I spent a wonderful 12 years with her, though not always in the same spot. She moved with me to 4 different places of residence over the years. She always adapted well, no matter where she went.
She had many non-cat-like characteristics that I thought made her quite special. She preferred being inside, and always protested about going outside by climbing up the window screens and meowing at the door. She could be independent when necessary but preferred clinging to my side wherever I went. If I sat down, she was immediately in my lap. When I was in the kitchen, she was right at my feet. She had an uncanny way of knowing when I was opening a can of tuna before I even got out the hand-operated can opener. She associated me opening the kitchen drawer with her getting the tuna juice from my can of tuna, I suppose.
She loved all people, male or female, big or small. If they would pet her, she was content. She was the sweetest cat I ever met. In fact, I'm not sure it is possible to get any sweeter and more docile than she was. I love her dearly...
Unfortunately, the horror of her recent passing began in October of 2008. She had hit her hind leg and began to limp. I took her to her vet on a Wednesday and was sent home with her and a prescription of Oral Suspension Metacam 1.5 mg/ml. The vet had given it to me along with the following information: "It's not really legal in Europe." and "If she begins to vomit, stop giving it to her, and call us immediately." I took my cat home with the medicine and did not think too much about what the vet had said because I trusted my vet, and I decided she would not give my cat anything harmful to her.
I gave my cat the daily dosage on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. Sunday night, I came home from a visit with family, and Bananas had vomited in about 4 different places. I thought maybe she had eaten too fast because she tended to do that.
The next day, Monday, I called the vet from work but could not get in touch with her. I received a voicemail that afternoon from one of the Vet Techs saying something like "The vet wanted me to tell you that if Bananas is vomiting, stop giving her the medication." She had already had already finished taking the medication, so that advice did no good. I went home and she had not thrown up. Later that night, however, she threw up, but only once.
On Tuesday, I went to work, and I called the vet again from work but still could not speak with the vet as she was "busy" every time. I went home Tuesday afternoon, and Bananas had vomited again. It was too late to take her to the vet, so I was going to wait until Wednesday morning to drop her off. Unfortunately, later Tuesday evening, she began to vomit a lot. Before I could find an emergency vet clinic, she had thrown up about 6 times.
Tuesday evening, I took her to the Emergency Vet Clinic about 15 minutes away. The vet did blood work. It came back with dangerously elevated liver enzymes. And when I say dangerously, I mean that 100%. Each of these numbers should've been between about 10 and 100. One of them was almost 400, and the other was almost 700. I became terrified. The vet informed me that I needed to keep an eye on her eating. She could develop Fatty Liver Disease.
Bananas was sent home with me, as well as three prescriptions. One was an antibiotic, another was an anti-nausea medication, and the other was Denosyl (a liver protectant). I gave her all of the medications as was directed, and I kept an eye on her eating. My cat was already an overweight cat (15 lbs), so I didn't realize that it was harmful for her to slack off just a little bit.
About a week later, I began to notice she was not eating quite as much, and she had vomited a couple times. I took her back to the same Emergency Vet Clinic on a Saturday night. They did more blood work, and though her liver enzymes were down a small amount, her bilirubin had shot from 0.7 to 9.9 (9 times what it should be). The vet sent me home with her, telling me to bring her back in Monday morning for x-rays.
The vet called me during the day on Monday to tell me that the x-rays had not shown anything, and that she would still like to keep her overnight and on IV fluids. She also wanted to do an ultrasound. So, I left my wonderful kitty at the Emergency Vet Hospital.
They did the ultrasound on Tuesday and called me, informing me that her liver was less dense and more dense in places, which could suggest a number of things. They requested a biopsy be done. They did a biopsy that Tuesday.
I went in and visited her every evening that she was at the hospital, sometimes spending an hour or more with her, just petting her. On Thursday, I received a call from the vet, telling me that my cat has Fatty Liver Disease. I went back to the hospital Thursday evening to see my kitty.
The vet explained to me what the disease was and what needed to be done. I opted for the syringe feeding instead of the stomach tube. My vet agreed that since my cat was older (12), it might be harder on her, and if she was docile enough to allow me to do it, I could. The vet gave me so many directions and suggestions that it would take forever to list them all. The main thing was getting food and calories in her, and making sure she was taking the Denosyl.
It was a huge task to take upon myself, and it was just me, nobody else, who would be caring for her. I brought her home Thursday night. It was early November of 2008, by this time. I syringe fed her 20 ml every four hours. She continued to throw up, but I was informed that was normal with the disease. I woke up every night to feed her and every night to give her medication to her. I didn't miss a beat. I stayed devoted to her. I set out 3 or 4 different foods every day when I went to work. Sometimes she nibbled at it, but not usually. I changed the newspaper around her litter box anywhere from 2-6 times a day. It just depended on how good a day she was having.
I did all of this throughout November and December. In January of 2009, I took her back to the Emergency Vet clinic, but this time during their regular office hours. She had gone from 15 lbs to 11 lbs in those two months. The vet did not seem hopeful, but said to keep doing what I had already been doing.
I did the syringe feeding and the pill giving and the cleaning throughout January, February, and the beginning of March 2009. She had shown little to no improvement and was once again refusing to eat.
Friday, March 20th, 2009, I took her to the Emergency Vet. She only weighed 7 lbs. Her body temperature was 94.1. She was dehydrated (even though she drank ALL the time). The vet said she was suffering. He listed all the possible treatments that could be done, but he said that even with all of the help he could offer and all of the treatments that could be done, he would be surprised if she pulled through.
I chose to set her free and release her from her pain and suffering. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, and I can't help but wonder "Could I have done something differently? Did I do something wrong?" ... The vet had said I did all I could do, but I just can't believe it.
Over the past 5 months, I have been researching Metacam. The particular Metacam that was given to my cat by her FORMER vet is not FDA approved for the use in cats. In fact, it had several adverse side effects, many of which pertain to the liver.
I cannot prove with 100% certainty that the Metacam is to blame for my cat's illness and eventual passing, but I feel 100% certain in my heart. She went from perfectly healthy, to barely hanging on in a matter of days. Nothing else in her environment had changed.
This story needed to be told on behalf of Bananas and other cats around the world who have suffered from the use of Metacam. Metacam is dangerous to cats. I wish I had known then what I know now and maybe my precious Bananas would still be with me.
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