Sad day
We had to put our old cat, Parker, to sleep today. He had been spending most of the last few weeks since we moved here sleeping in quiet, rarely-inhabited rooms like the guest room and upstairs formal living room, so I know he was going downhill. Then last week Tuesday I took him in to the new vet for his scheduled annual vaccinations. The vet gave them in his hind legs, which was new to me - they'd always been given in the scruff of the neck before. The vet said that it was a new recommendation because sometimes the vaccination site can turn into a tumor, and if the tumor is just in a leg, the leg can be amputated. But if the tumor grows on the neck, there's nothing you can do. So anyway, something about the shots didn't agree with Parker. He fought tooth and nail, as though they really hurt, which he'd never done with the scruff of the neck shots. Then, he spent the past week hiding under our bed, refusing to come out, not eating, drinking or using the litter box. When I would drag him out, he could barely walk, like his back legs were hurting him. I think the shots nicked his bone or muscle or something. Anyway, I was able to get some food and water into him by hand feeding him, but he couldn't / wouldn't do so on his own, which doesn't make for a very good quality of life.
So Paul took him back to the vet today. In the exam she wasn't able to find anything apparent that could be causing his rapid decline. She said the only long shot was to give him a steroid shot to possibly stimulate his appetite, but Paul thought that would just be prolonging the inevitable and opted to have him put to sleep.
We are both very sad today. He was a good cat, and he loved Jimmy immensely even though Jimmy really didn't interact with him / notice him. He would sleep above Jimmy's head on the pillow and would cry out whenever he heard Jimmy crying. We have photos of him sleeping in Jimmy's infant car carrier and stroller, too. He was 14 years old, so he had a good long life (we got him the winter before Jimmy was born at age 6).
So Paul took him back to the vet today. In the exam she wasn't able to find anything apparent that could be causing his rapid decline. She said the only long shot was to give him a steroid shot to possibly stimulate his appetite, but Paul thought that would just be prolonging the inevitable and opted to have him put to sleep.
We are both very sad today. He was a good cat, and he loved Jimmy immensely even though Jimmy really didn't interact with him / notice him. He would sleep above Jimmy's head on the pillow and would cry out whenever he heard Jimmy crying. We have photos of him sleeping in Jimmy's infant car carrier and stroller, too. He was 14 years old, so he had a good long life (we got him the winter before Jimmy was born at age 6).