looking for answers (liver cyst rupture)

[Michelle and Doodle]

I don't know if this is the appropriate place to post, but I just feel like I need answers... and I don't know where else to go.
Grief doesn't seem like the right place - but maybe it is... maybe that's all I'm doing here...
I just want to understand what happened and I'm hoping maybe someone has some insight.

Angel died on New Years Eve in a very traumatic way. I don't understand what happened and I'm not really getting clear answers from my vet. Or maybe I am and I just don't understand. ??
She had 2 cysts on her liver - my vet thought it was possibly cancer so she sent us to a specialist in Oct. They did a biopsy and determined that she had cholangiohepatitis (liver inflammation) and that the cysts were benign. She also had what seemed to be an enlarged kidney - so they biopsied that and said there was no cancer there either.
In mid Dec, I took her back in for a follow-up ultrasound because she didn't seem "right" The ultrasound revealed 3 additional cysts and significantly worse kidney disease so my vet put her back on antibiotics with a plan for a follow-up in 2 weeks. (for the chlangiohepatitis)

Late night on the 30th, Angel started vomiting - a lot. I knew she was very sick... but it wasn't until early morning that I knew it was bad - she wasn't able to walk and was breathing very shallow and fast, and almost unresponsive. Our closest ER is about 2 hours from us but my vet did come in early. When we got to the vet, Angel suddenly stiffened out her front legs and one of her back legs (the other she couldn't move - my vet said from saddle thrombus) and started to shake all over . My vet pumped her full of Bupe, took blood and then took her for an ultrasound where we saw that the cysts were no longer there - her spleen had ruptured and that her abdomen was full of blood and fluid.
My vet said that despite the biopsy saying there was no cancer she still believed that was what we were looking at - and that there was no way to save her.

I don't understand why the cysts would rupture - or at least why multiple cysts would rupture. She never fell and certainly wasn't hit. Could it have been the vomiting? Or was the vomiting caused by the ruptures? Would cancer cause this? And why did the biopsies come back clean? I don't even know if there was something I did wrong because I don't understand how this happened.

Has anyone else heard of anything like this?

 

[BobsMom]

Michelle:

I am very sorry for your loss.

My civvie, Lola has had benign cysts on her mammaries since she was very young. They were aspirated and found to be nothing to worry about. Maybe hereditary as her brother has them too. When she was recently hospitalized with Fatty Liver Disease and when the Dr did an ultrasound of her liver, he also looked at the cysts. Still just fluid except for one that has a nodule. Her doctor stated that I need to have it removed, because the nodule can rupture and if it does she will bleed out and there will not be anything that they can do to stop it. Maybe it was the same situation with Angel's cyst.

Nancy

 

[Michelle and Doodle]

Thank you Nancy.
There was never a mention, but I'll ask my vet about nodules. She seemed genuinely shocked at the time, so maybe I should try to make an appointment to talk to her again.
I don't mean to make you, or anyone else, worry. I know plenty of cats have liver cysts that never cause any real problems. And I hope that Lola never has any problems.
Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[Jill and Remi]

((Michelle)) I was so saddened to see your post about Angel. The only thing I can add is that if they do not aspirate or biopsy every cyst then they are just guessing that they are all the same and benign. I am not sure what would make them all rupture at once. They must have just been too full of fluid at the same time. I know how you feel about wanting to know why things happen and I do hope you find some answers. Hugs to you!!

 

[Michelle and Doodle]

Thanks Jill. That makes sense. And it helps to be able to say that.
I don't know if they aspirated both of the two original cysts - maybe they only did one and assumed the other was the same. I was just so happy to hear "no cancer" I never even thought to push further.
And I know no one ever aspirated the last 3. And I saw the ultrasound at the end - I'm not sure she could even really tell what she was looking at.
*sigh...* I know I can't change anything.
Thank you.