Just a little sad today. This winter I got a lovely little kitten to be buddies with my adult cat. They were great pals within just a few days. She was curious and playful and had no fear of anything. Recently she started getting lethargic. Not so sociable as she used to be. But it was gradual. It wasn't until I really looked at her personality a month ago vs a week ago that I really noticed. The past week, she took to peeing on the rug - just 20 feet from a freshly cleaned litter box (one of 3 in the house to keep her happy!). Last night I tried to perk her up with some canned food. Up until the past couple of weeks, she's a total little piggy/scavenger! But even though she was interested, she didn't touch it. She was even out and about a bit last night investigating my son's dinner and jumping up on his little table. This morning, I found more little puddles on the rug, she was super lethargic and she squeaked in pain when I picked her up. I immediately called into work and stalked the clock until my vet opened.
They got me an emergency-squeeze-me-in appointment. Turns out the poor little thing has lost weight in the past couple of months. She was in at 5 months and weight 3 lbs (yes, very tiny), and today, at almost 7 months, she was just 2.25 lbs. All bones and fluff. Her kidneys were very swollen and she was just not doing well at all. I spoke with the vet about everything. She was the sole survivor of her litter and had growth issues all along. I knew there was a chance of health problems because of that but 2 months ago she was crazy healthy--just little. The vet said that there were likely congenital issues...definitely kidneys, possibly other issues as well. She recommended compassionate euthenasia since we could throw every treatment money could buy at her and still probably only have 1% chance of her pulling through. I agreed with her. I had a hunch when we went in that it might be kidneys because of the peeing issues that just started. And I knew she wasn't growing much, but I hadn't realized she was losing weight. I do think she was happy with us though. It's going to be sad to explain to my three year old. He adored her. He'll be fine, but sad.
Ooh...the breeder just emailed. She was super close with Poppy so I wanted to let her know (and since she is breeding, I think it's important to share the health information). She's really sad too. Back to distracting myself to stop crying.
I'm glad, but a little surprised at how sad I am. I've never cried at the loss of a pet before. But except when I was really little, the last pets I lost were almost 20 yrs old. It was time. And I wasn't there making the decision. I just knew they were ill and my parents let me know. I'm a big advocate of compassionate euthenasia. I knew this was part of bringing pets into my family. And I have other things to say, but they're making me cry.
Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble a bit.
They got me an emergency-squeeze-me-in appointment. Turns out the poor little thing has lost weight in the past couple of months. She was in at 5 months and weight 3 lbs (yes, very tiny), and today, at almost 7 months, she was just 2.25 lbs. All bones and fluff. Her kidneys were very swollen and she was just not doing well at all. I spoke with the vet about everything. She was the sole survivor of her litter and had growth issues all along. I knew there was a chance of health problems because of that but 2 months ago she was crazy healthy--just little. The vet said that there were likely congenital issues...definitely kidneys, possibly other issues as well. She recommended compassionate euthenasia since we could throw every treatment money could buy at her and still probably only have 1% chance of her pulling through. I agreed with her. I had a hunch when we went in that it might be kidneys because of the peeing issues that just started. And I knew she wasn't growing much, but I hadn't realized she was losing weight. I do think she was happy with us though. It's going to be sad to explain to my three year old. He adored her. He'll be fine, but sad.
Ooh...the breeder just emailed. She was super close with Poppy so I wanted to let her know (and since she is breeding, I think it's important to share the health information). She's really sad too. Back to distracting myself to stop crying.
I'm glad, but a little surprised at how sad I am. I've never cried at the loss of a pet before. But except when I was really little, the last pets I lost were almost 20 yrs old. It was time. And I wasn't there making the decision. I just knew they were ill and my parents let me know. I'm a big advocate of compassionate euthenasia. I knew this was part of bringing pets into my family. And I have other things to say, but they're making me cry.
Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble a bit.
We had to put down my 14 yr old cat who I had expected to have at least a few more years and it was... really really hard. I had a similar experience with losing a 20 yr cat that was my parents and I cried a little but knew she had a good long life. I guess I just expected a longer life from the more recent kitty.
