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Unexpected Sudden Death in ILL Kitten!

jowilson002
September 27th, 2007, 01:14 PM
Hey Guys,

I am looking for any input that you may have.

This morning around 0230am, Baby Bear (5 1/2 month old kitten) passed away.

She was ill but the vet was really surprised that she passed so suddenly.

Baby Bear has been ill for 2 months. She had an enlarged mesenteric lymph node, severe anemia, etc. The vet suspected FIP but the path report said that the findings were not consistent with FIP but that they didn't have any answer. This was something that they hadn't seen before.

Baby Bear was very small in stature and in weight. She weighed about 1 1/2 pounds and was physically small all over.

She was on numerous meds.

She was constipated yesterday and had 4 enema's at the vet. THey said that they checked on an Xray for preforation after the procedure but found none. After she was all cleaned out and feeling better. She ate quite a bit of canned food at the vet.

Yesterday when she came home she wasn't feeling well but could walk around.

She woke my son at 0130am and couldn't stand or even hold her head up. She died about an hour later while we were on the phone with a vet.

I feel that I must have done something wrong. The meds that she is on - she has been on for 6 weeks and the vet said that they wouldn't have overdosed her unless she was on much larger doses for a period of time.

What else could have happened? I feel like I let her down and that there must have been something that I could have done to save her.

As I said she was ill but was ambulatory and eating.

Any thoughts?

Jennifer W.

Love4himies
September 27th, 2007, 02:01 PM
I am sorry for your loss. I can't answer any of your questions but 1.5 pounds for a 5 month old kitten is extremely tiny.

Was any blood work done on this kitten to indicate a virus or bacteria? I am wondering if she had a intestinal issue that would not allow her to absorb nutrients? Were the 4 enimas done on the same day?

jowilson002
September 27th, 2007, 02:09 PM
Sorry... She was 2 1/2 pounds. And yes she was very small. After about 12 weeks she just never grew any more.

Her lab work was all over the place. Something was wrong with almost everything.

Our major concerns however were the severe anemia and the elevated WBC count.

She had lab work weekly and also a biopsy from an exploratory laparotomy. The lab work despite multiple meds only changed slightly over the 6 week period. The vet lab was unsure about the biopsy. They said that it was something that they have never seen before.

We did put her on Aranesp for her anemia and it improved quite a bit. But everything else remained the same.

When the vet did the laparotomy - he thought that he was looking for a fused intestine but only found an enlarged mesenteric lymph node.

???

jowilson002
September 27th, 2007, 02:21 PM
And yeah...all 4 enema's were the same day (yesterday). She was just at the vet on Monday and seemed ok.

This is the second time that she has had multiple enema's. The first time was about a month ago.

She was tiny but we loved her very much and will miss her. She was an abandoned kitten my son and I took in.

Love4himies
September 28th, 2007, 06:38 AM
Did your vet ever discuss the possiblilty of cancer? One of the possible signs of hemangiosarcoma cancer is as follows:

CBC: mild to severe anemia, leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia
Chemistry: increased hepatic enzymes
Abdominal radiographs: Appearance of an intra-abdominal mass
Thoracic radiographs: pulmonary nodules, right atrial enlargement
Abdominal ultrasound: splenic mass, peritoneal effusion, hepatic nodules, enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes

If this is what your poor kitty had, then there was nothing you could have done for the poor sweetie and sounds like you and your vet tried everything and bless you for that. Your kitten is no longer in pain and is running free.

:rip: little kitty.:candle:

jowilson002
October 1st, 2007, 04:37 PM
Your description looks exactly like what "Baby Bear" had.

The vet however sent a biopsy of the mesenteric lymph node to a vet lab and they had no idea what they were looking at. They said that they had never seen that type of tissue sample before.

We did have her on chemotherapy as well as multiple other drugs in an attempt to help her but it just didn't work.

I miss her very much. :angel:Baby Bear was buried beside :angel:Simon (died August 4, 2007) of FIP. Simon was very fond of Baby Bear.

Thanks Again,

Jennifer W.:pawprint:

sways_bodyguard
October 1st, 2007, 04:50 PM
sorry for your loss:sad: