Cat with Toxoplasmosis died

by Sandy
(Jolo, WV)

My daughter's cat began hiding behind the couch and not eating. He was taken to 2 different vets who could not find anything wrong. At that time, bloodwork was negative for anything. He continuously became worse to the point he could not stand and when she would try to hold him up to stand, he would fall over. She took him to another vet, and at that time he was tested for toxoplasmosis and it came back positive. This was very worrisome because my daughter was pregnant. She was tested and it came back negative. At any rate, he stayed for 3 days at the vet's. He came home on clindamycin and prednisone-5mg a day. When he came home he seemed like his old self. Later in the evening, I gave him his prednisone. A little while later, he began slobbering excessively, lipsmacking, and growling. We thought he was just sick from the pill because we knew that was a side effect. Later, he began running around the room wildly hitting things. Not long after, he passed away. Everything I have read, says prednisone does not have serious side effects in cats. Could you please tell me if the prednisone did this to him? I feel very guilty considering I gave him the pill.


Answer by Kite
Hi
Please do not blame yourself, you did everything possible for your cat, even taking him to several vets to get a diagnosis.

I really don't think that the medication caused his death it is more likely that the parasite infected the cats brain too badly and thats what finally killed him.

Toxoplasmosis is usually very treatable but in some rare cases the infection can just be too much for the cat to recover from.

if you have any questions about the medication i would say that you are perfectly within your right to speak to your vet again about what happened, he should be able to help you by explaining in more detail what the medication was for etc.

i am so sorry for your loss but you did everything you could for your cat and for that you should be proud.

best wishes Kate

I have a page about Toxoplasmosis which you may find of further interest here

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/toxoplasmosis.html

Comments for Cat with Toxoplasmosis died

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Baby son died of toxoplasmosis
by: Anonymous

I had a premature labor at 26 1/2 weeks that caused a premature birth of my son. He had a hole in his spine and encephalitis. He died the next day. An autopsy found he had toxoplasmosis that I had contracted somehow during my pregnancy. We had a cat but she did not have a litter box due to the fact she was an outside cat. It was still determined it would have been our cat that I contracted the disease from. If I had any advice to give is to ALWAYS wash your hands with soap and water before eating anything when you’re pregnant.
Max died Thursday from Toxoplasmosis
by: Donna

You have my sympathy and best wishes. My 3.5 year old cat Max died from this terrible disease as well. He had taken to sleeping in our garage and, because we have three cats, we didn't notice a day or so of skipped meals. When I finally decided to check on him he was 7 lbs down from his 11. His eyes were infected and his nose and eyes would water constantly. We immediately took him to the vet and had blood work done which found nothing wrong. We started him on antibiotics and started giving him lactated ringers solution at night to be sure he wasn't dehydrated. He still would not eat, two days later I took him back and said I have to have a way of feeding him, he won't eat. The vet agreed to have him tested for additional possibilities and added a second antibiotic. We began feeding him via syringe. It was a very stressful process for Max and us as well. He just wanted to lie there. His eyes did not improve even with the drops the vet prescribed. One of his pupils changed shape and both were painful to him. We tried so hard to save him. When the results came back for Toxoplasmosis we changed his antibiotic to Clindamycin. To no avail. He died almost two weeks to the day that we took him in. I think the fact that we didn't start him on the Clindamycin immediately cost him his life. I wish our vet had been more proactive, she said she thought it was toxo early on but didn't prescribe the proper antibiotic. I am in mourning for my baby. He died a very painful death he was all skin and bones.
Cat with Toxoplasmosis died
by: Mary in NC

Bless your heart. This is a very hard thing to go through with a cat.
I had a cat several years ago who developed an illness where the vet gave him the same medication and assured me the cat would not have any ill effects from it.
however later in the evening after giving him the medicine, he had similar side effects as your cat and started having convulsions.
Luckily, the vet was only 3 miles away and we was able to save my cat but it was touch and go for a few days.
Please do not blame yourself as cats are like humans and we never know if they will have a negative reaction to a med. unfortunately until sometimes it is too late.
You are to be commended for taking your cat to vets for treatment and you cannot help it that your cat had a fatal reaction.
Sometimes this is unavoidable and we humans beat ourselves up emotionally about it later but in all honesty, we cannot help that we dont always know how our pets will respond to medications.

Find comfort in the fact that you gave the cat a good home and did what you and your vet felt was best and try to move past it and not blame yourself.

although NO CAT can replace one that you loved and lost, sometimes it is good to adopt another cat in need of a loving home and let that cat help you through the grieving time.
god bless you in doing all you could for your cat in his time of need.
So many folks do not even take their cats to the vet and they suffer needlessly.

Bless you

Mary in NC

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