Lost My Kitty

[AnnC]

My cat was behaving strangely over the weekend. He would crouch alone in the hallway for hours on end. I scratched his head, but he would move away. He seemed miserable. I decided if he wasn't better on Monday, we'd go to the vet.

Monday I took the afternoon off. When I came home, he was crouched by the litter box. He then climbed into it, but didn't do anything, and cried. Then he went to the kitchen, walking very stiffly and slowly, and stood by the water dish and cried.

So I bundled him into his carrier and took him to the vet. To make a long story short, he had severe kidney damage. At first the vet talked about aggressive treatment, fluid IV, other treatments, even though one kidney was swollen and painful to the touch. But then she got the results of another test, and the levels of toxins that build up when the kidneys fail were very high, and she said he wasn't treatable -- a conclusion I had already come to, but it did help, because I was beginning to feel terrible that I wasn't able to spend thousands of dollars to save him. If he was unsavable, at least that made it clearer.

Still, he was only 8. I cried all night last night. What made it harder is that just last Thanksgiving was when my father, who was at the end of his chemo and radiation treatments for cancer and might have gone into remission, instead began to go sharply downhill. He died Dec. 7th last year, and the anniversary looming already has me depressed, so having to have my cat put to sleep makes it that much worse. I hate the holidays now. I can't imagine ever liking them again.

I'm glad my mom is having Thanksgiving at my sister's out of state, so that her day is totally different from last year, and I was looking forward to a nice long weekend all to myself, with maybe a dinner out with my brother. But now I think I'll just be sitting and crying the whole time, missing my kitty. I know I did the right thing in ending his suffering -- death from kidney failure is a horrible death, and the vet said at his stage, if he were human, the only answer would be a kidney transplant. But I miss him, he was so sweet.

Ann

[waabzy]

Oh Ann I am so very sorry!

Having just lost my beloved dog Nvwati in Sept. I understand your pain.

Its so sad that medical treatment for our fur babies is so expensive and I totally understand.

Your sweet baby waited for you to come home and I believe tried to show you he wanted to be able to use his kitty litter, he wanted to eat and drink but just couldn't anymore.

Know we share in your sorrow. Allow us to carry some of your grief for you, it makes it a little easier I found.

Take care hon.