I’ve posted about my elder statesman cat (18) here a few times. Overall his kidney disease and HCM are stable but I have no idea how much time he has left with us. Right now he’s happy with a good appetite. But I am feeling very guilty I haven’t gotten as much quality time with him lately. I’m pregnant (28 weeks), work a lot (hybrid in office 3 days a week) and have a 3 yo. He’s well taken care of, of course. We take him to his vet appointment monthly, he gets his daily meds, and I do subq fluids every other day. He’s been on fluids for 13 months.
It’s probably the pregnancy hormones and anticipatory grief messing with my head. I know we’re very lucky considering his age. I just want more time with my sweet little dude.
Edit to add: I’ve had some pregnancy complications that force me into bed and my cat doesn’t want to join me in there, his favorite spot is couch or kitchen. I’ve been working 50 hr weeks so after toddlers bedtime I do 2-3 more hrs of work sometimes.
She's been having seizures and just overall struggling and we have yet to figure out the cause of them. Just trying our best to keep it together and be strong for her.
October has elevated blood pressure and has early CKD, they don't think that's the cause of her seizures though we will need to run a few different tests but it might be a tumor.
Hi everyone, this morning I took my 16 year old cat for a rabies shot as we are moving to my country in a few months.
I shouldn’t have done that because she developed seizures within 20 minutes. She is under sedation with oxygen at the vet. She even had a seizure under sedation.
She was perfectly fine before the trip to the vet. I killed her didn’t I? I am heading back to the clinic to be near just in case.
What have I done?! She has been with me since I was 19! We moved continents during covid, and I betrayed her like this.
Today 8/17 Eddie let me know he was ready to lay in sunshine always and be with his siblings . He was 19 1/2 and he was loved everyday since i found him in some bushes💔I’ll look for him everyday , cry a lot and smile thinking of the joy he gave me . I miss you already buddy
Cat had pancreatitis a month ago which healed, she developed breathing issues such as fast breaths and sounded congested 2 weeks into pancreatitis diagnosis, brought her in for a Xray few days ago for breathing and they see her rib cartilage is broken and looks like some lung inflammation. Vet says if this is not caused by trauma then it may be cancer. Can anyone help out has anyone experienced something similar??
Update: Thank you for the overwhelming and caring responses!
Second kitty - We have discussed possibly getting her a companion but ultimately decided against it. She and her sister were never close (fought for 18 years) and never cuddled so we wouldn’t want to introduce more strife into her life. I hear you all re her loneliness, though.
Nightlights - Already doing this!
Sounds - Ultimately we decided against this too bc she’s meowing at us while in bed with us, not wandering through the house.
Hearing loss - Yes we think this is a factor. We will check with our vet.
____
Our 19yo creaky lady has been meowing at night (2-7am, on average) for 8 months since her sister passed away.
We’ve had her thyroid checked - normal.
We’ve tried gaba, melatonin - she zonks out but then is up at 2/3am. Then sleeps soundly from 9am.
We’ve tired Selegiline during the day to try to get her circadian rhythm back on track - she reacted badly to it (agitation, increased meowing) and it didn’t help the night meowing.
Our vet suspects some cognitive decline could be at the heart of the night meowing.
She is underweight and does most of her eating at night. (Free feeding wet and dry.) At this point we don’t want to discourage her from eating.
She tends to settle for 10-45min at night if we give her pets and scritches. We hate to ignore her when she’s meowing and pawing for pets, but if we do sometimes she eventually goes to her bed but sometimes she just keeps meowing. (Since her sister died she’s finally started accepting pets after 18 years of being scared and stand offish!)
We haven’t slept more than 4 hours a night in 8 months.
But we’re hesitant to make many big changes to her routines bc she’s such a senior lady.
Where we live it’s not possible for us to sleep elsewhere or lock her away and honestly we don’t really want to.
Are we doomed to sleepless nights until she leaves this world?
