R.I.P. Slider...
So today, well...
As you may know one of my cats had been sick for awhile. I first noticed back in December that he was losing alot of weight. I figured he must be sick or something and mentioned that we take him to the vet, This was around christmas. It started to get worse in Januaray and we finally got him into the vet on Feb Second. Vet told us he had lost about 40% of his body weight. He was also dehydrated. Told us on friday that it could either be a overactive Thyroid gland, which considering the symptoms would fit, especially with older cats, or it could be Kidney Disease or something else... I don't quite remember. He came home with us Friday night. Saturday afternoon we got a call.. bloodwork had come back. It was Kidney Disease. The only real treatment was to put him on an IV to restore electrolytes and see if it would clear up the toxicity in his system. So he spent saturday and sunday at the vets. Today... Today at around 6 the vet called us. The IV didn't work. To of the machines couldn't even register anything because it was so high, it was off the charts. The third showed a 15% improvement in one Kidney. Now, he'd been on the IV for 48 hours and it should of looked much, much better.
Then we were given our options. We could keep him on the treatment to see if it showed any further improvement but the Vet has said that the outlook wasn't good. There wasn't much chance of an improvement happening and even if it did, there was an extremly high chance of him getting home and then just crashing again after being taken off the treatment. Due to the kidney Disease the red blood cell count was severly down as well and he was anemic. Even if we had insurance (yes, there is helath insurance you can get for pets) or if money was no object... Chances were high that he'd never actually be able to come home. So... The other option.. the one I chose was euthanasia.
That was by far the hardest decision I've ever had to make and being there, seeing him one last time... It's just impossible to describe. It wasn't hard because I knew it was the last time I was going to see him, that he was about to die. It was hard because.. well. He was skinny, he was really skinny. But he acted just fine. He acted like the perfectly healthy slider that I've know for 11 years. He was purring, and rubbing his head against me and acting like he was perfectly fine. I wish.. Why couldn't he of been acting like a sick, dying cat.
He looked fine! He had that same glow in his eyes, that same look of happiness that he's always had. This entire time he's been sick these past two months, He acted fine! That's why we didn't hurry up and take him in. He was still playful, happy, bouncing around, chasing his brother... He never cried out in pain, or acted sick or anything. Yes, he was sick, he was really sick. But from what the vet said. He never suffered at all. He was never in any pain the entire time he was sick. In fact, he probably never even knew he was sick. So there we are, he's happy as can ever be. Probably waiting to go home and curl up to sleep with me, like he's done almost every night for the past 5 years. And, well. He did get to go to sleep, with me holding him...
I can't even close my eyes right now... All I see is the image of him lying there, looking likes he's asleep but totally unatural. I don't know what I'm going to do. I hate to say it but, I'd of given anything, anything for him to still be around. I'd rather my other cat, Ice, to of died. I'd still be broken up, I love them both but... Ice didn't follow me around the house all the time, he didn't come curl up with me, or to see me all the time. Ice wasn't my shadow.
So long, my furry little friend. You were the best cat anyone could of ever had. I'll never forget you.
As you may know one of my cats had been sick for awhile. I first noticed back in December that he was losing alot of weight. I figured he must be sick or something and mentioned that we take him to the vet, This was around christmas. It started to get worse in Januaray and we finally got him into the vet on Feb Second. Vet told us he had lost about 40% of his body weight. He was also dehydrated. Told us on friday that it could either be a overactive Thyroid gland, which considering the symptoms would fit, especially with older cats, or it could be Kidney Disease or something else... I don't quite remember. He came home with us Friday night. Saturday afternoon we got a call.. bloodwork had come back. It was Kidney Disease. The only real treatment was to put him on an IV to restore electrolytes and see if it would clear up the toxicity in his system. So he spent saturday and sunday at the vets. Today... Today at around 6 the vet called us. The IV didn't work. To of the machines couldn't even register anything because it was so high, it was off the charts. The third showed a 15% improvement in one Kidney. Now, he'd been on the IV for 48 hours and it should of looked much, much better.
Then we were given our options. We could keep him on the treatment to see if it showed any further improvement but the Vet has said that the outlook wasn't good. There wasn't much chance of an improvement happening and even if it did, there was an extremly high chance of him getting home and then just crashing again after being taken off the treatment. Due to the kidney Disease the red blood cell count was severly down as well and he was anemic. Even if we had insurance (yes, there is helath insurance you can get for pets) or if money was no object... Chances were high that he'd never actually be able to come home. So... The other option.. the one I chose was euthanasia.
That was by far the hardest decision I've ever had to make and being there, seeing him one last time... It's just impossible to describe. It wasn't hard because I knew it was the last time I was going to see him, that he was about to die. It was hard because.. well. He was skinny, he was really skinny. But he acted just fine. He acted like the perfectly healthy slider that I've know for 11 years. He was purring, and rubbing his head against me and acting like he was perfectly fine. I wish.. Why couldn't he of been acting like a sick, dying cat.
He looked fine! He had that same glow in his eyes, that same look of happiness that he's always had. This entire time he's been sick these past two months, He acted fine! That's why we didn't hurry up and take him in. He was still playful, happy, bouncing around, chasing his brother... He never cried out in pain, or acted sick or anything. Yes, he was sick, he was really sick. But from what the vet said. He never suffered at all. He was never in any pain the entire time he was sick. In fact, he probably never even knew he was sick. So there we are, he's happy as can ever be. Probably waiting to go home and curl up to sleep with me, like he's done almost every night for the past 5 years. And, well. He did get to go to sleep, with me holding him...
I can't even close my eyes right now... All I see is the image of him lying there, looking likes he's asleep but totally unatural. I don't know what I'm going to do. I hate to say it but, I'd of given anything, anything for him to still be around. I'd rather my other cat, Ice, to of died. I'd still be broken up, I love them both but... Ice didn't follow me around the house all the time, he didn't come curl up with me, or to see me all the time. Ice wasn't my shadow.
So long, my furry little friend. You were the best cat anyone could of ever had. I'll never forget you.