Life of the Lintee Bean

Kitty.com has left us today.  She fought a valiant battle, but she looked tired and ready to go.  I assured her she could rest now, and left her in the incredibly compassionate and capable hands of Dr. Olsen.  Kitty.com seemed unsure for just a moment, before tucking her sweet face into Dr. Olsen’s chest, ready for her battle to end.

We’re still not entirely sure what beat my sweet girl. She started losing weight a while back, and I thought it was the beginnings of hyperthyroidism. We knew she needed her teeth cleaned (again, something we went through about twice a year). After getting clearance from a cardiologist that she was safe to anesthetize, she had dental surgery in May – six extractions.

A few weeks later, I was pilling her when I thought I saw a little blood on my fingers. I took her to the vet, and they saw nothing amiss in her mouth or otherwise.  However, they ran bloodwork as a precaution.  The bloodwork showed anemia – a drastic drop in hematocrit (HCT) levels from 37 in mid-May (pre-dental) to 19 in mid-June. We started antibiotics (doxycycline) and an iron/vitamin supplement (PetTinic).

About a week later, I took her to a specialty center for a thyroid (scintigraphic or technitium) scan and an abdominal ultrasound (to rule out a gastro-intestinal bleed).  The tests came back fine.  She might be mildly hyper-thyroid, but not enough to treat.  No GI bleed.  There were a few little nodules on the ultrasound, but they were most likely benign.  There was also a bit of increased uptake on the scan near the base of her neck.

So, we still didn’t have answers and her anemia wasn’t improving.  However, she was acting fine – until the end of June when I noticed she was lethargic and inappetant.  I took her to the emergency center that Saturday, where she received IV fluids and anti-nausea medication. They felt she was eating okay, and the internal medicine specialist checked her out and felt she may have had a case of pancreatitis, but cleared her to go back home that Monday. He said they’d noticed a slight ulcer in her right eye and sent her home with eye ointment.

She didn’t improve.  I took her back to our regular vet a week later, July 10. She still wasn’t eating well and wasn’t her usual spirited, playful self. Dr. Olsen gave us an appetite stimulant (cyoproheptadine) and suggested we come back in a few days. She thought her right eye looked odd (constricted pupil while the other was dilated), and suggested we discontinue the ointment in case it was a reaction to the medication. The next night I was encouraged that for the first time in weeks, Kitty.com came up on the bed and was seeking out affection.  Dr. Olsen called and said the bloodwork, shockingly, was now NORMAL.  Hematocrit levels were back up to 29.6.

Unfortunately, my optimism didn’t continue. The next day, when I went to pill Kitty.com I was SURE I had blood.  She was drooling a bit when I failed to get the pill in on the first try, and when I wiped up her drool with a paper towel there was a spot of bright red blood.  We went back to the vet July 12.  This time, Dr. Olsen was able to get a good look in her mouth and could see a rather large mass near the back of her mouth. She could also feel a thickening or mass on the right side of her neck. Since her eye hadn’t improved with stopping the ointment, Dr. Olsen now felt it was likely secondary Horner’s syndrome – a reaction to the mass or an infection.  We still didn’t know if the mass in her neck or her mouth were infection or cancer.  At this point, I felt Kitty.com was too weak for further diagnostics.  We decided to gamble – give her an injection of antibiotics (Covenia) and start her on oral (liquid) steroids (prednisolone).

We went back for a quick check-up on July 14. She hadn’t improved – but we thought we’d give the steroids a few more days.  Kitty.com spent her last days snuggled in her “camping tent”, and tolerating my frequent pets and cuddles.

On July 16, we said good-bye.  I miss her lively presence in the house.  Kitty.com was the one to dash from room to room, the one to call loudly when she successfully “hunted and killed” a large toy, the one to bring me that toy as a gift.  She was the one that would play with toys, and hold them up on top of her head with her paws, as though modeling little hats. Kitty.com was my knitting/crocheting companion – who would stick her little head under my arm and look up at me and meow as if to say “Hello! Put down the yarn and pet me now!” Kitty.com would forever do her little dance with her back paws when  her back was scritched – and enjoyed those scritches even at the end.

Fly free, sweet pea.  I will love you and miss you always.