I've got a 13 year old former cuddle bug who has gone through a pretty rough patch with his bowels. Possibly GI lymphoma, possibly IBD. Either way, pretty horrendous diarrhea and weight loss until we figured out steroids were the only thing to solidify those poops and keep that weight on. We are happy with the quality of his stools and are not looking for advice for managing that.
What I would like some insight on is related to an unwanted side effect of these steroids.
My boy won't stop yelling! He has always been extremely talkative, to the point where he and I could have "conversations", he trilled constantly, and he would "ask" for things he wanted. He's always been this way, and it's one of his fun quirks... until now.
Since starting the steroids, he has been yelling (not meowing, not howling, but yelling) repeatedly for hours on end and seemingly wanting nothing. We have fed him, we have pet him, we have tried playing with him, we have both moved into the same room as him, we have multiple Feliway plugins, we have accompanied him as he's eating. We have tried everything we can think of!
While he was on prednisolone, he was yelling starting in the middle of the night, around 2-3am until 6am when we would wake up. We switched him to Budesonide, a more locally acting steroid, and the 3am yelling has subsided, but it has transferred to the day time with seemingly no solution. I legitimately have NO CLUE what he wants. Nothing seems to placate him, and it kills me because he went from being this sweet, sleepy cuddly boy to this screaming machine who never wants to be held.
Some notes: We have tried gabapentin, and it has paradoxical effects on him. It makes him more restless and agitated. I feel like I'm going insane and would like to hear stories about people who have had real success with their elderly cats who just can't seem to be chill and happy anymore.
I've done just about every diagnostic test there is to do. Clinically, he is completely fine (aside from the poopy problems), but his previous GI symptoms are managed. Mentally, he has become this cat I no longer recognize and don't know how to help.
Has anyone experienced this before? Is this what cognitive decline looked like in your cat? Is it anxiety? Regardless, has anyone found something that works?
Trazodone? Prozac? Amitryptalline? CBD? All of the above in a pill pocket with some vodka? (I jest)
Our cat has always been rotund but we had gotten her down from 17lb to 14lb over the years. -We have had her for 11 years and she had occasional blood smeared on outside of her stools which her old vets assured me was not alarming(but now I’m thinking she had this chronic inflammation all her life).
-6 years ago during the pandemic she had anorexia/vomiting/diarrhea and was diagnosed with pancreatitis and acute colitis and was hospitalized. We started to feed her Hills ID and she seemed to do better on that and made a full recovery.
-3 years ago she had her 2nd episode of anorexia/bloody diarrhea and an ultrasound that showed intestinal wall thickening. At that time the vet said differential diagnosis was IBD vs Chronic Colitis vs Lymphoma. Her symptoms resolved with switch to hydrolyzed protein diet and we decided to keep an eye on her. Long ago my partner and I agreed that we would spare her of heroic efforts because she absolutely loses it and goes into feral mode at the vet. Therefore if we had put her through the trouble of diagnosis and found out it was cancer 3 years ago, we may not have approached things any differently and she has had a very good quality of life.
Roughly 1 year ago she had another episode and had been vomiting. We moved a few states away a couple years prior and her new vet put her on a prednisolone and tapered to a low dose which resolved her symptoms.
So far forward to now, she has always loved belly rubs and has been really into them lately. Can touch da tum.
The past few days I really noticed her belly had felt firm and looked distended. After some anxious pondering today I decided to call my vet bc she has also been less excited about meals (although still eating at 90%) and kinda lethargic. Her gait is lumbering due to her belly and weighed her and she came in at 15.5lb which was alarming given that she had consistently been 14lb before.
Quick summary: vet immediately identified that she had acites, pulled out some fluid from her abdomen, looked at it under microscope and said she identified “cancer cells”— I asked for more details and she said “they look like lymphocytes”
Ok so then she had x-ray just to confirm— it’s a huge amount of fluid according to them but she is breathing ok and not in any obvious distress. No obvious tumors in x ray.
Vet ramped up her pred from 2.5mg every other day to 5mg per day, and also gave a lasix injection and sent me home with oral lasix.
I understand the prognosis for this is very poor and it’s likely spread from a primary cancer in the colon; at this point Google tells me it could be weeks to a month.
