Anna (St. Albans, Vermont) on 09/11/2012

My 17 years old cat was healthy and happy her entire life, but in January 2012 she was sick (digestive problems), so in addition to antibiotic she was then prescribed, I changed permanently her diet from groceries stores' canned cat's junk food that she ate her entire life for an expensive but better quality, grain free brand name cat food. That really changed the quality of my senior queen's life. She not only stopped to have her digestive problems but started to behave like a much younger cat. She had good appetite, no more vomiting (it happened very frequently being on old diet), had nice shiny fur, and having more energy she played and ran around the house like a kitten. If she not slept long hours daily (perfectly normal for her age) you would not guess how old she already was. Even a vet (a different one) could not believe she was 17 and complemented her excellent shape and condition when on August 13^th I visited (unfortunately) him with my cat.

The reason for our trip to the vet was a small, pea size cyst (benign) my cat had on her neck for several months that she scratched sometimes to making it occasionally bleed. Because she was too old to make her operation to remove the cyst, I naively believed he might rather help my cat with some miraculous ointment or cream. He offered her Depo injection instead. He told me that antihistamine injection that would last for a couple of weeks might stop the itching that in consequence my cat would stop scratching, and it would stop bleeding, and the cyst itself may even shrink in size. He also told me that the injection may not help at all, so then there would be no reason to repeat it in the future. So, why not try? Thus, I allowed him to do that. I was wrong because the doctor did not to tell me that my cat might die from that shot…

When we back home she hid in the basement and showed up only to eat. I did not bother her since I knew she was in a big stress after that trip (she was always scared to death to ride a car and visit the vet office). But next day I noticed something wrong happened to her. She still showed up for food but did not run to me happily meowing (as she always did) when I went to her during her daily naps. When she tried to wake up and jump from her bed she looked like she had a problem with her balance. She looked scared and sad. For so many years she always assisted me in the evening routine activities like watching TV together (I watched, she napped on my laps), assisted me in the kitchen, followed me to the bathroom, then to my bedroom. For seventeen years I always could count on my little furry friend to wake me up in the morning, or at least waited for me outside of my bedroom door just to run with me to the kitchen. On Friday morning on the forth day since the injection, I saw my cat in my bedroom, she laid on the chair in front of my bed. I noticed she looked at me and her beautiful large eyes were sad, they were heartbreaking sad… Few moments later I noticed her painful, labored breathing. I tried to contact the vet office but I was told the doctor was off for the weekend and I was advised to bring her to them on Monday! ? I did not want to wait that long. I comforted her for many hours crying and blaming myself for the pain and discomfort she suffered. I do not know if steroids injected to her body just caused those problems or just triggered failure of her weak organs, but I know for sure she did not have to die yet. Not in such a terrible pain, not as unexpectedly. That injection ended her life. The only thing I could then do for her was not to let her suffer any more. I did not want to stress my very sick little friend by another long distance car trip to the emergency vet clinic, so I found the doctor that came to my house the same day. My cat's lungs were full of fluids. The doctor could not do for her anything but let her go. So, he did. She peacefully fell asleep. At least on her favorite couch, at least at home…