I am new here, but I am so glad to have found a site with this type of support. Over the past month my 1.5 year old cat Zeus has been eating less and less and i really started to notice about 4 weeks ago, when I really felt his hipbone when I was petting him. I took him tot he vet and they thought he may not have been eating due to the fact that he had swallowed a part of a tassell from a graduation cap. They kept him overnight and ran blood tests and put barium (sp?) in to his digestive system to see if it would stop and they could pinpoint if indeed he had swallowed something. I got a call the next morning saying his blood protein level was high, but on an x-ray they saw the barium stop in his stomach and they wanted to go and do surgery to remove whatever was in there. They went in and didn't find a thing, but took a biopsy of his intestine and stomach tissue to test for other things inlucing FIP. He was at the vet for 4 more days recovering and they still didn't get the results back yet. I took him home to try and make him feel more comfortable so he maybe would eat some. He started out great, but later on that night he started walking crooked as if he were drinking. It got really bad and we took him back the next day. The vet said this could be another indicator of possible FIP, all along he has had a continuous low grade fever. He stayed at the vet for another few days and his condition seemed to be improving so my wife and I took him home again. The tissue tests came back with a positive coronavirus, which could mutate into FIP. as the past week has gone by his condition semed to be getting worse. He would even go to his food or litter box without me carrying him there. He began to cross over his hind legs when he walked, and he had no strength to even stand in his litter box or to eat. I finally took him back to the vet today and he is pretty sure FIP is the cause of my little boy's condition. He wanted to run another blood test to make sure his protein levels were indeed going up(a pretty sure thing for FIP), and we would at least confirm it. Zeus has went from 11 lbs. 8 oz. to 6 pounds in 1 month. The vet and I decided to put him down and send him on his way to kitty heaven. I am really having a hard time with this. He was the sweetest cat you could possibly know. I never heard him hiss, he never bit, or scratched anyone. He purred almost non-stop and everyone who met him loved him. I am a 29 year old man who has been crying like a baby at the potential loss of my cat. i know my wife and i will get over it, but he will always be our Zuesy boy. Thanks for listening...sorry so long:-(

First, I'm so sorry that you have to put your Zeus down. You have come to the right place to vent as we all understand what you are going through. Don't feel bad that you're a 29 yr old man crying over his cat, as many men have come here grieving for their furbabies. It's ok to cry and grieve over your companion.
Though it doesn't seem like it now, in time the pain will lesson and you will have those memories of your time together to fall back on.
The most important thing is to let yourself grieve and take the time to deal with your loss. Losing a pet is a devasting experience and you must allow yourself to go through the emotions. There is no time table for feeling better as everyone is different with how they deal with loss.

Come back anytime and let us know how you're doing and blessings to little Zeus.

Take care -

Chris

Im glad to hear it to, tears are our great healer and should not be stopped if at all possible.

Zeus is now free of any pain and his weak body you have given him that freedom.

be patient with yourself and dont think i shouldnt be doing this or i should be over that, we all greive differently and it takes a long time to get through it.

take care
Love Sue

my sympathies to you and your wife. and i know what you mean about being a man and crying. it's been almost 3 months since i lost aggie and i still cry, especially when i read anything here. but it does help and when i finally stop i feel alittle better. and i don't care anymore what someone may think of a man crying over a pet. men can have a broken heart too. i'm sorry for your loss. t.

Adam,

Thank you for your response to my losing Spinoza to FIP. I am so sorry for you, your wife, and little Zeus. FIP, what an insidious disease. My darling Spinnie didn't take one drop of food or water her last week. I was giving her daily fluids. She was spending her life under the bed or in the closet. I have been reading a lot about FIP and it usually takes cats under 5 and cats older than 10. My Spinnie was somewhere around 10-14 (don't really know).

You did the right thing, you had no choice, neither did I. Because we love them so much we let them go. I cry all the time too. Tears cleanse the soul.

Warm hugs to you and your family,

Joelle