Louis the Bengal - had a bad reaction to his Annual Booster on Friday July 3 2009. He became ill late on the Sunday - high temperature and very lethargic. He was taken to the Vet Monday July 6 2009 and we began a course of treatment. On Friday July 10 they heard a heart murmur which hadn't been present before - and so hospitalised him and did a heart scan - had the Cardiologist visit. They then did an X-ray. They found a 'mass' in his chest - which had obviously compromised his immune system.
Louis went to the Royal Dick Vet College today - Feline Centre - which is fabulous. Within an hour of my leaving him - he was having an ultrasound and the 'mass' aspirated. It appeared to be Lymphoma.
There was the possibility of Chemo - however, his bone marrow had basically all gone, he had no neurofils left, his red blood cells were at 11.5 and he had no platelets. He had a temperature of 104.9 and was basically - later this afternoon thought to be in septic shock - or bordering on it. Due to the fact he had no platelets, there was a high possibility that with any needle he could have a huge 'bleed'.
Three Professors looked at him, his case notes and thought that whilst Chemo was a possibility - given the condition Louis was in - the fact that he had no defences at all - it would - in all probability - not work - or would turn out badly. They did however, offer the possibility - albeit it couldn't start until tomorrow - because of his veins - and there was a high possibility that he might not actually survive the next 24 hours.
Given everything - and the prognosis - possibly 7 - 9 months if Chemo were successful - and given that he was so compromised his chances of the Chemo being successful were not high - I made the decision to have him put to sleep. It is the hardest thing I've had to do in my life. My 18 year old son is devastated and has wept inconsolably since we had the family discussion. We were all agreed that we must do the right thing for Louis - and give him peace. The College said he was in some discomfort and had given him pain relief - I am sure that we have made the right choice for our boy - and the memories we have of him will last forever. He gave us much joy - and now he will give joy to those who meet him in the next world. He'll be waiting at Rainbow Bridge -
He comes home tomorrow - to be buried under a large tree in the garden - where we can watch him and he can watch over the things he loved - the birds, the squirrels and butterflies.
Lesley
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