(no subject)
This is a slightly crazy cat lady post but... fuck it. I don't care.
On Saturday we had to take our wonderful cat Spinky to the vet to be put down. On Tuesday he seemed to have hurt his front right paw and by Thursday he was completely unable to move that leg at all. The vet did tests on Thursday and concluded that he probably had a brain tumor and that he definitely had cat AIDS. He could have had that since birth for all we know - he was a stray that we took in and we always suspected that he was born feral. There was no other option: we had to have him put to sleep.
We made the appointment for Saturday because I wanted to be there and couldn't get the time off work - I don't know how I got through work on Friday, I was so tired and emotional. I think it was worse somehow because we knew exactly what was coming and when - we were just waiting to take him somewhere where they would kill him. I know that's a slightly dramatic and over the top way of putting it, but that was what I kept thinking.
I spent Friday night sleeping in the dining room where we'd confined Spinky because I was worried that he'd get worse all night and I didn't want him to be alone. He went downhill so fast. By Friday night he could barely walk at all and we could tell that he was confused and in a lot of pain. He desperately wanted to go outside and we eventually let him so he could go to the toilet. It sounds stupid, but I'm so impressed at how.. gutsy he was. He never stopped fighting.
I know it was the right thing to do - we literally watched him deteriorate in front of our eyes. Ten minutes before we went to the vets he started shaking, like he was going to have a seizure. The vet said something that I found really comforting; that by doing this now, we were giving him a final gift of a peaceful death. If we'd waited any longer, he would have been in even more pain and more distressed when the time came...
Me and my mum have cried so much this weekend. We keep catching ourselves looking for him, or expecting to hear him meow. He was a really noisy cat... but so loving. He used to sit at my mum's feet and just stare at her with this soppy, loving look on his face. He NEVER bit or scratched anyone - not even vets! When I was upset or sad, I used to go find him and just bury my face in his fur and listen to him purr... Within five minutes I'd be smiling again. At least I know that we gave him as much love as he gave us... I know that if we hadn't taken him in (he turned up in our garden about ten years ago looking skinny and pathetic so my mum started to feed him. Then he got into a couple a bad fights and Mum couldn't stand seeing him get hurt all the time so she got him neutered and he turned overnight from a wild cat into the soppy, slightly camp cat we fell in love with. He moved into our conservatory and then when our other cat died, he moved into the house) he would have died. He kept getting in fights and was really really bad at hunting, especially since he had a lame back leg.
I know I'll get over this... but I'll always miss him. The house is too quiet without him.
RIP Spink
On Saturday we had to take our wonderful cat Spinky to the vet to be put down. On Tuesday he seemed to have hurt his front right paw and by Thursday he was completely unable to move that leg at all. The vet did tests on Thursday and concluded that he probably had a brain tumor and that he definitely had cat AIDS. He could have had that since birth for all we know - he was a stray that we took in and we always suspected that he was born feral. There was no other option: we had to have him put to sleep.
We made the appointment for Saturday because I wanted to be there and couldn't get the time off work - I don't know how I got through work on Friday, I was so tired and emotional. I think it was worse somehow because we knew exactly what was coming and when - we were just waiting to take him somewhere where they would kill him. I know that's a slightly dramatic and over the top way of putting it, but that was what I kept thinking.
I spent Friday night sleeping in the dining room where we'd confined Spinky because I was worried that he'd get worse all night and I didn't want him to be alone. He went downhill so fast. By Friday night he could barely walk at all and we could tell that he was confused and in a lot of pain. He desperately wanted to go outside and we eventually let him so he could go to the toilet. It sounds stupid, but I'm so impressed at how.. gutsy he was. He never stopped fighting.
I know it was the right thing to do - we literally watched him deteriorate in front of our eyes. Ten minutes before we went to the vets he started shaking, like he was going to have a seizure. The vet said something that I found really comforting; that by doing this now, we were giving him a final gift of a peaceful death. If we'd waited any longer, he would have been in even more pain and more distressed when the time came...
Me and my mum have cried so much this weekend. We keep catching ourselves looking for him, or expecting to hear him meow. He was a really noisy cat... but so loving. He used to sit at my mum's feet and just stare at her with this soppy, loving look on his face. He NEVER bit or scratched anyone - not even vets! When I was upset or sad, I used to go find him and just bury my face in his fur and listen to him purr... Within five minutes I'd be smiling again. At least I know that we gave him as much love as he gave us... I know that if we hadn't taken him in (he turned up in our garden about ten years ago looking skinny and pathetic so my mum started to feed him. Then he got into a couple a bad fights and Mum couldn't stand seeing him get hurt all the time so she got him neutered and he turned overnight from a wild cat into the soppy, slightly camp cat we fell in love with. He moved into our conservatory and then when our other cat died, he moved into the house) he would have died. He kept getting in fights and was really really bad at hunting, especially since he had a lame back leg.
I know I'll get over this... but I'll always miss him. The house is too quiet without him.
RIP Spink