After a few minutes of this howling, I go in to find him in the closet of my office. Thinking he's just bitching about this seaon's fashion, I return to my paper. He howls somemore. I go in and he's now in the middle of my room. And then I realize the poor guy can't move his back legs. I try to stand him up, but no. So I immediately bundle him up and take him to our favorite vet. This he does not appreciate.
Unfortunately, our man had what is called a saddle thromboembelism (or feline aortic thromboembelism). A blood clot had formed in his heart (as a result of heart disease) and traveld to the juncture of his hind legs, causing loss of circulation and function. The prognosis for such a diagnosis is not good. I took him home (along with some medication) in the hopes that he might recover by Fri, when the Agent returned. I put him in the dog's cage (to his horror) and kept him quiet. Given that he could not walk on his back legs, he went to the bathroom on himself and the cage. This was an indignity I know he hated. Sometime during the night, Sunday, he lost his sight and became blind; also more listless.
After talking with the vet and with the Agent from afar, a decision was made. I knew it broke her heart and it did mine as well. Yesterday morning, I held his proud furry head and said goodbye for the both of us. In some ways, I wish the Agent had been there because I know he would have wanted that; in others, I know it would have been too painful for her to go through and was glad that I was there to take care of him. I took the rest of the day off to recover. He was Mister Man, Keeker, Son, Turbo. I'll miss you, big man.
Our boy.
2 comments:
My condolences to both you and the Agent. He was a beauty. I'm sure it was hard on her not being there when he passed, but together you made the right decision. (I was there when our cat had to be put down years ago, but I was such a blubbering, useless mess that it probably would have been better for all involved had I not been there!)
Sadly, I am all too familiar with this condition as well.... A couple years back I came home from work to find one of my cats, FiFi, paralyzed and crying..I rushed her to the vet to be told the same thing..Thrombo-embolism, and there was nothing that could be done except to ease her pain by letting her go. It broke my heart, but I stayed with her, petting her and trying to comfort her as much as I could as the vet gave her the fatal injection. I still have other cats at home from the same litter & this made me cherish them even more. I am currently taking classes to become a certified vet tech and have to do a paper on a topic of disease..and FiFi came to mind, which is how I came accross your site. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that there are others out here who know what you went through. Take care.
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