This was Sugar, my other cat. She had to be put to sleep this last February due to a very rapid cancer. She was almost 15. This pic is of her in my lap at the vet, saying goodbye. We had a little room and she laid on my lap for about 45 minutes until I felt like it was time.
I'm sorry about that
Thank you. It was very hard, especially because it was so sudden. For a week she'd had problems with nausea and not eating much. She'd had some very mild kidney problems for a couple years so originally we thought that was the problem, because higher creatinine levels (a byproduct of poor kidney function) have a tendency to create indigestion and nausea. I wasn't expecting anything like cancer.
That's really sad about Sugar
My cat's sister Sootica had cancer and had to be put to sleep in January 2007
I dread the day my cat dies. She doesn't go out much so IK worry about if she'll get something similar and also have to be put to sleep - she's a really anxious cat when she's around people she doesn't know or in a scary place - she'd be terrified if I had to take her to the vets now
Yeah, like I said, it was very hard because it was so sudden. One week she was normal, the next she was barely eating. I took her to the vets on a Friday, they checked her creatinine levels, which were a bit high. And she also apparently had a RAGING urinary tract infection; the vet said she had never seen a UTI so bad. With the kidney problems, Sugar had a tendency to get UTI's on occasion, but to have one so severe was confusing until we found out about the cancer later (the low T cell count made it near impossible for her to fight off the infection). But that day with the first vet visit, we went home with antibiotics and fluids just thinking it was a UTI. That was about midday. After we got home she had an INCREDIBLY fast decline, within hours. By midnight that night she was having trouble moving and keeping her balance, and she kept trying to pee and wasn't able to hold herself up in the litterbox. It was really bad. I had originally hoped she would be okay enough to make it through the night to take her back to our regular vets the next morning because they were more familiar and also LOADS cheaper than the emergency vet. But by midnight I knew that wasn't an option, having no idea by then what was going on. She was barely able to walk, couldn't keep anything down, and her breathing was incredibly shallow. So I brought her in and they ran various tests (blood panel, x-ray, echocardiogram, etc.). The doctor wasn't sure what was going on and wanted to wait to see her full blood panel which would be ready by morning. So they kept her there in order to give her fluids. I hated leaving her, but it was safer. Plus if she had an even greater turn for the worse, they would be able to put her to sleep so she wouldn't suffer more. They called the next morning and said that pretty much EVERYTHING was off the charts and that most likely that indicated Leukemia. There was one or two other possible causes but they were unlikely and not really treatable. So I decided that the best thing was to have her put to sleep and not put her through any sort of bone marrow biopsy just to confirm cancer. I went back later that day, brought a familiar blanket and they brought her in to me and I wrapped her all up in the blanket and just comforted her for about 45 minutes. Obviously when they brought her in she was upset because they had been poking and prodding her all night and she was in an unfamiliar place. But she took comfort in being with me. And I kept her there until I thought she had calmed down and was resting as comfortably and pleasantly as possible. I didn't let myself concentrate on my own sadness because animals can sense when you're upset and I didn't want her any more upset than she was given the situation. So I left my mourning and crying for after she was gone. Finally I decided it was time and asked my mother to go get the doctor and he came in and put her to sleep in my lap.
I didn't think about it, but when a creature dies, all its muscles relax. So of course, with Sugar sitting in my lap, she peed all over me when she died. The doctor apologized saying he'd forgotten to tell me. But no matter, I didn't want to move her. She was happy in my lap and that's how she died.
This is a really adorable face
Hehe, she is a cutie pie. A little shit. But a cute little shit.
Right now she's sitting in the empty laundry basket that's sitting on my bed, waiting for the clothes to finish drying.
Gorgeous cats btw
Thanks!