Lucky (cat) lost her fight with hepatic lipidosis…R.I.P. (1997-2005)

I’m very sorry to report that Lucky lost her battle with hepatic lipidosis and pancreatitis on Christmas night. I’ve made a few attempts to begin to write about this…it’s just been very difficult to put my thoughts into words without breaking down completely.

We brought her home on Friday afternoon, after having received instructions from the veterinary hospital on working with the feeding tube. She was very listless and didn’t even have the energy to stand on her legs that night, but we thought she would regain strength gradually after a sufficient level of nutrition. We just placed in her bed, wrapped up in blankets so she could stay warm. I checked on her in the middle of the night to see how she was doing, and she continued to rest in the bed. In the morning, she had wiggled a few feet off the bed and was just resting on the floor. I gave her an initial feeding around 8:00 A.M. on the coffee table, and at one point, I had to put my arm around her as she made an attempt to climb down off the table. I thought this was a good sign and felt optimistic. She received 5 more feedings that day, but never seemed to show any signs of enhanced activity since that morning. We were concerned that no bodily functions had occurred, but read that urine retention was typical with hepatic lipidosis after the feeding tube was initially inserted. My ex-gf didn’t want Lucky to spend the overnight alone in her bed, so she brought her into the guest bed and tucked her in under the covers.

She finally had some bodily function overnight – she urinated all over the bed! We thought this was another good sign, and awaited the return of further bodily function. Note - we spoke with the vet Saturday night, who wanted us to bring her if she didn’t urinate, but since that had happened, we felt hopeful again. I continued to tube-feed Sunday, but she seemed to be losing strength. Around mid-day, she began to look up at me on occasion and let out a very mournful-sounding cry, which is something that continues to haunt me. I fed her again around 2:00, and she seemed to handle that okay. My ex fed her again around 5:00, and things began to go downhill quickly. She no longer had the strength to even hold her head up, her skin tone began to turn yellow, she vomited and urinated, and wasn’t responding to our touches. We wrapped her up and drove about 35 miles to the emergency clinic, where I tried to let them know she needed treatment immediately. The vet tech couldn’t even get a temperature reading, and realized how dire the situation was. He immediately took Lucky back to the vet, who came in to see us about 15 minutes later, letting us know that she was unfortunately beyond help.

We’ve both been sick with grief over this, and are just bitter over the unfairness of it all…she was only 8, with what we thought would be many years ahead of her. I had never owned a cat before Lucky, but she and her daughter were the sweetest, most well-behaved pets anyone could ask for…she didn’t deserve this at all. I feel like a selfish jerk for grieving like this, but I know how many animal lovers there are here at DU, and how I’ve been touched by so many stories of pet loss in many of your lives as well.

What a lucky cat Lucky was to have you love her so much. Please don't feel selfish for mourning her - animals touch us in ways we can't always explain.

What a pretty girl she was.

:hug:

Your story about Theo brought tears to my eyes when I first read it. I know he was only in your life for a short while, but it's amazing how deeply these little creatures can touch us in such a short time. The hurt will never go away completely, but I hope I can look back on her life and think of all the unconditional love & joy she brought to us during her time here. :hug:

Don't rush yourself to that point - give yourself time to grieve. I think of it as how we honor their love and their life. There's no need to rush through it.

Thanks for your kind words, too. (This stuff still makes me tear up.)

Hang in there and feel free to pm me if you need to - I do know what you're going through.

What a pretty cat. A few years ago I lost Woody, a fairly young (7 years old) gray cat to a neurological disorder that was slowly paralyzing him. It was awfully hard to take, so I think I understand how you feel. And last week I lost my 15-year-old Teddy to bone cancer. (He also had had pancreatitis a couple of years ago, and very nearly died then.) There's nothing selfish about grieving over the loss of a loved pet. They are family. You did your best for her.

