then tapeworms, then the bowel troubles continued and it was discovered he had a colitis attack. He was put on steroids for that, which at first didn't seem to work and we thought we'd have to have him put to sleep. Then he rallied, his bowel problems all went away and he had about a week and a half of good health. He even put on a pound. But last Wednesday his right eye was suddenly inflamed and swollen so he had an emergency vet visit. That's when they discovered he had lesions on his eye common with lymphoma cancer.
Cancer in cats will generally attack the intestines first, which is why he was having all these bowel troubles. Despite the cancer diagnosis, we weren't thinking we'd lose him so soon because there were options. The type of cancer that shows in eye lesions does respond well to steroids and since he was already on them and responding well, the vet hoped the steroids would be enough to turn it around. He had an appointment Monday morning to be checked to see how the steroid drops, along with his pill, were doing for his eye. We have a very good vet, they were opening over an hour early just to see Dillon so Archie could drop him off on his way to work and then staying open late so he could pick him up after work. But this entire area of South Carolina lacks 24 hour emergency vet care. The closest is an hour drive away and the vet able to handle exotic pet emergencies is almost 2 hours away.
Saturday morning Dillon couldn't eat. He wanted to very badly, he rushed to anything you tried to give him but as soon as it was in his mouth, it was like he involuntarily spit it out. He could drink however so we gave him milk and wet cat food with water added to make it drink able. He had some Pedilyte too so we weren't concerned he wouldn't make it to his vet appointment. I know milk is a no no for cats, but it was the only liquid nutrient we had, and it was to be for one day. By late Saturday night, we'd realized he'd most likely had a stroke, which was why he couldn't seem to work his mouth but could his tongue. Through the night, he had several more mini strokes. He passed away around 5am.
He was such a great little kitty. Even when he was sick he never tried to scratch or bite you no matter how much you had to handle him. He would literally kneed you for hours, since he was rather obsessive compulsive about it so if you moved he had to begin again. But he never poked hard, he always lightly poked you. We even gave him a bath once and he was submissive through the whole thing and never once tried to hurt us to get away.
This is him, the first week we had him, before he got really sick.
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We had so many health problems with him. First he had a coccidial infection, then tapeworms, then the bowel troubles continued and it was discovered he had a colitis attack. He was put on steroids for that, which at first didn't seem to work and we thought we'd have to have him put to sleep. Then he rallied, his bowel problems all went away and he had about a week and a half of good health. He even put on a pound. But last Wednesday his right eye was suddenly inflamed and swollen so he had an emergency vet visit. That's when they discovered he had lesions on his eye common with lymphoma cancer.
Cancer in cats will generally attack the intestines first, which is why he was having all these bowel troubles. Despite the cancer diagnosis, we weren't thinking we'd lose him so soon because there were options. The type of cancer that shows in eye lesions does respond well to steroids and since he was already on them and responding well, the vet hoped the steroids would be enough to turn it around. He had an appointment Monday morning to be checked to see how the steroid drops, along with his pill, were doing for his eye. We have a very good vet, they were opening over an hour early just to see Dillon so Archie could drop him off on his way to work and then staying open late so he could pick him up after work. But this entire area of South Carolina lacks 24 hour emergency vet care. The closest is an hour drive away and the vet able to handle exotic pet emergencies is almost 2 hours away.
Saturday morning Dillon couldn't eat. He wanted to very badly, he rushed to anything you tried to give him but as soon as it was in his mouth, it was like he involuntarily spit it out. He could drink however so we gave him milk and wet cat food with water added to make it drink able. He had some Pedilyte too so we weren't concerned he wouldn't make it to his vet appointment. I know milk is a no no for cats, but it was the only liquid nutrient we had, and it was to be for one day. By late Saturday night, we'd realized he'd most likely had a stroke, which was why he couldn't seem to work his mouth but could his tongue. Through the night, he had several more mini strokes. He passed away around 5am.
He was such a great little kitty. Even when he was sick he never tried to scratch or bite you no matter how much you had to handle him. He would literally kneed you for hours, since he was rather obsessive compulsive about it so if you moved he had to begin again. But he never poked hard, he always lightly poked you. We even gave him a bath once and he was submissive through the whole thing and never once tried to hurt us to get away.
This is him, the first week we had him, before he got really sick.
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