vfrohloff
May 22nd, 2006, 12:54 AM
I adopted Benson the cat in December, just 5 months ago. He was 7 years old and was to be euthanized because his previous owner no longer wanted him. He was such a sweet boy and I thought he deserved a better life so I brought him home. I am sitting here now devastated. Even though I only knew him 5 months I loved him so.
He got in a fight with a tom cat about a month ago. I didn't let Benson out usually, but he was an outdoor cat before and very difficult to keep inside. Anyway, the result of this fight was a puncture wound in his tail. It was quite deep, but I cleaned it twice a day and it seemed to be healing nicely. I took him to the vet just to be sure he didn't need antibiotics or anything and she said it was fine, he had no fever and was healing well. He was up to date on his vaccinations. She did notice that Benson was missing a lot of teeth and suggested we test for FIV and feLV, but should wait a few months because if he's been recently exposed through the puncture wound it would take that long to show up. I should also mention that Benson had a heart murmur, and I have been told that anemia can cause heart murmurs. I just get the feeling that perhaps Benson has been unwell for a very long time and didn't show any symptoms until now.
I kept Benson in the house but Friday he got out when the girl across the street came to walk my dogs. I looked for him Friday night, to no avail. Saturday I looked for him again and found him under the porch. I had to go under and get him, he wasn't coming out on his own. I knew this was a bad sign, and he looked a bit off, his gums were pale, his pupils dilated, and he was lethargic so I took him into the vet right away. She examined him and said he had a mild fever and we should do a CBC (blood cell count) and FIV, feLV test. She also said the wound from his fight had healed well and didn't seem to be the cause of the problem. I took him home and she called me late in the afternoon and told me he was quite anemic and I should bring him in this morning.
It was a different vet I saw this morning, and as soon as I took him in he started panting and went into shock. She rushed him to an incubator type thing to get oxygen and to get him stabilized. She said that likely his anemia was worse than yesterday because he hadn't eaten, but that the anemia was a symptom of something more serious. She said that at this point he was a dying cat and she could do a blood transfusion (for $500 to $1000) and his chance of living would be about 50%. However, this would not tell us what was causing the anemia and would not prevent it from happening again. The vet said it was some sort of autoimmune response and we could do lots of tests to find out what it was, but it may not save Benson anyway, it would just tell us what he had. I didn't need to know what he had, I just had to look at him to know it was over. I knew when I woke up this morning that he was dying. He was such a good boy, and even in the end he made it easier for me to make the decision.
Does anyone have any idea of what might have caused this? He didn't have FIV or feLV, any other ideas? I am so sad right now. I used to sit and have my morning coffee with him on my lap. He used to give hugs, he'd just reach right up and hug me. At least he died knowing he was loved, which is more than he got from his last family. What will I do without him? :sad:
He got in a fight with a tom cat about a month ago. I didn't let Benson out usually, but he was an outdoor cat before and very difficult to keep inside. Anyway, the result of this fight was a puncture wound in his tail. It was quite deep, but I cleaned it twice a day and it seemed to be healing nicely. I took him to the vet just to be sure he didn't need antibiotics or anything and she said it was fine, he had no fever and was healing well. He was up to date on his vaccinations. She did notice that Benson was missing a lot of teeth and suggested we test for FIV and feLV, but should wait a few months because if he's been recently exposed through the puncture wound it would take that long to show up. I should also mention that Benson had a heart murmur, and I have been told that anemia can cause heart murmurs. I just get the feeling that perhaps Benson has been unwell for a very long time and didn't show any symptoms until now.
I kept Benson in the house but Friday he got out when the girl across the street came to walk my dogs. I looked for him Friday night, to no avail. Saturday I looked for him again and found him under the porch. I had to go under and get him, he wasn't coming out on his own. I knew this was a bad sign, and he looked a bit off, his gums were pale, his pupils dilated, and he was lethargic so I took him into the vet right away. She examined him and said he had a mild fever and we should do a CBC (blood cell count) and FIV, feLV test. She also said the wound from his fight had healed well and didn't seem to be the cause of the problem. I took him home and she called me late in the afternoon and told me he was quite anemic and I should bring him in this morning.
It was a different vet I saw this morning, and as soon as I took him in he started panting and went into shock. She rushed him to an incubator type thing to get oxygen and to get him stabilized. She said that likely his anemia was worse than yesterday because he hadn't eaten, but that the anemia was a symptom of something more serious. She said that at this point he was a dying cat and she could do a blood transfusion (for $500 to $1000) and his chance of living would be about 50%. However, this would not tell us what was causing the anemia and would not prevent it from happening again. The vet said it was some sort of autoimmune response and we could do lots of tests to find out what it was, but it may not save Benson anyway, it would just tell us what he had. I didn't need to know what he had, I just had to look at him to know it was over. I knew when I woke up this morning that he was dying. He was such a good boy, and even in the end he made it easier for me to make the decision.
Does anyone have any idea of what might have caused this? He didn't have FIV or feLV, any other ideas? I am so sad right now. I used to sit and have my morning coffee with him on my lap. He used to give hugs, he'd just reach right up and hug me. At least he died knowing he was loved, which is more than he got from his last family. What will I do without him? :sad: