Vanity: Hello, Kitty pingslist and beyond

[West Texas Chuck]

My cat is sick, he is really sick, and may not be able to recover. As you might expect, this is a big shock to She Who Must Be Obeyed and I because he has always been in good health and had no sign of health problems.

[West Texas Chuck]

I think my cat may be dying. Or, he may cling for a few weeks/months/years. Only the one who watches for animal's souls can say.

Saturday, everything was normal and happy. Rocket begged for some of my pork chop, chased his sister, and humped the leg of She Who Must Be Obeyed when she crawled into bed. Sunday morning he would not come out of the closet. Not to stick his big dumb head under the faucet in her sink as she brushed her teeth, like always. Not for a snack, not for nothing. He must have a tummy ache, we told each other. No big deal.

Sunday evening he came out of the closet, dragging himself by his front legs. Susan freaked out and called me to come in the house. He was not right, by a long shot. We mounted up and headed for the kitty ER. Doc there said "saddle thrombosis," a blood clot from an unknown location had lodged itself in his aorta where it splits between the hind legs. His paws were cold and his hind legs useless. Out of the blue. The day before he was running up and down the cat tree as I climbed out of the rack and headed into the kitchen for coffee, like always, wanting my attention, and a head scratching.

Saddle Thrombosis. That means the blood clot is killing his back legs, or at least one of them. He'll never be the same. We picked him up from the ER vet this morning and took him to our regular vet. Same diagnosis, same prognosis, he may recover some of the use of his back legs, maybe not. Doc Carter recommended a specialty clinic over in Carrollton, so we took him there. Doc Lisa had the same analysis of his condition, she would take him and medicate him and do what she could. We left him there and came home. Got a call a few hours later, looks like the source of the clot is a mass inside his heart and the damage there is done. It is way worse than we thought.

I can't put that cat through open heart surgery and a pacemaker or whatever. Not for me and my wife to have him around a little longer. If we get the call tomorrow, after the radiology folks have a look, and it is really that bad, it is time for Rocket to go on. I don't want to watch him suffer and be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life, not because I can't let him go.

The day we moved into this house, we were standing in one of the empty bedrooms imagining the office it would make when we heard the mews of a kitty, and both instantly knew what that sound was. We went out on the porch and there, under the old dishwasher the previous resident left behind, was a tiny skinny flea infested orange tabby kitten. Pitiful he was. A poor little baby and his mommy was nowhere in sight. His dice were tossed and his future cast, we took him in and dipped him in Dawn and killed the fleas and watched him bounce off everything in sight in the house. Rocket, that had to be his name.

Now, this blood clot thing is apparently not that rare. Cats don't show the symptoms of heart disease like a dog, or a human. They just die, suddenly, or become paralyzed. No warning, no tests to find this, nothing to do but pick up the pieces.

So here we are. I never took pets, I can't bear to part with something I love, but my wife is the pet lady. The cat lady, big time. Now my heart is broken and I'm going up to that clinic to bring him home tomorrow, and the chips will fall where they may. He may last a while, or he may be that poor little helpless kitten he was when we found him, and have to be taken care of.

If that is my choice, as the man, I will do what needs to be done.

Come home RockHead, I'll see you tomorrow my son:

I will always remember taking this photo of him several years ago, clearly a male cat and without a care in the world.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

You have my sympathies. I hope he has an amazing recovery. If not, know you gave the little guy a great home with a loving family.

[thecodont]

Lovely kitty. Wish I could rub his tummy.

[LostInBayport]

He’s very blessed to have you...and vice versa. Praying for all of you.

[Tijeras_Slim]

What a beautiful cat! I’ve been where you are and it’s never easy. When they get to the point where I can honestly say, “They’ll never have a better day than today” because the decline is obvious it’s time. I still miss my “best cat ever” an old abyssinian I said goodbye too in 2001.

[Tijeras_Slim]

We’re needed here.

[JRandomFreeper]

Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-term loan is as bad as a long--
So why in--Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dogcat to tear?

---Rudyard Kipling---

Man hug.

/johnny

[humblegunner]

Here’s hoping your kitty will be OK.

Seriously.

[Politicalmom]

I’m sorry. Losing a friend is just hard.

[pigsmith]

God bless our sweet babies - they do get into our hearts.

Prayers and tears for you and your wife and your kitty, whatever the outcome.

[bk1000]

I am so sorry to read this. I am a fairly recent convert to being a cat lover but have loved many pets in my days. It is a difficult time in your life now. You must take comfort in knowing that you can do what is best for the little guy. He will need you now more than ever. It is a kindness to be able to alleviate his suffering. Rocket was a gift to you and you will always remember him, and you will miss him. I have been there with dogs that were my buddy. They don’t understand what has happened to them, but they trust you to help them. Be strong knowing that you will be doing him a great favor, as difficult as it will be.

[caww]

Oh my...your cat looks like the one I rescued off my deck about two years ago! “Kitty-Cat” as just as pitiful.....full of fleas and his we little foot pads were calloused badly......his face was pretty scared from all his rumbles...and he was dripping wet.....I brought him in. :)

It's amazing how attached we become...so I can understand the weight on your heart. Kitty-Cat was sick a couple months ago..temp of 104...I had to drag him out of his igloo bed and he didn't flinch. Terrible feeling when you see them like that.

But he recovered with some penicillin...and my first time Doctoring a Cat. My gosh it wears your heart thin waiting....I would have never imagined because the vet said he might not make it. It was a full week before he improved.

I am so sorry your Cat may very well not make it...but I can surely understand what your very heart is dealing with....it's just a very very sad thing to endure.

[Black Agnes]

I feel for you.

I lost my black and white tuxedo 2 years ago on april 4th. He was 16. My sweetie. Found him as a starveling outside a restaurant. He was so close to death even the fleas had left him. Brought him home, fed him and gave him vitamins. He grew to a humonguous 20lb tom cat that was all muscle and no fat. He was huge!

When he turned 16, we thought he’d had a stroke. He started acting funny and had a balance problem. And one of his eyes clouded up. Took him to the vet. She said it was either a stroke or a tumor/mass of some kind. Offered tests to see which. Decided at 16 it wouldn’t make any difference. If it was a stroke he’d either live or not. If it was a tumor it would spread and we’d eventually have to put him down. He adapted to the loss of vision in one eye and resumed his busy schedule of eating, sleeping and sleeping on the windowsill in the sun!

Sadly it was a tumor. It spread to his throat and he started to have trouble swallowing. I pureed his food and babied him. He didn’t appear to be hurting, just not himself. When he looked like he might have trouble breathing we had to say goodbye. He’s buried behind my parents barn in the country where he can chase all the field mice and bunnies he could ever want!

I still miss him.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Prayers and sympathies for you both.

[Rodamala]

My father “changed” as a result of testosterone reduction therapy as a part of treatment for prostate cancer. He became very sensitive about his kitties. One day, his beloved, Winston... well same thing you described. He came dragging himself into Dad’s office. The whole thing was heartwrenching as you know. We tried... we tried so hard, but poor Winnie died at the vet on a Heparin IV. It broke my dad’s heart... although we had cats all through my life... he was never as attached to a cat as Winnie... how Winnie had dad “trained” to get up in the middle of the night and let him out or fill the cat dish... by walking into the bedroom and reaching up with his “hooks” from the floor beside the bed (always on Dad’s side) looking for tender arm or leg flesh to awaken the staff to tend to his needs... The Dad of my childhood would have thrown the cat outside Fred Flintstone style every night... but Prostate Cancer Treatment Dad found it endearing... Dad made a special perch for Winston in his office to sit and keep an eye on things coming and going through the front window... loved Winnie for growling when he didn’t want what we called “F.A.”(forced affection).

Winnie grew up in that house... we still have the video of his earliest years... running around, playing, a wide-eyed kitten, discovering the world.

Needless to say I understand your loss... if Dad were on FR... I am sure he would offer his experience firsthand... but he is not. I do have a photo of Win-Win Dad sent me right before I came home from Illinois for Thanksgiving... Winnie was on my old bed... and Dad captioned the text “Whadda ya mean, ‘move’?”... but my days of putting pictures up on the web are long gone when the one free file-hosting service I used packed it in.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

Such a moving testimony to a cat who is obviously very Special. I am sitting here with tears in my eyes. Your Rocket is obviously a terrific cat, and you’re lucky to have him. But it sounds to me like he has been equally lucky to have such loving owners.

Just one thought: I don’t know if you plan to let him go at the vet’s office (if that is what you decide should be done) or bring him home first. I will say that if it needs to be done, it really is best to let the vet do the job. The reason for this is that if they already have an IV in, they can just add the drugs, and the cats never feel a thing. They just slip off to kitty Valhalla to wait for you. I have had the misfortune to have had to put several cats to sleep in the last few years ... and I have discovered that the most peaceful and apparently painless way is to just have the vet add the necessary drugs to an IV that is already in place.

I am so sorry. I will add Rocket to my prayers tonight.

[Duchess47]

I am so sorry, praying for you all including Rocket.

[dorothy]

IF IT SHOULD BE

If it should be that I grow weak

And pain should keep me from my sleep,


Then you must do what must be done,


For this last battle cannot be won.

You will be sad, I understand.


Don’t let your grief then stay your hand.


For this day, more than all the rest,


Your love for me must stand the test.

We’ve had so many happy years.


What is to come can hold no fears.


You’d not want me to suffer so;


The time has come — please let me go.

Take me where my need they’ll tend,


And please stay with me till the end.


Hold me firm and speak to me,


Until my eyes no longer see.

I know in time that you will see


The kindness that you did for me.


Although my tail its last has waved,


From pain and suffering I’ve been saved.

Please do not grieve — it must be you


Who had this painful thing to do.


We’ve been so close, we two, these years;


Don’t let your heart hold back its tears.

-— Anonymous -—

[Slings and Arrows]

We’re needed here.

[Cyber Liberty]

Rocket cat sure looks like a good one. Praying for the little fellow.