My cat's long battle with a mysterious auto-immune disease

wrote
Well, my parents remain firm that we did the right thing, so I'm
trusting them. They are very pro-euthanasia (even with people), and
if they had gotten the slightest indication that that cat was in any
kind of pain, they would have taken her in, no questions asked.

None of you should ever be allowed to have any kind of animal.

Cats do not show pain until they are at death's door, you cruel
idiot.

On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 19:44:47 -0500, cybercat wrote:

wrote
Well, my parents remain firm that we did the right thing, so I'm
trusting them. They are very pro-euthanasia (even with people), and
if they had gotten the slightest indication that that cat was in any
kind of pain, they would have taken her in, no questions asked.

None of you should ever be allowed to have any kind of animal.

Cats do not show pain until they are at death's door, you cruel
idiot.

Then, you idiot, if the cat was in pain from a terminal disease, it
would be at death's door. Why prolong it? Do you get some sadistic
kick out of seeing animals in needless pain?

"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 19:44:47 -0500, cybercat wrote:

wrote
Well, my parents remain firm that we did the right thing, so I'm
trusting them. They are very pro-euthanasia (even with people), and
if they had gotten the slightest indication that that cat was in any
kind of pain, they would have taken her in, no questions asked.

None of you should ever be allowed to have any kind of animal.

Cats do not show pain until they are at death's door, you cruel
idiot.

Then, you idiot, if the cat was in pain from a terminal disease, it
would be at death's door. Why prolong it? Do you get some sadistic
kick out of seeing animals in needless pain?

Um, AN, you're preaching to the choir. I am saying that this twit and her
parents essentially tortured her cat by allowing it to suffer for months.
They never had it put down, they just watched it suffer and die.

On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 20:23:44 -0500, cybercat wrote:

"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 19:44:47 -0500, cybercat wrote:

wrote
Well, my parents remain firm that we did the right thing, so I'm
trusting them. They are very pro-euthanasia (even with people), and
if they had gotten the slightest indication that that cat was in any
kind of pain, they would have taken her in, no questions asked.

None of you should ever be allowed to have any kind of animal.

Cats do not show pain until they are at death's door, you cruel
idiot.

Then, you idiot, if the cat was in pain from a terminal disease, it
would be at death's door. Why prolong it? Do you get some sadistic
kick out of seeing animals in needless pain?

Um, AN, you're preaching to the choir. I am saying that this twit and her
parents essentially tortured her cat by allowing it to suffer for months.
They never had it put down, they just watched it suffer and die.

SORRY! I totally misread it. I thought you were chiding her for leaving
the kitty with parents who are pro-euthenasia.

"AZ Nomad" wrote

SORRY! I totally misread it. I thought you were chiding her for leaving
the kitty with parents who are pro-euthenasia.

This kid doesn't know her ass from third base if she could not see that
the cat was suffering. It just makes my heart ache. At least nobody can
hurt the cat now.

On Jan 8, 11:05*pm, wrote:
On Jan 6, 2:42*pm, "Sheelagh\"o\"" wrote:





On Jan 5, 4:32*am, wrote:

On Jan 4, 8:25*pm, T wrote:

In article ,
says...

wrote
*By the way, it was apparently congestive heart failure that finally
took her. *Her stomache had become very bloated, even after she
stopped eating so much again. *But through the months there were so
many times when we thought she was going to die that day. *One day in
particular stand out, when I was home alone and my cat was lieing on
the kicthen rug, on her side, struggling to breathe. *I called my mom
and was sobbing, "She's dieing, what do I do?" *That was a long time
before she actually died, and oddly enough ,that was the only time she
showed signs of having breathing difficulties. *She spent that day
lieing on a blanket in the kicthen, unable to walk. *She'd only lift
her head to get a drink or eat. *We were stunned that she made it
through the day, let alone several weeks afterwards.

If this is true, I really hope that you linger even longer, suffer even more
when you die. I think that would be really good.

Cheers!