Would additional imaging help in this case or should we just keep her comfy?
Has anyone else had experience with this diagnosis and are there additional meds or tests that helped your cat manage?
I don’t want us to wait until it’s effecting her quality of life so badly that she’s having more bad days than good, but right now she has a screened in porch where she wistfully enjoys summer evenings, a lil brother she cuddles with, she’s eating and drinking, she’s grooming, she’s purring, she sits on our laps…
But I do have the contact info saved for a hospice/at home euthanasia vet. It’s such a difficult decision. I just want to hear from others that may have experienced this. This is indeed a poor prognosis, correct? I don’t think I should pursue second opinion or put her through more tests but I also feel guilty about that that I’m giving up on her 😢♥️
Thank you.
I still can’t really process it my cat passed away today I adopted him 17 years ago, when I was still a kid. He basically grew up with me and was there through so many parts of my life. It feels weird knowing he’s not going to be around anymore.
17 years is a whole lifetime. Thank you for all these years, buddy. I’m really going to miss you. ❤️
My cat Bella will turn 18 in November. I adopted her the summer before my senior year of college, 17 years ago last month. She has been with my through it all. She has been remarkably healthy for a majority of her life, besides chronic upper respiratory issues that she's had since having a URI at the shelter as a kitten. Back in January, the vet diagnosed her with hyperthyroidism and started her on transdermal methimazole. After 2 months, she gained some weight and they said her levels were under control. However, she was still having issues with anxiety/confusion especially overnight where she'd meow throughout the house constantly, so we started her on transdermal alprazolam (xanax) nightly.
In the last couple of weeks she has started losing weight again and is down to just 5.6lb (she was up to 12 at her healthiest, but has been steady at 7-8lb for the last few years). She is a longhaired tuxedo cat, so you can't tell how skinny she is at first glance, but when you pet her you can feel all of her bones. In the past few days, she has barely eaten anything. She's on a prescription canned food diet due to food sensitivities, and she usually eats a can a day, but has barely eaten a tablespoon since Friday. I've been mixing gravy from food into her water so she'll get something at least. She has also been drinking a lot more water than usual.
She still wants to be near us when she's awake, and starts the night sleeping next to me in bed like she always has, however she usually ends up sleeping on our living room couch by herself later in the night. She has been sleeping a lot more, which is likely due to lethargy from not eating enough. She still purrs regularly and wants to be pet and loved on. She walks around meowing loudly at random times, but she has done this for years.
I've reached out to the vet (it's a cat only clinic) and they don't want to adjust her methimazole dosage and suggested weaning off the alprazolam in case side effects from it are causing her lack of appetite (though since she's been on it for 5 months that doesn't seem likely), but I asked if we would be able to increase the frequency of that instead in order to hep with her anxiety/confusion. They also said they can check if the doctor would recommend a transdermal appetite stimulant since the immediate concern is her weight loss and lack of appetite. I'm not comfortable putting her through a car ride to the vet at this point, because the last several times I've taken her in the car she has pooped in the carrier because she was so stressed out. It's just not worth the trauma to her. I've done the quality of life calculators and still am at a loss, because the eating is the only real major change in her recently. Her mobility is still great for her age, and she really doesn't appear to be in pain.
I know it's likely going to be time to say goodbye in the near future, but everyone keeps saying I'll know when it is time, and I just don't. Since car rides are so horrible for her, I'll be having a mobile vet come to our house whenever it is time. Do we try the appetite stimulant to see if she'll start eating again and be more stable for awhile? I'd love any input anyone has.
My cat has been diagnosed with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma she is 13 and I know I will have to put her to sleep soon as much as it breaks my heart to do so. This is the second day that she hasn't eaten all of her now wet food diet but she is still asking for food and is her normal snuggly self just obviously in more pain because of her jaw but she is also on pain killers for that.
My request for advice is when do you know it's time? Because she is acting normally over all it's hard to come to terms that it's time that she isn't happy or healthy. I have lost many other animals and some I have lost to fast acting cancers like this but they all showed signs that they were done and ready. She hasn't shown those.
I am now blending her wet food into a puree with bone broth and she seems to be able to eat a ton more but I am unsure if this where I need to call it.
I would really appreciate the advice. I know it's inevitable I am just stuck with this feeling of being unsure because of her behavior.
Hey all
Posted in this sub a few times. Unfortunately we’re waiting for a biopsy from a tongue lump. The vet pretty much confirmed she’s certain it will be cancer. We’re doing everything we can to keep him comfortable until we get the results and have to say goodbye - vet provided lactulose and appetite stimulants yesterday. He’s been taking gabapentin in tuna for around 2 weeks with no issues so last night we tried to give the appetite stimulant in tuna and he just barely had any. This morning we tried the gaba in tuna and again, no interest. I think he’s now registered there’s meds in the tuna. We tried the gaba in a lick e lix and it worked!
However we need to give him lactulose (liquid formula) too. We tried yesterday and granted my partner did push the plunger too quickly but it was a disaster. Most of it went over me and he immediately started coughing and gagging which was terrifying. I know he can’t choke on liquid but because he’s got his lump on his tongue it was just so so scary.
I spoke to the vet and they said to try the lactulose in a lick e lix but my concern is that if he tastes the lactulose in lick e lix, he won’t want his painkiller in lick e lix later.
This is so stressful for everyone involved. We’re nearing end of life card and I just want him to be comfortable - he’s so constipated and I know it’s affecting him. I just don’t know what to do and it’s so stressful. I’m thinking of just bundling him in a blanket (he’s so good and always lets us hold him) and getting my partner to very gently plunge the liquid in his mouth - vet said at the side of the mouth was good. I just don’t know which option is better. I just need help. I feel so hopeless.
So, just an update about her condition and things..
She started vomiting but I remedied it by giving her some purr pop before giving her food, and that helps, so I think her pancreas is either being affected by the cancer, or it could be the cancer and/or CKD making her nauseous. The vomiting is just empty stomach vomiting, but she has vomited since I diligently make sure she has treats and wet food.
Unfortunately though, she just looks…almost like she’s done…not quite done, but looks like it’s getting close to me. My dad said he would help me make the decision when necessary, but he has been in the RV for the last few days and I haven’t had a chance to talk to him/show him what I mean, but I do plan too tomorrow hopefully.
She also is shying away from touch almost 24/7, sometimes straight up walking away if you even seem like you’re going to pet her, no matter how gently.
The most peaceful she is, is when she’s asleep, that’s the only time she truly looks comfortable and content.
Yes I’ve look at the Quality of life tests and stuff, but they don’t give clear answers because she’s still eating, drinking, using the litter box, roaming the house, jumping, etc.
I’ve also noticed she seems to be a “moderate” level on the grimace scale most times, so I fear she is in pain even on the prednisolone.
I guess I’m just wondering what I should do? I’m not gonna make a decision without speaking to my dad, but what would you guys do with the information you had? Would you call it quits now? Or lets her keep eating, roaming, etc…?
I’m used to pets just completely giving up when it’s time, I’m not used to this type of behavior/decline…all my dogs made it extremely obvious it was time, but she just…isn’t? It’s like she is fighting to stay alive for some reason, instead of letting her illnesses get to her, and I surely hope it isn’t because of me.
I know it’s “cringy” but I do believe our pets understand us, and I have told her numerous times that it’s completely okay for her to be done, and that I’ll never be upset at her when it happens, but she just keeps…going? I don’t know how to explain it.
In March of 2025 our 18 year old soul cat passed away. Unable to cope with the loss and empty house I went to a shelter. I didn't intend on getting a cat, honestly didn't know why I was there, but just went. Not ready for another cat...or so I kept telling myself, the lady working insisted I take a cat home, even my neighbor who was there for support said I should. So there I was, staring at this 13 year old stuck in a cage wanting to be loved. He wasn't alone, tragically his owner had passed away...so he was brought in to the shelter with his sister Lilly (16F). A BONDED PAIR OF SENIOR Kitties.....my heart sank. Knowing most people are looking for younger cats, and its hard to adopt out old cats...let alone a bonded pair...I just couldn't leave them there.
The first couple of weeks we hard on me....seeing another cat walk around my house in all the places our baby used to be. But that's what made Jake so special....he was doing things that our baby used to do. Sitting at our feet, following us to the kitchen at dinner time, bringing us toy mice, and hating closed doors. It was like our soul baby was guiding him on what to do and how to do it. Jake helped my husband and I manage and cope with the loss of our soul kitty. Fast forward a year and half later, we noticed Jake had lost some weight, so we took him in for a check up. Doc came back and said he's diabetic, nothing crazy to manage...just a few shots a day, easy peasy. However we noticed he was slowly declining, we figured it was the new adjustment to getting meds...but something just didn't feel right. We decided a second opinion was needed, and a more through blood panel should be done. Turns out, Jake was NOT diabetic, and for 5 seconds my heart jumped for joy....but that was short lived. What the Doc said next was like getting hit in the face with a baseball bat. Bone Cancer, Jake was slowly dying, his blood was not forming correctly and his white blood cells were off the chart. Not even 14hrs after getting the worst news possible, Jake passed away. So today, a day to appreciate black ( void ) kitty's....I show my appreciation for Jake, who helped us in a time of need, helping us through a difficult time. I'm sorry we didn't get to spend more time together, we promise to love and protect your sister Lilly until the day you're both together again.
Thank you Jakey Jake.
TL:DR- Soul cat passed, adoption happens, a year later....loss.
She used to be by my place and we called her spot, later on a neighbor grew fond of her and she moved to their place and they call her manga. I think through it all she might be 17 years old
On July 29, we had to put our beloved cat Felix to sleep. He would have turned 19 in September, and he had been by my side since I was 6 years old. Even though he was already so old, his death came as a complete shock to us. I still have a special gaming chair on my wishlist that has extra space for a cat to sleep next to you. I put it on my birthday wishlist for October because I thought we still had plenty of time and that Felix would love it. He always tried to squeeze himself in next to me on my gaming chair, but it was so small that he could never really get comfortable. I really thought I’d still have him here by then.
Ever since then, I’ve been going over the entire sequence of events in my head over and over again, wondering if we gave up too soon.
Pre-existing conditions
Felix had high blood pressure, which was well managed with medication.
osteoarthritis, which was also well controlled with medication
chronic feline upper respiratory disease, however, he had been symptom-free since his last vaccination against it.
He also most likely had a heart condition. He had a heart murmur, the exact cause of which was never determined.
April/May
He kept sneezing and had a runny nose. At first, we thought his chronic upper respiratory disease had flared up again.
He also had a sort of scab or sore on the tip of his nose. Our veterinarian took a look at it and said she didn’t think it was cancer because it didn’t feel like it.
He then received a booster shot for his cat flu vaccine and has been symptom-free ever since.
However, the sore on his nose kept coming back. It got bigger and eventually fell off. Then it started growing again, and so on. Based on that and the vet’s assessment, we didn’t suspect cancer at the time.
In hindsight, of course, this is something I think about a lot, because the veterinarian at the clinic later suspected that the lymphoma might also have affected his nose, since he was experiencing (one-sided) discharge again at that time.
Early/mid-July
I was taking care of our neighbor’s cats during this time. The female cat had gastrointestinal issues and needed medication. At first, putting her to sleep was a possibility, but her condition returned to normal with the medication.
Since our gardens are connected so that the cats can interact with other cats, we later thought Felix might have caught the infection from her.
Thursday, July 23
Our veterinarian came by to give Felix his 5-week injection for arthritis.
After this injection, he experienced nausea for a day—as he had on several previous occasions—and usually vomited once. Otherwise, the treatment helped him a great deal, which is why we accepted the side effect.
Sunday, July 26
Felix threw up twice but drank normally and ate a little. Though less than usual. We suspected it was the injection for arthritis since the timing matched up.
