Dear Dr. Fox:
My daughter found Mulligan as a kitten on a golf course in Richmond.
Mulligan had partial paralysis in her hind legs but quickly regained the use of them. She had extreme difficulty with bowel movements, probably because of the injury that created the partial paralysis in her legs. No amount of Cat Lax, the natural laxative, helped.
About two months after we got her, she developed a prolapsed rectum from straining to defecate. After an emergency visit to our vet to repair the damage and take X- rays, we took her to a specialist at an animal hospital.
The doctor confirmed that she had a megacolon, and surgery was performed that day to remove all but 11 / 2 inches of it.
The vet prescribed mixing Metamucil with her food to provide near-normal bowel movements. For 15 years, we did this, with generally successful results.
Mulligan ate a 5.5-ounce can of wet food each day, and although she struggled at times in the litter box, she led a fairly normal life as an indoor cat. She was a joy to my wife, who took care of her all those years.
J.B., Potomac, Md.
DF: Thank you for sharing the encouraging success story about your injured cat, which, after appropriate diagnosis and treatment, enjoyed a long and happy life.Many people in your situation would have elected to have the cat euthanized. Costs notwithstanding, and with never a guarantee of total recovery, cats and dogs have amazing recuperative abilities when coupled with the expertise of a veterinarian.
Above all, animals need the commitment and patient support of their in-home caregivers, without whom the possibility of even partial recovery might never become a reality.
HOME HOSPICE Care
Dear Dr. Fox:
There seems to be no palliative care for pets the way there is for humans who are suffering, and I don’t understand why that is.
Jingles was about 16 years old. I’d had her for 12 years. In early December, she started to have upper respiratory problems. I took her to my vet Dec. 5, and she was given a shot of what I believe was an antibiotic for a possible sinus infection.
She continued to get worse, so I took her back Dec. 12. She was given a blood test — she had high white blood cell counts, but otherwise normal liver and kidney values — and Pepcid and dexamethasone injections.
In a last-ditch effort, I brought her back to the vet Dec. 13. She was given a Convenia injection, but Jingles only got worse.
My vet doesn’t do in-home euthanasia. The people the vet’s office recommended didn’t want to do the euthanasia unless I had taken her to an animal hospital, which I did Dec. 14. I was there for hours. I knew she was dying, but I made her go through all these tests in her weakened state because they wanted to make sure she was sick.
Four hundred dollars later, the diagnosis was that she probably had lymphoma. She had lost half her weight, was no longer eating and was the sickest I’ve ever seen any living thing. Because of her age, I opted for euthanasia rather than chemo.
Before I left the hospital, they gave her mirtazapine, a famotidine injection and subcutaneous fluids. She found peace Dec. 16 with the help of the in-home vet.
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