goodbye Emily
Folks who have been reading this LJ for years will have seen many pictures of Emily, who is the cat I had the longest, and she was my baby. I'm sad to report that she died last Thursday morning.
(Seen above: a very familiar view.)
What I didn't relate back in the summer when I posted about Morgan's passing is that during that same week, Emily was deathly ill with kidney failure. The good news at the time was that while Morgan also suddenly went downhill so quickly that I had to put her to sleep, Emily rallied, even though in the course of various tests we discovered that she had only one functioning kidney (and who knew how long that had been the case); it had gotten a severe infection, but it cleared up with treatment (better than a tumor, though, which was the initial fear). So even as I lost Morgan, I still had Emily, although I had to give her fluids twice a day from then onward.
I guess the upshot was that the kidney infection probably put such a severe strain on the remaining kidney that it didn't last that much longer. Last week she became ill again and went downhill really rapidly, despite our attempting the same treatments as had worked in the summer. I had already decided Wed. night that I was taking her to the vet in the morning, but when I woke up, she was gone. I had at least gotten one last good night with her to say goodbye.
I miss her terribly. She was just the best cat, as everyone who ever met her will agree. I don't really have any regrets. I am grateful for the time I had with her, and every day gave her whatever attention she demanded (which was often a lot), because you never know.
It's very weird in my house right now. I haven't lived without a cat in the house since like 1990. I will not wait long to get new cats. (I had already sort of been looking for a friend for Emily, although I'm glad I didn't get one, so I could focus on her at the end.) But Emily will always be irreplaceable.
(Seen above: a very familiar view.)
What I didn't relate back in the summer when I posted about Morgan's passing is that during that same week, Emily was deathly ill with kidney failure. The good news at the time was that while Morgan also suddenly went downhill so quickly that I had to put her to sleep, Emily rallied, even though in the course of various tests we discovered that she had only one functioning kidney (and who knew how long that had been the case); it had gotten a severe infection, but it cleared up with treatment (better than a tumor, though, which was the initial fear). So even as I lost Morgan, I still had Emily, although I had to give her fluids twice a day from then onward.
I guess the upshot was that the kidney infection probably put such a severe strain on the remaining kidney that it didn't last that much longer. Last week she became ill again and went downhill really rapidly, despite our attempting the same treatments as had worked in the summer. I had already decided Wed. night that I was taking her to the vet in the morning, but when I woke up, she was gone. I had at least gotten one last good night with her to say goodbye.
I miss her terribly. She was just the best cat, as everyone who ever met her will agree. I don't really have any regrets. I am grateful for the time I had with her, and every day gave her whatever attention she demanded (which was often a lot), because you never know.
It's very weird in my house right now. I haven't lived without a cat in the house since like 1990. I will not wait long to get new cats. (I had already sort of been looking for a friend for Emily, although I'm glad I didn't get one, so I could focus on her at the end.) But Emily will always be irreplaceable.