*You guys have got a lot of nerve talking to me like that. *FIRST of
all, it wasn't up to me, it was up to my parents. *You think I take
pleasure out of animals suffering?? *We all watched her extremely
close, and at the first sign of pain, we would not have *HESITATED* to
have her euthanized. *My parents made the judgement that she while
extremely weak, she was not in pain, based on everything the vet told
us and watching her everyday. *My God, when my dog showed us that he
was in pain that medication could no longer fix, we took his ass right
IN, no questions. *We weren't going to watch him sit around in agony,
and we never would have allowed Mouse to either. *I'm still struggling
with this EVERY SINGLE DAY, I try to talk about it on here, and all I
get are people calling me a troll and accusing me of torturing an
animal?? *We all loved that cat to death, and my parents did what they
thought was right for her, letting her drift off at home, so long as
she wasn't in pain. *I hope to GOD that she wasn't in pain. *I
wouldn't be able to live with myself if I knew we made the wrong
descision. *Don't you dare try and tell me that I didn't love her, and
that we weren't AGONIZING over what would be best for her, and over
her comfort every single day. *For months, there was a chance that she
would recover, according to the vet. *She would get a lot better, and
our hopes would soar, and then she'd get bad again, and then she'd get
better again. *We tried to help her heal in other ways, not just the
medicine, playing the music that she always loved to listen to,
letting her lie outside, which she loved, etc. *As for waiting so long
to get her to a vet in the first place, I always told my parents that
they should bring her in, but they stalled because going there
*TERRIFIED* her. *She would yowl, rip most of her claws off trying to
get out of her carrier, it was hard for us to watch her go through
that. *But like I said, I WANTED to bring her in, my parents waited to
see if she would get better. *You guys have helped matters a lot with
your hateful comments. *I feel a lot better about the whole damn thing
now. *Thanks.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On Aug 19 2007, 5:02 am, wrote:

* I posted here about my cat several months ago, back when she was
first diagnosed. * In short, she has some sort of auto immune disease
or maythat started to come on in February. *When it started we thought
it was a cold. *It began with voice loss, lethargy, and a severe
thirst. *She was severely anemic and killing her blood cells. She was
put on steroids but they completely surpress her immune system, making
her extremely vulnerable to infections. She got a couple of urinary
track infections where we had her peeing and dribbling blood on the
floor. *She's infected eyes for awhile now. The vet gave us some eye
drops to see if it cleared it up, but it's not doing anything. We
think that one of her eyes has now been destroyed, and if a miracle
ever does happen, it will have to be removed. You wouldn't believe how
she looks. Her right eye is disgusting. It's just a solid brown mass
of goo that constantly drips down her face. She's somewhat emaciated
and she has dried medicine and food stuck on her face (it's impossible
to keep her clean) and on parts of her body. Basically, she looks like
a corpse that someone pulled out of a dumpster. *At one point I
actually looked at her and burst into tears. *However, her appetite is
great (but she's still emaciated, which makes me think cancer...) and
despite not being able to see worth a darn, she's getting around quite
well. She hasn't begun staggering again, so that's good. We took her
off the steroids a while ago because it's so terrible on the body and
causes infection after infection. We THOUGHT she was recovering but
the other morning I put her in her box (she sometimes has to be
carried because she can't see well) and she passed out and litter was
plastered all over the side of her face, mixed with the goo from her
eye. I was horrified that she had begun fainting again, a sign that
her blood count is plummeting again. I was home alone for awhile later
that day and she kept passing out. At one point she was lieing on the
kitchen rub, making sounds like she was actually struggling to
breathe. I lost it and called my mom on her cell and started crying,
saying she was dieing on me. I layed out a blanket for her and put on
her favorite music (that cat has a thing for Josh Groban, Il Divo, and
the like). Since then (the other day) she's stopped fainting and her
breathing (thank God) seems perfectly normal. But at this point the
vet says it's the end of the road, her chance of making a recovery are
slim to none. The last thing we want is to see her suffer (and trust
me, it's heart-breaking to see how disgusting she looks right now),
but since her appetite is good and she's stopped fainting, we're just
waiting right now. We know the time has probably come to euthanize
her, but it's just too damn hard. These next couple of days, we're
just praying for a miracle, biding time. She's been a beloved member
of the family since I was 9 years old (I'm now 20). If there was
something that could be done at this point, money would be no object,
but it looks like it's the end of the road. The vet doesn't see any
hope. *It's just been so cruel. *One minute you think she's getting
better, and then she crashes again.

This is the reason why everyone is a little bit ticked off.
It is most unlike me not to listen sympathetically, because it is in
my nature to believe anything that people tell me, unless proved
otherwise.

I extended my sympathies then, & also now, but it would appear that
either you, or your parents were not listening @ the time. Your cat
did go through hell for a further few months. I would also like to
point out that Marrii did try to tell you in a very polite manner,
exactly what & why others think you are a troll.
You have no idea how many trolls we do get, professing that their cat
is near death, then suddenly the owner finds a reason to not to need
the advice we give, yet they come back a few months later to tell us
the same thing; what would you assume?

I have no doubt that you did love your cat. Unfortunately, you didn't
love her enough to give her the greatest gift your can give a much
loved cat- The freedom to cross the Rainbow Bridge when she needed
to.. by withholding that gift, your cat suffered without doubt. That
is where the anger is coming from. The difference between a cat owner
& *a cat slave, is that you would do anything to stop her suffering. I
wish you no ill, but I do hope that you learn from this mistake. Rest
assured, we all make mistakes & the only thing that is important here
is exactly the same as Marri said- That you learn from it....

