R.I.P. KayLee
Last night I had to make one of the hardest decisions I ever have... to put my cat to sleep.
I've had her since I was 15 years old. I got her from my cousins. She was about 19 years old, good for a cat... but it still felt too soon. She had started showing signs of age in the last few years, taking a bit longer to get up on the couch. We had bought kitty stairs to help her on the bed. She meowed more then when she was younger but that was about it.
It came on pretty quickly... she started drolling over the last few months. Then over the last few weeks she stopped bathing herself, so I started. Sunday night I gave her a bath, she seemed fine. Monday morning I noticed she wasn't using the restroom or eating. When I woke up in the evening she wasn't walking. When she would try it was obvious something was seriously wrong with her hip/back. In just an hour or so she would bearly move. So we took her to the vet. On the way she started having tremors.
The vet said she had kidney failure. Its common in cats her age. She was only 5 pounds (9 months ago she was 8). Her temperature was only 92... should have been around 100 or so.
They said we could do IV, blood tests, lots of things like that... but in the end, I knew it wasn't going to stop her pain. She just laid there so sad. So, I made the call. Joe and I cried, they put an IV in and let us spend a few minutes with her. Then Joe left the room, he didn't want to be there in the end. I held her while they put it in her IV. She didn't move, she didn't even meow. She went very peacefully.
I know it was the right thing to do... but that isn't helping on the crying front. I do okay for a while and then it hits me and I start again. Outside of family, she was the longest relationship of my life.
I've had her since I was 15 years old. I got her from my cousins. She was about 19 years old, good for a cat... but it still felt too soon. She had started showing signs of age in the last few years, taking a bit longer to get up on the couch. We had bought kitty stairs to help her on the bed. She meowed more then when she was younger but that was about it.
It came on pretty quickly... she started drolling over the last few months. Then over the last few weeks she stopped bathing herself, so I started. Sunday night I gave her a bath, she seemed fine. Monday morning I noticed she wasn't using the restroom or eating. When I woke up in the evening she wasn't walking. When she would try it was obvious something was seriously wrong with her hip/back. In just an hour or so she would bearly move. So we took her to the vet. On the way she started having tremors.
The vet said she had kidney failure. Its common in cats her age. She was only 5 pounds (9 months ago she was 8). Her temperature was only 92... should have been around 100 or so.
They said we could do IV, blood tests, lots of things like that... but in the end, I knew it wasn't going to stop her pain. She just laid there so sad. So, I made the call. Joe and I cried, they put an IV in and let us spend a few minutes with her. Then Joe left the room, he didn't want to be there in the end. I held her while they put it in her IV. She didn't move, she didn't even meow. She went very peacefully.
I know it was the right thing to do... but that isn't helping on the crying front. I do okay for a while and then it hits me and I start again. Outside of family, she was the longest relationship of my life.