Petechiae in Cats

Hi Vets, please can you help I'm looking for some insight desperately. My 16 year old cat last night suddenly had petechiae or bloodshot appearance in his eyes. Other symptoms are weightloss, diarrhoea, always hungry, slight dehydration and fast heart rate. Along with the eye discolouration last night he was also twitching a lot, I think focal seizures. Do you have any insight as to what could cause these symptoms please? Blood pressure normal. The vet advised that to get to the bottom of things that a lot of investigative work would be required such as blood work and scans, the cost of which was spiralling upwards and she thought his condition would be a life long one and prognosis not particularly good long term. I thought about his quality of life and age along with his symptoms and as he hadn't been going out very much, his grooming wasn't as thorough although I was helping him with this and he intermittently messed in the house and we made the decision that he wasn't himself, probably wasn't very happy, wasn't feeling too good and wouldnt benefit in the long run with all the stress and poking and prodding and decided to euthanise him. I suppose I'm looking for reassurance and guidance that I didn't jump the gun and made a reasonable decision. I feel guilty for not investigating further although I'm sure he would have hated it and it would have been extremely expensive. Please let me know your thoughts on all this.

Hello - and first of all, what an awful time for you.  Im sorry that you lost an adored family member so quickly and were faced with that tough decision.   I will answer your question but first, there is a group designated to help people with greif after losing a cat, including queries you just put to me, and that is called The Ralph site (after the founder's own pet).  Anyone struggling with greif after losing a pet should put those words into a search engine.

Petechiae refers to bleeding in the skin, like miniature bruises.   A common reason for them is actually the failure of blood to clot.  When the blood isn't clotting correctly, blood eeks out of the vessels giving the sort of pattern you are describing.

Failure of blood to clot can also cause seizures (the slightest knock can cause a bleed into the brain - and if the clotting system has failed, it doesn't stop it).  Brains are in a closed box (the skull), so if blood is added and nothing can get out, the pressure on the normal brain tissue increases - which is when brain symptoms (seizures) are sometimes seen with clotting problems.

So what causes clotting problems?  Liver disease / cancer is a common cause.  So this is one possible explanation for what may have happened.  There may be several others.   However, when a sixteen year old cat develops these symptoms out of the blue, it is not likely to be an easy fix.   Sometimes, finding the cause can extend life, but this comes at a cost - both financial and in terms of investigations etc which can be stressful for the patient.  It sounds as though your choice to euthanase may not have been the only possible way to handle the situation, but it sounds to have been a kind, humane and loving one.  One that I might have chosen to make myself.

Thank you for your explanation it's really helpful and also your kind words of reassurance. The vet did mention the possibility of a brain tumour coupled with possibly thyroid problems hence the weightloss. He has been my friend for nearly 17 years, constant and loyal and the very last thing I wanted was for him to suffer and I hope I made the right decision based on HIS interests despite my wishing he could have lived on.