Anisocoria

[donna1p5]

Last Tuesday my cat woke me early in the morning with severe vomiting.  When I took him to my vet I noticed that one of his pupils was totally dilated.  The vet diagnosed that he had anisocoria.  He put him on fluids, antibiotics, steriod shots, and eventually some electrolytes as he was not eating or drinking.  He basically lost control of his bodily functions and had to be sent to kitty heaven.  This came on so suddenly and he was gone so quick that I am in total shock.  He was fine the night before, he ate normally and appeared to feel fine.  He steadily got worse, with the exception of Thursday evening he sat up, looked around and walked around a little.  Then on Friday morning when I went to the vet's all he did was just lay there, though he was a purr machine.  When I went back in the afternoon on Friday, his purring was gone and he was considerably worse than he was in the morning.  That's when I made the decision to send him to heaven hard as it was.  Any ideas on what could have happened to my beloved Woodpile?  I appreciate any thoughts you may have.

[hayley2007]

I lost my beloved kitten Charlie this past November to FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis). He had the "wet" version as well. The other version is the "dry" form. With Charlie, it came on very suddenly, his belly started growing and it look potbellied but he wasn't in any pain as far as we could tell. We thought he was just putting on some weight but the weight gain was sudden so we took him to the doctor. They ran some tests and diagnosed him with that. It was so heartbreaking because there is no cure for this disease and it's highly contagious amongst cats. I had adopted Charlie from a pet shelter a couple of months before he showed signs but we think he got it from other cats at the shelter. After putting him down, we called the shelter to inform them and they told us they had to quarantine the shelter because other cats started turning up with the same problem. It was just so heartbreaking because this was my first cat to put down and he had a way different personality than any cat I've ever known. He was so loveable and would always do this thing with his paws where he "makes biscuits" as we called it. He would open and close them on your stomach, shoulders, etc.. I am so sorry for your loss and can understand how you feel.

[donna1p5]

Tizz, I'm praying that your kitty is/has gotten better.  I have Mr. Wood home with me now, I had him cremated and have his ashes.  It is always hard.  It wasn't strength on my part, if you knew him and saw the condition he was in you would have had to do the same thing.  He wouldn't have gotten better ever.  As much as I miss him he's in a better place, that's the only thing I can believe.

Savas, I'm thinking of you with your loss.  Woodpile wouldn't let go, I told him time and time to just go and he wouldn't.  With the FIP that he had, there was no hope for him, I'm still in shock.  Anytime would want to talk about Ralphie Boy, please post to me.  I will do as much as I can to comfort you and your wife.

Donna

[tizz422]

I am so sorry to hear about your cat. We are having problems with ours to. It took a lot of courage to look beyond your feelings and send him to heaven. I hope if i have to i can be as strong as you were.

[Savas]

Yes...cat's dehydrate very quickly which can lead to renal failure. It can happen in a matter of days.
One of the hardest things to deal with when a cat is sick is keeping it hydrated and getting some nutrition in it.
They also unfortunately have the ability to just decide to "let go" when they see fit. i've often wished I could explain to a sick cat that if it just gives us time, we can help it feel better!

[donna1p5]

Thank you.  I still can't get over that there were absolutely no symptoms prior.  Just simply the throwing up in the morning and then it was basically all over.  Does this stuff hit them that fast?  Woody was about a 14 pound cat with great big yellow/orange eyes.  I think he must have contracted this from his mother.  She was a semi wild stray cat who conceived him.  I have another kitty, Minnie, who I'm concerned about.  I believe she is part Maine Coon - I don't believe she has any stray/wild backings.  I pray she'll be ok, am keeping a very close watch on her.

Donna

[Savas]

Lord, i'm sorry to hear that. But if it's any consolation, animals have a totally different way of coping with pain than humans. You can be comforted to know that as long as he was eating and getting about, his pain was, by kitty's terms, just an inconvenience. They're much more accepting of the concept "that's the way it is", which seems to make pain more bearable to them.

[donna1p5]

Actually I went to my vet's today to pay my bill.  He informed me that Woodpile had actually died from the wet version of FIP.  This breaks my heart even further now because I don't think that I should have let him go on as long as I did.  The vet had no idea about the fluid build-up until after he was in heaven.  I don't understand why they couldn't have detected all this fluid build-up through some sort of test.  This is just incredible to me.  He showed NO signs of being sick until last Tuesday.  He just acted like a normal cat.  Now I have to worry about my other kitty coming down with the same thing.  I am in total disbelief.  Thank you for caring.

[Savas]

I'm sorry to hear about your kitty. Did the vet give you any explanation? There are a few things that can cause this...feline aids, Feline Leukemia...soft tissue injury...you can ask the vet if they ran tests, they may have done it but not bothered to tell you the cause, thinking you didn't care to know.