RIP, Lucky.

is what makes it particularly hard to take. I was thinking that if she lived to 17 or 18 years old and was just a victim of old age, that it would somehow be less tragic, but maybe I'm just kidding myself. Teddy's story was very touching...he looked like a very loving boy!

there's nothing selfish about grieving for a beloved pet; they add so much to our lives, and their lives are so cruelly brief. Someday you will remember her life more than her passing, but it will take time. I wish I had more words, but all I can offer you now is a cyber hug :hug:

kitties in general from your posts, and I've always enjoyed your stories about your own fur-babies, the foster cats you've worked with, and now with the savannah cat. I'd like to think your contributions have helped to make me a better cat owner...thanks again! :hug:

May your memories help to comfort you.. You obviously loved Lucky very much.

it doesn't seem fair that pets don't live out their lives like they should. I am so sorry for your loss.

We seem to see two types of hepatic lipidosis cases: the easy ones, and the awful ones. The easy ones are the ones that have uncomplicated lipidosis, and the awful ones have pancreatitis on top of the HL. I have never, in 23 years of practice, been able to save one with pancreatitis on top of HL. They just head south in spite of our best efforts.

You did the best you could. Sometimes these things just happen.

does make me feel a little more comfortable in knowing that once these conditions became apparent, it was completely beyond my control with regards to treating her. I still hope she didn't suffer, and it will always bother me to wonder how it developed in the first place, and if it could have spotted, say, 6 months ago where treatment could have helped. Is it wrong of me to feel some animosity toward the vet that gave her the feeding tube? He said it looked pretty clear that both conditions were present. Maybe he wasn't experienced in seeing these two problems simultaneously in a cat, but if he had, I'm thinking he was giving us false hope in attempting to treat her. The money means nothing...I would have gladly spent twice that amount to have her back with me, healthy and happy.

It is ALWAYS worth trying with these cats, but we don't go to the ends of the earth if they are not responding well to treatment. If I place an esophageal feeding tube and yet they can't keep the food down, even with drugs to help, then I know it's probably lost cause. A board-certified surgeon might be able to place a jejunostomy tube (that's in the small intestine) if the esophagostomy (throat) tube we commonly use is not working. When the tube is in the small intestine, it gets around the vomiting problem, but it's MUCH more expensive and carries much higher risk. It's rarely done.

Pancreatitis is very difficult to diagnose definitively in the cat. So we tend to approach a case of HL as if it is treatable, but we recognize that some of them develop these types of complications and will not make it. Gambling is part of vet medicine, like it or not.

portion of the tube was right at her belly, with a rather loose protective "sock" that held it in place and kept it from flopping around. She was keeping all of the food down until maybe an hour before she actually died. Her weight went up considerably after the tube was inserted - from 11 lbs. 5 oz to 13 lbs. 13 oz at the time of her death. The food was going in, and staying there, but apparently not getting processed at all - I guess her body was just too weak. I understand the need to gamble in treating certain conditions, and I'm sure I'd probably feel worse today if she had died without us trying every possible thing we could do to save her. The necropsy supposedly did not show anything obvious...I'm guessing the pancreatitis was most likely the factor that led to her death. Thanks again for your input...

pancreatitis, as the inflammation is below where the tube enters, so the food still can't get through without creating problems. It's just a bad situation. Hope it never happens to any of my own kitties.

so many hugs. I am very, very sorry that this happened. Poor angel. She's with my babies tonight. Grieve. I would.

As to being selfish? Everything I read in your post points to your unconditional love for Lucky and that is about a far from being selfish as it's possible to be. Some people are incapable of loving animals, but those of us who have furbabies know what joy they bring into our lives, and our lives will always be richer because of it.

I think everyone on this forum has lost a beloved animal, and we all feel so hurt by it. It especially sucks that it was Christmas and you probably spent the entire last couple of weeks worrying about the cat. I think you did all you could for her. She was very fortunate to be a loved cat - not every animal gets to be so lucky. Good name for her. May she rest in peace. :hug:

Don't feel guilt, feel comfortable in the knowledge that not only do you have the capacity to love and care for her, but that she knew it.