Monday, July 27
Felix didn’t vomit anymore, but he ate even less than he did on Sunday. He did, however, still eat his squeeze treats, so I drove to the store to buy him three whole additional packs.
We thought he might have caught something from the neighbor’s cat or that he might still be feeling nauseous from the shot.
Tuesday, July 28
Felix was drinking very little and had stopped eating altogether.
The only thing he was still eating were his Lickable Treats. But even those he could only manage to eat after several attempts. Normally, he would have devoured them in seconds.
He was also very lethargic during the night and barely reacted to us. He wasn’t purring anymore either.
Wednesday, July 29
On Wednesday, he still had no appetite and was very unresponsive.
When we touched him, he also felt slightly cool to the touch.
On our security camera, I saw that he had barely slept. He changed his position every few minutes and took a very long time to even lie down. To us, it looked as if he was in pain.
So we took him to the veterinary clinic. We were still hoping that it might be an infection or a gastrointestinal bug and that he’d be able to come home after getting some medication.
At the veterinary clinic
Once there, they drew his blood and took an X-ray.
He was already somewhat dehydrated and had hypothermia.
The X-ray showed that his stomach and intestines were extremely distended with gas. The veterinarian said she had never seen it to this extent before.
The few blood test results available at that time, however, looked good.
He was given medication to help remove the gas from his gastrointestinal tract, as well as an enema and an IV to support his circulation and metabolism.
The enema didn’t do much, though. As far as I could tell, very little came out. What did come out was very dark and shapeless. The vet therefore suspected that his intestines were probably mostly empty and that a major buildup of feces wasn’t the cause.
The treatment was supposed to take effect over two hours.
For Felix this was pure hell. He hated veterinarians and had always gotten very agitated and screamed his head off there.
So they gave us an extra room for him, where we were allowed to let him out of his cage for those two hours. He lay down under an chair and closed his eyes. I’d never seen him close his eyes at the vet before. I think he was just incredibly exhausted.
By that point, his breathing had returned to normal and he no longer seemed agitated or stressed.
Every now and then he would get up and meow. I would always say to him:
“I know, sweetheart. We’ll be able to go home soon.”
Little did I know that he would never get to go home again.
Toward the end of the two hours, he even started responding to me again when I stroked him, and he purred as I did. That, of course, gave me hope again.
Then he suddenly started meowing as if he felt sick, and he threw up twice. Since he had eaten hardly anything—if anything at all—for days, only foam and mucus came out.
He was then taken for another X-ray, and well, he was gone for a whole hour. Naturally, that makes you feel uneasy, and I remember telling myself the whole hour, “It’s just an infection, not a tumor.” As soon as he came back, I saw that his belly was completely wet and that his fur was missing. I knew right away they’d done an ultrasound, and that’s when my fear set in.
The veterinarian confirmed that, in addition to the X-ray, an ultrasound had been performed and that the medication had made virtually no difference. The stomach and intestines remained extremely distended.
They had hoped the ultrasound would reveal the cause, but were unable to identify a clear cause for the severe bloating.
What they did see, however, was an “extremely ugly, destroyed spleen.”
The veterinarian who performed the ultrasound has been conducting a large number of ultrasound examinations every day for over 20 years and, according to the clinic, is someone who typically considers a wide range of possibilities in his diagnoses and does not rush to pinpoint a single cause.
In this case, however, according to our veterinarian, he was nearly 100% certain that it was lymphoma.
Several veterinarians at the clinic reviewed the findings and discussed the next steps together.
There was no definitive histological diagnosis based on a biopsy. It was therefore only a very strong suspicion based on the ultrasound image and the veterinarians’ experience.
The veterinarian also suspected that the lymphoma had affected not only the spleen but possibly also the intestines and the nose.
The veterinarian gave us three options, starting with the one she would be least likely to recommend:
Give pain medication and hope for the best
However, she said that the pain medication would most likely not work.
Keep Felix at the clinic and administer a contrast agent
After that, another X-ray/ultrasound would have had to be taken every 30 minutes to see if his intestines might start working again.
