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I feel like I let my cat die.


Sidra42

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My cat Severus had been sick for years. He had been diagnosed with a grade 2 heart murmur and his vet at the time put him on 1/4 of an 81 mg aspirin every 3 days to prevent blood clots as well as atenolol.

Around 7/20/11 I noticed Severus was losing weight. He used to be a boulder at 18 pounds but dropped to 13.

The vet did many tests checking his thyroid and kidneys but discovered nothing wrong. He did have urine crystals but never had a blockage.

He passed out at least 2 times and I rushed him to an emergency vet but after 300 dollars they couldn't find out what caused it.

Late November 2013 I was set to move states. My vet wanted to check Severus for possible cancer but since I was moving I needed to keep my savings in case I needed it for rent. So I couldn't afford the 600.00 for another X-ray and echocardiogram like they did to discover his heart murmur.

When I moved I was out of work for 6 months so I ate through my savings for rent and other bills.

Sometime during 2014 Severus lost all his muscle. He was skin and bones and maintained a 9 to 10 pound weight. Though he still ate and moved well.

I took him to different vets that tested him from everything from cat scratch fever to thyroid problems and diabetes everything always came back negative. I did find out something was going on with his white blood cells and he was low on potassium.

I hadn't been giving him his atenolol for his heart as I thought he was doing ok without it but he still got his baby aspirin. Now I wonder if the atenolol would have helped save his life?

He started crapping beside his litter box and his black fur faded to light brown in some spots. The vet I saw told me it was simply old age and stress. Another vet thought he'd developed kidney problems?

On February 6 2015 I came home and as was my habit checked for him to be sure he was alright. I found him lying in the kitchen open mouth breathing. At first I thought I could nurse him through this myself but finally took him to the vets on the 10th. I was worried I wouldn't have the money for X-rays but it turned out they only charged around 150 or 160.

This made me feel bad because I could have afforded this so I could have had him checked earlier and possibly saved his life.

I was to busy spending my money on stupid stuff when I should have saved up to get Severus tested.

They discovered his lungs had so much fluid in them that they couldn't see his heart. On February 11 I had them drain his lungs. I was so hoping he would recover but on the 17 I had to return to the vets to have them drain his lungs again. That's when I was told he was now only 6 pounds and that the fluid they drained was bloody. He spent all day at the vets waiting for them to do the procedure. When I got to the vets to pick him up at 4 The receptionist told me they had only managed to drain one lung. They were attempting the other but he was not happy.

I never got to see him alive again he was just 13 years old. I wanted him to make it to 18. He passed around 5:15 during the procedure without me with him.

The vet thought he had a tumor on his heart or lungs but I'll never know for sure.

I just feel like I could have done more for him. I never found out what exactly caused his muscle loss so quickly. What if whatever he had was treatable?All I did was treat the symptoms. For example when he was constantly throwing up I took him to the vets for cerenia to help with nausea.

That's like if you had stomach cancer and all the dr gave you was pepto bismol.

I also didn't recall him being so big when I first moved which means his muscle loss happens in 2014. How could I have forgotten when this should have motivated me to figure out exactly what was wrong. Why didn't I have him checked for cancer it was obvious he was sick but I just blindly continued treating his symptoms thinking he had years left to live.

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