Good Luck,
Sheelagh "o"- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

* Well, my parents remain firm that we did the right thing, so I'm
trusting them. *They are very pro-euthanasia (even with people), and
if they had gotten the slightest indication that that cat was in any
kind of pain, they would have taken her in, no questions asked. *They
brought BOTH of our former dogs to be euthanized without hesitation
when they needed it. *At one point, when I was so mad I wasn't
thinking clearly at all, I got upset with my dad for bringing my dog
in. *He got pretty upset with me. *His response? *"That dog was in
AGONY, and he was too good a friend to let him suffer like that. *If
you thought I was going to sit back and let him live like that, then
you're CRAZY." *My mom? *"We had to help him, it was our
responsibility. *He's not suffering any more." *They're smart people,
and they're good people, and I'm going to have to believe that they
made the right descision with Mouse. *Obviously you would have had to
have been here and lived with her to understand the situation. *It
just looks terrible on "paper". *I'm sorry I ever brought this matter
up, it's only further upset me. *But thanks to those who at least
responded in a civil manner.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I wasn't trying to be rude to you. In actual fact, I was hoping that
you would see that we all make mistakes, ( & yes, that does include me
too!)

I gave what I thought was Good advice for future reference. I am
genuinely sorry for your loss. I don't think there is a single member
on this site who wouldn't admit that we perhaps let a cat go longer
than we should have done. It is human nature to want to spend longer
with our beloved cat's. However, it is not necessarily the best thing
for the cat involved, & there is the difference of being a cat-slave,
or a cat carer. You learn to do things differently, even if it means
that terrible lost feeling.

I certainly wasn't calling Judgment on you- I was explaining why you
got the response that you did get.
Sheelagh "o"

On Jan 4, 1:34*am, wrote:
On Jan 4, 1:29*am, wrote:

*... my cat Mouse big snip

Sounds like you really loved her. My cat came down with a really
nasty strain of corona called "FIPS," although he had received his
annual shot a few months earlier. That sounds similar to things I've
read about some variants, although I've read those symptoms are common
in everything from leukemia to heartworms.

When my first dog died, I let her live too long, because I just didn't
feel like it was moral to let her go when she seemed so happy and
loving, even with her obvious age and condition. The vet seemed angry
that I hadn't brought her in sooner. When my first cat died, as soon
as I realized her body systems were failing and she was dying (she
also was very old), I took her to the vet the next morning and the vet
put her down. But the vet seemed angry and blamed me--if I'd done
this, if I'd done that.

I've found that, no matter what I do, some people will say I should
have done something else and seem mean-spirited. People can hold some
pretty rigid opinions. So now I first learn as much as I can, and
then I just listen to my own conscience and do what I think is right.

I have a lot of compassion for you and Mouse and your parents. The
humans are trying to do the right thing for a being they love, and
cats have such tender spirits that we just want to hold them and heal
them and keep them as friends.

It's tough to lose friends who always remind us that we are special
and also that the world is really a very lovely place.

wrote in message
...

SNIP
They
had trouble with that sample too, and called us back a while later
after we went home to tell us that Mouse was so anemic that they
couldn't get a proper blood sample from her, her blood was too thin.

hard. She apparently began losing her mind, because everytime we'd
set her in the box, she'd start eating the litter and we;d have to
reach down and block her from doing it.

/SNIP

Moonlit:

I'm very sorry for your loss. My own cat is going through a similar
scenario. She suddenly showed signs of anemia over the holidays and has
been through a blood transfusion and has started chemotherapy plus Epogen
injections.

The reason why your cat was eating the cat litter was because her body
craved anything containing iron, which helps produce red blood cells. Rest
assured that it wasn't because she was crazy. Animals (and humans) will
often crave things that their body needs. If you read about anemia in cats,
you'll find plenty of documented cases in which cats eat litter.

I know it will be a tough day when I have to euthanize my cat, which I know
will be soon. Even with chemotherapy, cats with lymphoma (which my cat was
ultimately diagnosed with) only stay in remission for about six months
before succumbing to cancer. I hope that I will be able to recognize when
that time comes; as many people have pointed out, cats tend to instinctively
mask their pain. I've spoken with my vet about whether he feels I'm
potentially dragging things out for my cat, and he assures me that for right
now, she's doing her normal routine and it's far too early to be talking
euthanasia. But, as I said, I know it's coming for my 11-year-old kitty.

Best of luck to you in your time of sorrow. I offer my most sincere
condolences.

-David