What Happened to Maddy?

This post is going to be long, so be patient.

Do you remember how excited we were that Maddy was finally losing weight? She has struggled for years, and the new food seemed to be doing the trick. Over the last few weeks, she seemed to feel better too. She was more social. She ran around the house, playing with toys. We were thrilled.

Well, about two or three weeks ago, her appetite began to wane. We did not think much of it because Kiki was not eating as much as normal. They had both switched completely to the new foods. Maybe the food was more filling the old food? Kiki’s appetite eventually stabilized while Maddy’s did not.

Then, Maddy stopped eating altogether. She also sneezed quite a bit. We took her to the vet, thinking she might have a cold and just felt bad. He suspected something else and drew blood for a CBC. The test results would not be back until the following Tuesday, though. Things went downhill from there.

On Sunday, June 24, I took Maddy to REACH, an emergency animal hospital in our area. We had a feeling that something was not right. They performed an array of tests and said she needed to be hospitalized. She was anemic and dehydrated. Later that evening, she crashed. She was unresponsive. She had a period of open-mouth breathing, which is never good. They gave her a blood transfusion, and she seemed to improve.

The rest of the week was spent shuttling her back and forth to the vet’s office. She spent parts of the week at both REACH and her vet’s office for monitoring. Then, we switched to days only at the vet’s office. She remained anemic but stable. She refused to eat, so we were force feeding her.

At first, the diagnosis was a blood parasite. The initial blood smear showed something that looked like mycoplasma haemophilus (formerly called Hemobartonella felis), a parasite caused by a flea bite. A more definitive blood test was ordered. It came back negative for all three forms of mycoplasma. This was good news for Kiki, since it is contagious to other cats in the home. It was bad news for Maddy, though, because we still had no clear idea what was happening to her.

An ultrasound showed an enlarged liver, so hepatic lipodosis was considered as the possible culprit. Being overweight predisposes cats to this condition. We could not confirm it, though, without a biopsy or needle aspirate of the liver. Until her anemia was under control, it was too dangerous.

We were prepared to force feed her and try some medicines for a time. As always, we looked to her for clues about whether or not she wanted to fight. She gave us the final answer on Saturday evening.

People always say the animals will let you know when it is time, and it is so true. On Friday evening, there was a moment when we were force feeding her that she “disappeared.” She was limp. We held her face and looked deeply into her eyes. She was alive and breathing, but her soul drifted someplace else for a few minutes.

On Saturday, her cold worsened. She had a green discharge from her nose and eyes. She stopped purring; she has always been a loud, purring cat. This was significant.

She moved a few steps around the living room and cried incessantly, even after we placed Gracie downstairs. When we tried feeding her, she swallowed some of the food but rolled most of it around her mouth. She was done.

It is devastating to make that decision. You question whether or not you are doing the right thing. In the end, though, it can be the last gift you give your friend. No one should suffer a slow, agonizing death.

We hope you are finally at peace, Maddy. Now, you can be as fat as you want without any worry about the consequences! Until we meet again….

Rescue Mommy and Daddy