About a year ago, my vet informed me that my cat had megacolon. At the time, the only thought that crossed my mind was that anything with "mega" in front of it couldn't be good. I was about to have an uninvited guest come into my life. I figured my rescue cat Franklin was having a simple bout of constipation. I had no idea I was about to be thrown into a world where my decisions would determine whether Franklin would live or be euthanized. This all came upon me too quickly.

Megacolon is a life threatening progressive disease. In my seven years of volunteering at the North Attleboro Animal Shelter, I was all too familiar with most of the common feline maladies like diabetes, thyroid disease, fiv, fip and kidney failure, but knew nothing about megacolon. It is my intent to inform the cat loving population about this very uncommon disease. Seeing the signs and getting treatment right away can prevent your cat from needless suffering.

The signs of megacolon are continual straining in the litter box and large stools. The colon, instead of being a long slender tube, stretches out to about four times its size. As the disease progresses, the nerve supply becomes null and void and the colon can no longer contract on its own. Ultimately the feces can end up sitting in the colon for 10 days or even more thereby making it next to impossible to come out on its own. The course of treatment is daily laxatives, followed by enemas, manual removal of feces and finally the decision of surgery or euthanazia.

When I heard the news, I decided to go along with the treatment plan which started with administering a laxative daily. That was easy and well tolerated by Franklin and seemed to be doing the trick. OK, so it wasn't so bad - until one day it stopped working. There he was doing his litter box dance again with nothing to show for it. Trouble was sure to come.

Franklin's progression of the disease has just about led us to the point of surgery. He recently spent two days in the hospital getting seven enemas and four bags of IV fluids, all for naught. My vet had to resort to manually removing the feces with forceps, a sight I wish to never see again. In searching the Internet for an alternative to surgery, which costs around $1,700, I found a medication called Cisapride which causes the intestines to contract to help with the elimination process. It is too early to tell if this treatment will work for Franklin.

Some who have gone the surgery route, which is the total removal of the colon, say it was well worth it and others say the ramifications of surgery were worse than dealing with the disease itself. So what does a person do with this megacolon diagnosis when you've exhausted all the nonsurgical treatments offered? I am perplexed in not knowing which direction to go in. I only want Franklin to have a good quality of life. Do I say goodbye to my otherwise healthy 6-year-old cat, or do I go for the surgery which holds such an unpredictable outcome?

I shared my conundrum with one of my cat lover friends, Rose Gates from Angelcat Haven. She told me to look into Franklin's eyes and see if he was telling me he still had fight left in him or if it was time to let him go. She said, "You can see it in their eyes." Such profound wisdom!!! My mind cannot justify saying goodbye to Franklin just because of this medical problem. I would much rather that the vet said he had untreatable cancer.

If I had my choice, I would prefer to remain ignorant on the matters of megacolon. I think the saying "ignorance is bliss" is very fitting here and much to my liking. I guess along with the privilege of having a pet comes the sensitivity to know what is best for them and if that means relieving them of their discomfort and sending them to The Rainbow Bridge, then so be it. Time will tell what Franklin's eyes are saying to me and whether or not another uninvited guest named "grief" will come into my life.

Linda Faber

N. Attleboro Shelter Volunteer

E-mail - Faberfamily@juno.com