When I came home from a run on Friday, I noticed to my horror that Olivia's face has food all over. She hadn't cleaned her mouth after eating like cats always do. I immediately thought that a cat's life expectancy can't be very long if she doesn't even wash her face.
On the night between Friday and Saturday, we noticed that Olivia could no longer walk properly. At worst, she dragged her hind legs behind her. My husband already told me on Thursday that there is a strange weakness in Olivia's walk, but I didn't notice anything then. We even feared that Olivia had a brain problem due to constipation and straining.
On Saturday morning, Olivia looked a little better. She could sit and walk a little, and she asked for and ate food. Olivia's appetite remained very good until the end.
I had googled the matter and really hoped that Olivia's walking problems were caused by something as simple as a lack of potassium, her potassium level was too low a long time ago, but the vet didn't prescribe a potassium supplement then. Kidney failure can cause a cat deficiency of potassium.
But no. Sure, the kidney values were wrong but not too bad, and the potassium was normal. But Olivia had bad anemia, at first even a blood transfusion was considered. I wanted Olivia not to be euthanized yet, but to be hospitalized.
But soon the phone call came. An abdominal ultrasound revealed a tumor in the intestine, and nothing could be done.
The information about the tumor explained a lot. Why Olivia was recently badly constipated. And yes, those signs were already there before. At the point when Olivia started to alternate between diarrhea and constipation, and when she moved to live 99% on the kitchen carpet.
It's so wrong that my youngest cat died first. Olivia's mother, 19-year-old Kali, still lives with me, and Olivia's father at my friend's house.
Terrible week. When at the beginning of the week I cried because of my other cat Tabitha while she was at the hospital, I couldn't have guessed that Olivia would be the one to die before the end of the week. But there was nothing left to do, Olivia had to be put to sleep. When a cat can't e.g. walk or poop, there are no basic requirements for life.
This was originally supposed to be Tabitha's obituary, but it so happened that I collected a memorial album for the wrong cat. It's also something of a record that two different cats have to be hospitalized within a week.
The problem with life is that it inevitably leads to pain, suffering and death. I do not recommend it to anyone. Not for a human or animal.
RIP Olivia January 9, 2008-August 3, 2024
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