update I guess
For those who don't see my Twitter or Blog (or Ameba for that matter)... Ginger finally passed away tonight.
Her story in a nutshell: about a month ago I noticed she'd lost some weight, but figured it was just a sign of her age as she'd turned 16 in June. But she kept getting thinner and thinner, and eating less and less, which is saying a lot considering she was pretty much born a lardbutt... so 2 weeks ago I broke down and took her to the vet. Turned out she had a big mass in her abdomen, blocking her digestion. He sent us home with a laxative and a couple other meds in hopes that it was just a hairball or food matter that could pass through, but a week later there was no improvement and she still only kept getting weaker and less hungry by the day... so he said there was nothing more he could do. Surgery was an option, but operating on a 16 year old cat is way too risky, especially as weak and malnourished as she was already... so I decided to just support her as much as possible and let her live our her days in the comfort of her home, surrounded by her family.
Well... by the beginning of this week I was practically begging the powers that be to just take her and end her suffering. It was killing me watching her lose the ability to eat, to drink, to walk, to stand, to even raise her head... I did consider having her put to sleep, but every time I went to check up on her right up until the day before she died, she would always try her hardest to look up at me and purr and even roll over a tiny bit to give me her belly or neck to scratch... so I knew she'd rather be with her loved ones and not die in a strange, scary place surrounded by strange people and scary barking dogs.
...So there it is, I guess. For the first time in 21 years, I am a cat lady without a cat.
RIP
06.23.1995 ~ 11.16.2011
Goodnight, my sweet little booger...
Her story in a nutshell: about a month ago I noticed she'd lost some weight, but figured it was just a sign of her age as she'd turned 16 in June. But she kept getting thinner and thinner, and eating less and less, which is saying a lot considering she was pretty much born a lardbutt... so 2 weeks ago I broke down and took her to the vet. Turned out she had a big mass in her abdomen, blocking her digestion. He sent us home with a laxative and a couple other meds in hopes that it was just a hairball or food matter that could pass through, but a week later there was no improvement and she still only kept getting weaker and less hungry by the day... so he said there was nothing more he could do. Surgery was an option, but operating on a 16 year old cat is way too risky, especially as weak and malnourished as she was already... so I decided to just support her as much as possible and let her live our her days in the comfort of her home, surrounded by her family.
Well... by the beginning of this week I was practically begging the powers that be to just take her and end her suffering. It was killing me watching her lose the ability to eat, to drink, to walk, to stand, to even raise her head... I did consider having her put to sleep, but every time I went to check up on her right up until the day before she died, she would always try her hardest to look up at me and purr and even roll over a tiny bit to give me her belly or neck to scratch... so I knew she'd rather be with her loved ones and not die in a strange, scary place surrounded by strange people and scary barking dogs.
...So there it is, I guess. For the first time in 21 years, I am a cat lady without a cat.
RIP
06.23.1995 ~ 11.16.2011
Goodnight, my sweet little booger...