Compassion for a fellow living creature is not cause for guilt.

It's not selfish at all to speak of your grief. Lucky was a beautiful girl, and she was indeed "lucky" that she had your love as you were to have her's.

I am so sorry for this loss. Talking about it is one of the best ways to get through this painful time.

:hug:

On edit: One of my dumb syntax errors.

There seems to be quite a few too many of these threads lately. It's so hard to lose a baby but especially around the holidays.

Grieve for this beautiful, sweet young cat. You are her human and as such, you are entitled to cry your eyes out if you feel like it!

Thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures of your furbaby. I'm sure that she is at peace now and watching over you.

O8)

wishes and support shown to me during this ordeal. Just hearing from other pet owners means so much, as only they can fully understand this kind of situation. I've been thinking about her constantly this week, and I've finally been able to reflect a little bit on the life she had with us and really see how much joy and affection she brought, and just as importantly, can recognize that she felt so loved as well. This was reflected in little things, like the way she would hop up on the coffee table ("grooming table") and stare up at you, begging for a brushing session (which she always received)…how she would jump up on the bed when I was getting dressed in the morning and rub her head against me, timidly asking for some affection…and just the way she would purr gently and wag the tip of her tail when I’d approach her in her sleep and give her a little head scratch or touch her paws.

I was never a cat person, having grown up with dogs, and my girlfriend had to work on me for a while before I was convinced on the idea of bringing a cat into our home. My thoughts were still along the lines of "Great…10+ years of some animal showing nothing but complete and utter indifference towards me!" We researched breeds, and went to some shows before deciding on a handful of possibilities. We ended up adopting a pair of British Shorthairs, and I couldn’t believe how quickly my attitude could change. We were keeping them in the finished basement for a short period of time after bringing them into the house initially, just so they weren’t overwhelmed by the totally new surroundings. We would spend several hours a day with them so they wouldn’t be isolated. I was laying on the couch under a blanket watching TV, and Lucy curled up my chest and went to sleep, and this was followed shortly thereafter by Lucky going to sleep against my leg. It didn’t take me long to realize that I probably couldn’t go WITHOUT a cat for the rest of my life! I know I’m more than capable of loving another little creature that might come my way…I’m just taking my time thinking about how much Lucky has meant to me over the last 2 years.

and don't feel selfish at all - it's really hard losing a friend. :hug:

RIP Lucky :hug:

Anytime a Du'er loses a furkid, we all feel your pain. :cry:

Hopefully Lucky is surrounded by mice and endless fields of green grass and catnip. RIP Lucky!! -the 48%er menagerie

I lost my kitty to hepatic lipidosis last year. We didn't treat her because the vet felt she was too far gone, so I decided not to try the forcefeeding. I'm so sorry you lost your friend. My sweetie was the same color as yours, and only about 9 yrs old too.

:hug:

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost a pet a few weeks ago, and have been posting on petloss.com. There are a lot of caring people there going through exactly what we are.

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of Lucky. She could have had a great here here and she is obviously loved. What a heartwrenching loss.

I hope you can find some consolation for your grief. It is unfair. No question about that. Take care.

Kelly

hard.

Your Lucky was a beautiful girl!

Eight is very young, but with these little guys there is just no warning. We take a chance with each and every one. But it's worth it. Better that we love them and are able to help them through the end. And, in turn, they really do teach us so much about love and about keeping an open heart - even though our love for them leaves us so vulnerable to loss. They make us strong, and teach us real love - unconditional and without expectation LOVE.

Be well. Take your time. Hugs to you.

What a pretty cat, too.


We find them, adopt them, let them invade our hearts and homes, and it tears us apart when we have to tell them good bye.


I console myself with the thought that whether their time with us is long or short, a well loved pet is better off for that time with good human care and love than otherwise. Some of my former kitties would definitely have had miserable and short lives had they not decided to move in with me.

My heart goes out to you.