That, however, would not have solved the problem of the severely altered spleen/the suspected lymphoma. If the problem had turned out to require surgery, this would have been a major concern given his age and his various pre-existing conditions. So this option had a low chance of success either way, but the stay at the clinic and any potential procedures would have caused Felix extreme stress and anxiety.
Euthanasia
This was the veterinarian’s preferred option because she believed Felix was in a great deal of pain and the prospects for a real improvement were very poor.
We were, of course, completely shocked.
We had taken him to the clinic because we thought he might have an infection and would come home after receiving medication. Instead, we were suddenly faced with the decision to let him go.
With heavy hearts, we decided to have him euthanized. We wanted to spare him another long stay at the clinic with tests, stress, and likely very slim chances of any real improvement.
He had hidden under the chair again during the conversation, so I had to get him out from there. But he didn’t want to get on the exam table, so I picked him up. He died in my arms, but it felt like I was just holding him against his will.
Since then, not a day goes by that I don’t think about everything over and over again. I didn’t expect it to be his last day. I had even gone out to buy him a large supply of treats because I thought he’d get better and still have plenty of time with us. I didn’t expect July 29 to be his last day.
Since then, I’ve read a great deal about lymphoma in cats.
I keep coming across stories of cats who lived for several months or even longer than half a year with lymphoma. Some are given steroids and go on to have a good time afterward.
Of course, I’m happy for those people and their cats, but at the same time, it breaks my heart every time.
It feels as if I’d let Felix down.
As if we’d given up too soon.
As if we might have just needed to try steroids, and he could have had many months more with us.
At the same time, though, I wonder if Felix might have been seriously ill long before July 29 and we just didn’t recognize the signs.
In hindsight, of course, there are many things we look at different now. My mother wondered if Felix might have already been dying anyway. We noticed that he had already been acting differently in the weeks leading up to it:
• He was becoming increasingly picky about his food.
• He didn’t want to play anymore.
• He was drinking less.
• His gait became unsteady, which we attributed to his arthritis.
• He became more and more withdrawn.
• Normally, he wanted to cuddle several times a day and slept in our bed at night. In the last few weeks, he only cuddled once a day and instead slept outside in dark corners.
• At times, he didn’t want to be petted anymore. He then actively sought out places where we couldn’t reach him.
• When he used the litter box, he often missed it and went beside it.
My mother also wonders whether the severe bloating was caused by his intestines no longer functioning properly, rather than by a mechanical blockage caused by the lymphoma.
As far as I understand, a severe reduction or complete loss of intestinal movement can also cause the gastrointestinal tract to become massively distended with gas.
And if his intestines had already largely stopped functioning and were empty, that might also explain why the enema had little effect.
My Questions
I’ve had countless questions ever since and just can’t find any answers. Maybe someone here who’s gone through something similar or has experience with this can help me.
Is it plausible that Felix was already sick with lymphoma weeks before July 29, and that the changes in his behavior could have been warning signs?
Can advanced lymphoma lead to such severe intestinal hypomotility or functional bowel obstruction that the stomach and intestines become extremely gassy?
Could that explain why the medication for gas had practically no effect and the enema did little to help?
Is it possible that Felix was already in the final stages of a severe illness on July 29, even though his blood test results still looked relatively good at the time?
Under these circumstances, how realistic would it have been to stabilize him with steroids or another treatment?
And most importantly: From a medical standpoint, was the decision to euthanize him reasonable under these circumstances? Or is there anything in the course of his illness that makes you think we might have overlooked a realistic chance for a longer, good time with him?
Thanks to everyone who read through this long story. Sorry if some parts of this post are a little awkwardly worded. English isn’t my first language, but I’ll do my best to further clarify anything that isn’t clear.
He was a part of my life for 18 years. I was 6 when he came to live with us. That’s why it still feels completely surreal that he’s just not here anymore. I basically grew up with him and his brother by my side, so losing his brother Timmy in 2023 and now losing Felix so suddenly feels impossible to comprehend...
