bloodclot hi, i am devastated, i had to have my cat put to sleep last saturday, a terrible illness, something i had never heard about, so i am looking for more info on this dreadful illness, at 9.30pm i fed my cats, Bob ran into the kitchen along with his 7 kitty mates, he jumped up onto the worktop perfectly ok, tucked into his supper and then i left them in peice to eat....at 10.10pm i went to make a drink and Bob was lying on the floor gasping for breath crying in agony and unable to use the whole of his back end which was also freezing cold, we rushed him to the emergency vets they knew straight away what was wrong, unfortately there was nothing they could do and by 10.40 he was being put to sleep, apparently it was a bloodclot that got lodged in his artery to his back end hence the paralysis and being cold to touch, it is such a shock, as far as we knew he was a healthy cat..never been ill in his life but the vet said he must have had an enlarged heart which had gone undetected, i feel awful as he really suffered in that short time, but hopefully i made the right choice, have read some posts about this on the internet and some have survived although not for long, anyway we took him and had him cremated and now he is back home with us where he belongs, it was awful to see him like that but he is now at peice, please has anyone got more info on this, From the topic: Comments Post a comment in this discussion: 27 Sep 2008 13:26  Hi Alyson, I am so sorry to hear about Bob, you must be very upset. The problem he had is called an Aortic Thromboembolism (ATE) and it is caused when a blood clot lodges in the aorta ( the main artery in the body) as it splits to supply the backlegs with blood. The aorta runs from the heart down the body underneath the spine, with blood vessels leading off it to feed all the major organs. It narrows as it goes along and is at its thinnest at the backlegs, which is why the blod clots lodge here. The sudden lack of blood to the backlegs is very painful, it is like a very severe cramp. An affected cat will collapse and the backlegs will become paralysed. They will often cry out, be very distressed and may pant. The backlegs are often very cold to the touch and the vet will not be able to feel a pulse. The clot itself is usually formed in the heart and cats who get this problem often have an underlying heart condition. The trouble is is that although heart problems are quite common in older cats, there are usually no symptoms at all. The cats are very well in themselves, and even when the vet examines them, no abnormalities are detected as the heart beat will sound normal. The chances of recovering from an ATE are sadly small and because the heart abnormality is the underlying cause, the cat will always be at risk of having another. The treatment is intensive, requiring a hospital stay, and is directed mainly at keeping the cat pain-free and comfortable while the clot dislodges. Even if the clot does shift, not all cats will recover as the damage to the backlegs can be great. It is awful when a cat goes like this, so suddenly and in pain, but at least he is at peace now. I hope this information helps you, let me know if you have anymore questions. Cat |
©PetStreet 2009 Website built and designed by