by Bev Propen
We adopted Ayla from a rescue league to keep our resident kitty company. Gremmie had lost her companion of 6 yrs to liver disease and she was lonely. Ayla was 8 wks old, white with gray markings and a gray smudge for a nose. After keeping her separate for about 4 wks, we introduced her to Gremmie. Gremmie had been sniffing Ayla under the door and was very curious. From the beginning, Ayla nuzzled up to Gremmie and they slept together, licked each other and were always together nuzzling. They were best buddies.
We had to have Ayla dewormed several times since she never seemed to get rid of the worms. When she was about 10 months old, I noticed Ayla sleeping more but I figured that she was sleeping with Gremmie who was older and that was OK. Ayla would sometimes lick paper, which I thought was funny. However when Ayla was almost 12 months old, I noticed her eating her kitty litter. I looked that up and found out that it is not a good sign. I took her to the vet right away. He did blood tests but immediately noticed how white her gums were. Her blood work revealed severe anemia with a blood count of 9.
The vet was amazed that she was alive and gave her Oxyglobin which he said was as good as feline blood. She did not improve. In a matter of 4 days she was gone. We had ordered feline blood for her from the Midwest Veterinary Blood services but she died the night before it arrived. With 20/20 hindsight, I wonder why my vet (who is strictly a feline vet) didn't have a feline blood donor for his practice and why he didn't refer me to a colleague who did. A blood transfusion would have given poor Ayla time . Another vet who practices more Eastern medicine had given Ayla acupuncture treatments to stimulate her bone marrow. Since we didn't know why Ayla developed such severe anemia (being on a high quality diet and not getting into anything toxic at home), reluctantly I had a necropsy done on her.
It did not show any infectious diseases which we were happy about. But the pathologist feels that she had been exposed to a toxic substance. We feel that the deworming with either Panakur or Revolution caused Ayla to have an idiosyncratic toxic reaction by which she developed anemia. The necropsy did reveal that her bone marrow had just started to produce new red blood cells. If she had received a blood transfusion at the beginning it may have have given her the chance to survive.
WE had a sad ceremony, burying her ashes in our yard next to our cat's first companion.
A cautionary word to owners of our precious felines....always question a vet as to the necessity of medications and possible toxicity on your pet. Any change in your pet's behavior should be checked out. I wish that I had understood that when Ayla was sleeping more, it should be cause for concern. I just thought she liked curling up with Gremmie.
We all miss Ayla terribly. She was the best little kitten with a heart of gold and a wonderful warm companion to Gremmie