A more proper memorial
Thanks to everyone who commented in regards to Abbie, both here and on facebook. It means so much.
Here's what we know happened. On Friday, Andy, Camryn, and I headed to Birmingham. Sunday morning my mother-in-law called to say that Saturday night, Abbie came inside (she's been an indoors/outdoors cat since we came to live w/MIL) and was sneezing a lot and hissing at Zoey, both very uncharacteristic of her. She said that on Sunday morning, Abbie didn't come outside like she usually does when MIL went to smoke, and Zoey would not come off mine & Andy's bed. Apparently Abbie was under the bed but MIL couldn't move the bed to get to her. MIL was freaking out because she thought Abbie was head. I told MIL to calm down and if Abbie was dead there was nothing we could do about it. I was surprisingly calm then.
Anyway, we came home Sunday night, and sure enough, Abbie was under the bed, just lying there in what I call the bunny rabbit position. She seemed like she just may have had an upset tummy, and I figured I'd take her to a vet Monday when they opened. (Side note: I haven't taken Abbie or Zoey to a vet since we moved to Atlanta, mostly because they were both indoor cats for so long. I was going to feel awful if Abbie got a disease that could have been prevented by a vaccine. Rest assured that Zoey will be taking a trip to the vet in the next couple of weeks.)
On the advice of my friend Lindsay, who was a vet tech before becoming G3's mom, I separated Abbie from Zoey so I could monitor if she was eating or drinking. At around 4am Monday morning, I woke up to pee and went to check on Abbie. She was now lying on her side inside of lying upright, and I figured that there must be an emergency vet in the area (I knew there was one near Stone Mountain, and I'm not sure why this fact didn't dawn on me before then) so I figured, if nothing else, she was dehydrated because I could tell she hadn't had sipped any water.
We made it to the E-vet at 6:30am, and while they closed at 8, they told me that Abbie looked in pretty poor condition and that she probably didn't need to wait another hour. After being examined, the vet told me that her neurological functions were abnormal but everything else seemed fine, and I would maybe want to go to a regular vet ASAP to get bloodwork done. He mentioned a tumor, and that she'd gone blind.
Once at the regular vet, Abs had bloodwork done, and while she was getting examined, I ran to get some breakfast. When I got back, the vet came to talk to me and started telling me that the e-vet was right, only that now Abbie's breathing had become a little more ragged. Then the assistant came and said she needed her, and at that point I knew in my heart that Abbie was getting worse. The vet came in and verified my suspicion, but told me that she wasn't in pain.
I guess at this point I should say that I signed a DNR for her-texts from Lindsay made me believe that Abbie probably wasn't going to come back from this, and I didn't want to throw away money that wasn't going to bring Abbie back to us. I'm so glad that we did have an emergency fund in place-I spoke with the office manager about doing a payment plan on her treatment if it was something that was treatable, but, like I said, that wasn't the case.
As far as what happened, well, we're not sure. All her bloodwork came back fine, which ruled out toxins or a contagious disease, so it's likely that she had some sort of head trauma or possibly even a tumor.
All in all, I have to say....Abbie had a great life. She was completely spoiled and I must say, quite a bit like her mama-very needy of affection but also liked to be just left alone sometimes!! I'm glad we got the time with her that we did.
Here's what we know happened. On Friday, Andy, Camryn, and I headed to Birmingham. Sunday morning my mother-in-law called to say that Saturday night, Abbie came inside (she's been an indoors/outdoors cat since we came to live w/MIL) and was sneezing a lot and hissing at Zoey, both very uncharacteristic of her. She said that on Sunday morning, Abbie didn't come outside like she usually does when MIL went to smoke, and Zoey would not come off mine & Andy's bed. Apparently Abbie was under the bed but MIL couldn't move the bed to get to her. MIL was freaking out because she thought Abbie was head. I told MIL to calm down and if Abbie was dead there was nothing we could do about it. I was surprisingly calm then.
Anyway, we came home Sunday night, and sure enough, Abbie was under the bed, just lying there in what I call the bunny rabbit position. She seemed like she just may have had an upset tummy, and I figured I'd take her to a vet Monday when they opened. (Side note: I haven't taken Abbie or Zoey to a vet since we moved to Atlanta, mostly because they were both indoor cats for so long. I was going to feel awful if Abbie got a disease that could have been prevented by a vaccine. Rest assured that Zoey will be taking a trip to the vet in the next couple of weeks.)
On the advice of my friend Lindsay, who was a vet tech before becoming G3's mom, I separated Abbie from Zoey so I could monitor if she was eating or drinking. At around 4am Monday morning, I woke up to pee and went to check on Abbie. She was now lying on her side inside of lying upright, and I figured that there must be an emergency vet in the area (I knew there was one near Stone Mountain, and I'm not sure why this fact didn't dawn on me before then) so I figured, if nothing else, she was dehydrated because I could tell she hadn't had sipped any water.
We made it to the E-vet at 6:30am, and while they closed at 8, they told me that Abbie looked in pretty poor condition and that she probably didn't need to wait another hour. After being examined, the vet told me that her neurological functions were abnormal but everything else seemed fine, and I would maybe want to go to a regular vet ASAP to get bloodwork done. He mentioned a tumor, and that she'd gone blind.
Once at the regular vet, Abs had bloodwork done, and while she was getting examined, I ran to get some breakfast. When I got back, the vet came to talk to me and started telling me that the e-vet was right, only that now Abbie's breathing had become a little more ragged. Then the assistant came and said she needed her, and at that point I knew in my heart that Abbie was getting worse. The vet came in and verified my suspicion, but told me that she wasn't in pain.
I guess at this point I should say that I signed a DNR for her-texts from Lindsay made me believe that Abbie probably wasn't going to come back from this, and I didn't want to throw away money that wasn't going to bring Abbie back to us. I'm so glad that we did have an emergency fund in place-I spoke with the office manager about doing a payment plan on her treatment if it was something that was treatable, but, like I said, that wasn't the case.
As far as what happened, well, we're not sure. All her bloodwork came back fine, which ruled out toxins or a contagious disease, so it's likely that she had some sort of head trauma or possibly even a tumor.
All in all, I have to say....Abbie had a great life. She was completely spoiled and I must say, quite a bit like her mama-very needy of affection but also liked to be just left alone sometimes!! I'm glad we got the time with her that we did.