Celebrating Misty's Greater Feast Today
Today was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult days of my life.
Misty (aka Mama) had finally reached the end of her days. We had known for a while that she wasn't doing well, so it wasn't a total surprise for us, but that didn't make the decision any easier, not by a long shot. In fact, I think knowing ahead of time what we were going to have to do made it much worse than if we had just found her one morning having died in her sleep.
Misty was, as close as we can tell, about 25 years old. She was blind, had high blood pressure, her kidney's were failing. Just recently, in the last couple of weeks, she started not being able to make it to the litter box, stopped grooming herself and was losing hair to the point of getting large bald spots on her body. So, regretfully, we made the appointment and drove the 30 miles back to our old vet in West Hollywood this afternoon.
Our normal vet, Dr. Todd, wasn't in the hospital today but one of their newer associates Dr. Arnold saw us almost immediately. After examining her, he told us that she was indeed a very sick kitty, with very little muscle mass left and that while she didn't appear to be in pain at this point, she didn't really have much left in the way of quality of life. We agreed that while it wasn't what we wanted, it was what we thought was best for her.
After a brief time in the back of the clinic to put an IV catheter in her arm, she came back into the exam room. Chris & I said our good byes to her, our little baby that we had been graced with 8 1/2 years ago totally out of the blue. Then, with her in her favorite position - lying back in my arms getting a belly rub, the Dr gave her the shots so that she gently went to sleep, knowing the whole time that she was truly loved, held in the arms of her daddy. Once she was asleep, he gave her the final shot that stopped her heart.
While we are heartbroken, I have to give major kudos to Dr.Arnold. He was very understanding and compassionate, and patiently explained every step of the process both before hand and during the procedure. He also said it was a testament to us "two dads" that she had even made it to the age of 25 which is virtually unheard of for a cat.
We made it home afterwards and the two little ones are obviously confused - Delenn keeps going around the house poking in all the corners and stuff, obviously looking for Misty who she's known her entire life. Even little Cole, who's only been with us for 4 months show signs of missing her, and both are sticking to us like glue most of the time.
Misty will always be in our hearts and our memories, but I can't help think of what we won't have any more: sleeping by my feet at night, curled up on my lap while watching tv, laying back in my arms getting her belly rubbed, with the motor going in high speed & the happy feet making imaginary biscuits in the air as she drooled out the side of her mouth getting me all wet. Even watching her curl up into her famous "baby seal" pose while sleeping on the floor. I am happy, however, that she is not going to be in pain and she lived a good long life.
Misty Vastine-Parker
1981 - 2006
She Will Be Missed!
