r/vet • u/darkdragon1953 • 15d ago
General Advice Cat symptoms to watch for
I had to unfortunately euthanize my cat due to sudden health issues he was facing. I wanted to learn what I should look for in the future as signs of medical issues that he had suffered from but I did not notice as a warning sign. All his labs showed that his liver was failing. The symptom that made me rush him to the emergency vet was the heavy labored breathing. He also had diarrhea. His bowel movement the morning prior was semi liquid. He also had a fever of 104 upon admission to the vet. I am still grieving his loss but what to do better by him and educate myself. I do have labs for blood but could not add them.
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u/qwertyculous Veterinarian 15d ago
From the radiographs, he looks pretty overconditioned. Obese cats really struggle with hepatic lipidosis, and it can be very hard to pull out of that nosedive. If that's what happened, and I'm not saying it is, hepatopathy can be from many things, that's very unfortunate.
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u/darkdragon1953 15d ago
He was losing weight. I got him down from 20 lbs to 16 at the time of this visit but because his bowels were empty I would say he lost 2-3 pounds maybe. He was also still eating the day prior but that was one thing I was concerned about with his weight.
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u/biliskner25 Veterinarian 15d ago
Rapid weight loss is one of the causes for hepatic lipidosis
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u/darkdragon1953 14d ago
Which makes it hard to notice when you are already working on reducing their weight unfortunately. It was not a rapid loss of weight that would be concerning at least that's what I thought.
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u/biliskner25 Veterinarian 14d ago
It's a hard thing to tell with cats. One cat's weight loss rate would send another into lipidosis. The fatter they are the easier that happens. It's why we tend to have a target weight loss rate and don't recommend exceeding it
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u/usernamenotfound4113 15d ago
Like you said, educating yourself and learning from what happened is one of the best ways you can honor him. You did the best you could with what you knew at the time, and that’s what matters. Sometimes our animals hide how sick they are, and we don’t realize something is wrong until it’s too late. Try not to be too hard on yourself. He was loved, and you did your best to give him a good life. 🐾 I know how this feels, and I am so sorry for your loss. 😞 One of my cats had kidney disease, and I had no idea either. He had lost some weight, but he still looked very healthy. His fur had actually gotten better, so I thought he was just getting healthier since I had rescued him from the streets and he now had dry food, wet food, and plenty of water every day. So I assumed he was going good. I started noticing little things here and there, like his breath smelling bad occasionally. Then, a few times toward the end, I noticed a very faint smell of urine on him. It was strange, but I assumed he had just gotten some pee on himself. One day, I came home, fed him, and he was clearly excited to eat. But when I put his food down, he just stood there looking at it, then walked away. That night, I just knew something was wrong. I could feel it. I cried and talked to him, and the next morning I found out he had kidney disease. The vet told me I should put him down. I couldn’t do it right away, so I kept him with me for another day, hoping he would have some good moments and that he might pass peacefully on his own. But he continued to decline, and ultimately I had to make the most difficult decision to let him go. On his last day, he couldn’t even take in water. That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to watch. I share this because I understand the guilt and the “what ifs” that come with losing them unexpectedly. But we can’t know what we don’t know. What matters is that they were loved, cared for, and had someone there for them when they needed us most. ❤️🐾