Hi everyone. Our vet has told us there’s no hope left for our 15-year-old Bagou. He’s had significant weight loss, vomiting, and bouts of diarrhoea lasting several days, despite short periods where he seems a bit better. He’s been diagnosed with pancreatitis and very advanced IBD. He’s on antibiotics and steroids, but they aren't making much of a difference. Despite the treatment, Bagou is still vomiting regularly, having diarrhoea, and losing weight. We’re losing him. We just can’t seem to stabilise him. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mag
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@Magla, I’m so sorry for your loss. The guilt you’re feeling is normal; we all experience it in these situations. It’s natural, but it isn't justified. You’ll never know the ‘what ifs’... You loved your cat and took such good care of them, and you did everything you could at the end. You can’t keep replaying it all in your head; it’s just unnecessary torture. I truly believe your husband made the right call. Give it some time; time is a great healer. Eventually, there will come a point when you’ll start looking at cats and wanting one again. When you love cats, you can’t go without one for long. Life carries on; don’t let death have the last word. A new cat will bring so much to your life, and you to theirs, when the time is right. Stay strong.
Thank you so much for your kind words. We are absolutely devastated. The house feels so empty and, to make matters worse, we’re stuck indoors... I’m just pacing around and around, crying and crying...
I’m so sorry for your loss. The guilt you’re feeling is normal; we all go through it in these circumstances. It’s natural, but it isn’t warranted. We’ll never know 'what if'... 'what if'... 'what if'...
You loved your cat and looked after them so well, and you did everything you could right until the end. You can't change the past, and replaying it in your head is just unnecessary torture. I honestly believe your husband made the right call.
Give it some time; time is a great healer. Eventually, the moment will come when you’ll start looking at cats and longing for one again. When you’re a cat lover, you can’t go without one for very long. Life carries on—don’t let death have the final say. A new cat will bring so much to you, and you to them. When the time is right.
Hi everyone. It’s Day 1 without a cat in the house. The guilt has really started to kick in now—guilt for two different reasons. On the one hand, I felt like his tormentor, like I was torturing him by trying to force all those meds down him when he clearly didn't want them. And on the other, maybe we should have tried leaving him at the vet’s to get his temperature back up; maybe that could have saved him. The new treatment, even though it was so hard to administer, actually seemed to be working. The vet must have received all the test results today... too late now. He’d lost so much weight and he just kept losing it, even though he was eating well and was ravenous all the time. I just don't get it. It feels like he starved to death! Still, nothing will bring him back now, but it’s just my nature to overthink things, or rather, to torture myself. I don't even know if I want to call the vet to find out. If they tell me he had something that could have been treated... I’d much rather they told me it was incurable and that we did the right thing by letting him go. This is so hard...
Hi everyone. Despite all our efforts, Bagou went on his final journey this morning. He had been very tired since yesterday and was completely unresponsive this morning. My husband decided it was time to have him put to sleep. We will never know exactly what was wrong with him. So much time wasted... too much cortisone without any tests being done... samples lost by the lab... so much weight lost... We are devastated. We’ve lost both our cats in less than a month. The house feels empty; we’ve cleared everything away. 28 years of having cats and then, just like that, nothing.... I won't be getting any more. The last six months have been hell, caught between hope and despair. I know only time can ease the pain a bit, but right now... it's just too much.... Thank you all for your advice and support.
It sounds like Bagou is in good hands. If he’s eating well and just being a cat, it’s definitely worth the fight. We’re thinking of you and the little fella.
Thank you so much. The coming weeks will be crucial.
Hi everyone. We’ve been to see a different vet. We’re starting everything from scratch to make sure we haven’t missed anything. The vet told me the outlook isn't good at all, but as long as Bagou is eating, going outside, and living his life as a cat despite all his problems, we have to keep trying... All possibilities are still on the table; we need to rule them out one by one. I’m taking him back tomorrow for full blood tests to rule out hyperthyroidism and diabetes, and to check his pancreatic levels. We’ll take it from there. Maybe a stool sample and then a pancreatic biopsy... but we aren’t at that stage yet. We don’t want to push things too far, but it would be good to finally have a definite diagnosis. At least we’d know exactly where we stand. Good evening everyone and take care of your furry friends.
Thanks for your replies. I think you're right. We should have gone to see another vet a while ago. We've been going through a really difficult time with our cats for several months now, and the major health problems with our other cat – who we had to have put down last week – have left us feeling completely drained and at breaking point. We trusted our vet, but now we're starting to have doubts... Bagou hasn't been sick "yet" today. He's hungry all the time. He even tried to eat a spider. He's right next to me now and his tummy is rumbling so much... I'm really on edge about how the rest of the evening and the night will go... It's just never-ending... Thanks, everyone.
I’d really recommend getting a second opinion from another vet as soon as possible—someone who’ll be more committed to trying to save him and who can tell you straight whether it’s time to keep fighting or not. You’d be surprised what a difference switching vets can make; one might think it’s a lost cause, while another manages to save them. I’ve been there myself, so now, at the slightest doubt or if I feel the vet is just guessing, I’ll always ask for another opinion, even if it’s just to confirm the diagnosis.
