Perhaps that was a real reflection of actuality. Our canine frequently romped by way of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, swapped germs with playmates and scarfed down rogue hen bones, whereas our cats lived cosseted, indoor lives.
Now I think that we might have missed indicators of sickness in our cats. I had anxious that we have been overreacting after we took Olive to the vet for seeming perhaps, barely, type of not herself. In truth, she was critically in poor health.
Certainly, cats are proficient at masking their signs, which can additionally current in a different way from these in canine, consultants informed me. Arthritic canine usually develop noticeable limps, that are simply noticed on walks, whereas many arthritic cats present no apparent indicators of lameness, Dr. Perry stated. They could simply soar onto the sofa much less usually or appear crankier when being dealt with.
“Provided that cats are sleeping so many hours a day, and homeowners are typically solely round them for just a few of these hours, it’s a lot simpler to not notice that your cat is step by step altering over time,” Dr. Perry stated.
On reflection, it appeared probably that Olive had been quietly declining for weeks.
Ultimately, vets concluded that her immune system was destroying her purple blood cells. However they couldn’t say what had triggered it or discover a remedy that helped. Lastly, as one thing of a final resort, an internist prompt that we may contemplate eradicating Olive’s monumental spleen, which was most likely the place her purple blood cells have been being destroyed.
I emailed one other veterinarian for a second opinion. “Splenectomy isn’t the worst possibility,” she wrote again, noting that it was a longtime remedy for human sufferers with comparable circumstances. “We simply don’t have knowledge in vet med,” she added, “particularly in cats.”
