Well, shit.
This week started off well enough. Decent weekend followed by a couple of very productive days at work. Then yesterday I got a call from my sister, saying that Mom had taken another fall. She got a pretty big gash on the back of her head and was being stitched up at the hospital. She hit the back of her head, but they did a CAT scan and found she had bleeding on the front of her brain. They checked again this morning and it seemed to be getting better, so they probably won't have to operate. She'll probably make a pretty good recovery, eventually. The road getting to that recovery is going to be a tough one, though. The damage is on the front of her brain, which is the area that controls reasoning, among other things. The part that tells you *not* to bite people when they are trying to keep you in a hospital bed so you don't go home and hurt yourself worse. So yeah, she bit someone. She had to be restrained and sedated, and is now "resting comfortably". My sister is there trying to keep her calm, but it's being really rough for her. My mom isn't the most stable even at the best of times, and has had a really short and fiery temper since her last fall, and I guess this one just made it worse.
I would totally be up there right now, BUT - Gremlin's been acting a little odd (even for him) for the last few days. Noticed yesterday that he seemed to be a lot weaker than usual. Then, I noticed that he wasn't really eating or drinking much anymore. I saw this morning that his skin has a yellowish hue to it. Took him in to the vet at 10:30, and they took an x-ray to figure out why he stopped eating. He's lost 3 pounds since the last time he was there, and for a cat that was only 13 pounds to begin with, that's huge. The x-ray showed spots in his lungs, and some kind of problem with his liver. He's had cancer in his nose for about a year now, maybe longer. The medicine I've been giving him was never supposed to cure him, only make him feel better and last a bit longer. It appears his time has now run out. We think that a side effect of the cancer in his lungs made him stop eating, and when a cat stops eating, their liver fails and starts to metabolize muscle and fat. So that's that. He'd die naturally in a week or so, if that. But it would be very painful and awful. So I'm going to have to have him put to sleep sometime within the next few days.
This little guy has seriously been like a child to me. We've grown really close ever since I brought him down from Mom's place in TN to live with me. I really can't imagine what it will be like to come home and not find him waiting and happy to see me. To not have him curl up and take a nap on me whether I like it or not. To not be able to spend time together and have him comfort me when I'm down. I just can't imagine it.
I've got to figure out in the next few days when to have him put down. I want to have it done at home, so he can be in a comfortable familiar place. So he can be *home*. If anyone feels like coming by to visit him one last time, please feel free. He always seems to charm everyone he meets, so I know he means a lot to different folks. I've taken the rest of the day off, and will be taking tomorrow off, too. I'll probably have it done Saturday or Sunday. Come by and give him some head-scritchins, if you want. I'll be here.
I would totally be up there right now, BUT - Gremlin's been acting a little odd (even for him) for the last few days. Noticed yesterday that he seemed to be a lot weaker than usual. Then, I noticed that he wasn't really eating or drinking much anymore. I saw this morning that his skin has a yellowish hue to it. Took him in to the vet at 10:30, and they took an x-ray to figure out why he stopped eating. He's lost 3 pounds since the last time he was there, and for a cat that was only 13 pounds to begin with, that's huge. The x-ray showed spots in his lungs, and some kind of problem with his liver. He's had cancer in his nose for about a year now, maybe longer. The medicine I've been giving him was never supposed to cure him, only make him feel better and last a bit longer. It appears his time has now run out. We think that a side effect of the cancer in his lungs made him stop eating, and when a cat stops eating, their liver fails and starts to metabolize muscle and fat. So that's that. He'd die naturally in a week or so, if that. But it would be very painful and awful. So I'm going to have to have him put to sleep sometime within the next few days.
This little guy has seriously been like a child to me. We've grown really close ever since I brought him down from Mom's place in TN to live with me. I really can't imagine what it will be like to come home and not find him waiting and happy to see me. To not have him curl up and take a nap on me whether I like it or not. To not be able to spend time together and have him comfort me when I'm down. I just can't imagine it.
I've got to figure out in the next few days when to have him put down. I want to have it done at home, so he can be in a comfortable familiar place. So he can be *home*. If anyone feels like coming by to visit him one last time, please feel free. He always seems to charm everyone he meets, so I know he means a lot to different folks. I've taken the rest of the day off, and will be taking tomorrow off, too. I'll probably have it done Saturday or Sunday. Come by and give him some head-scritchins, if you want. I'll be here.