This is the first cat she has lost, and it’s going to be rough on her. His name is Spike, and he’s a sweetie…very snuggly and loving. He’s just about a year old, but he has feline leukemia, which we just found out about a few months ago. The vet said he’d have a few months to a few years, and that once he got sick, there would be no point in trying to save him. But he’s been healthy and happy and growing huge and just fine until four days ago, when he started spinning in circles, and then was unable to stick his tongue out when he tried to clean himself. He stopped eating, and was having trouble breathing, so she took him to the vet today, and he has a tumor, lymphoma…they drained a ton of fluid from him, gave him some medication, and said to take him home until Tuesday. If he hasn’t improved, they will put him down then. If he feels better, then they will wait until he gets ill again. So she is taking tons of pictures, and cuddling him as much as he will allow (he’s hiding his head under the bed, with his butt sticking out.) He’s eating again, but then hiding, and she is crying a lot. His sister also has FL, and she’s scared for her, too. They were from two different litters from the same household…we assume all the kittens were infected.
I feel so bad for her. Never again will we take kittens that we don’t know the immunization history of the mamas. And I hope he will remain pain-free until the end, poor baby.