Shortly after midnight today Joey was put to sleep. It was a VERY tough decision but it was what was best for him. Here is a recap of the events that led to the decision to let my “baby” go. Thursday night my Mom and I discovered him with a bloody nose. We took him to the vet first thing Friday and they said they thought it was just a side effect from some medication he was on for his thyroid. They said he would be fine and sent him home Saturday. Well things got a lot worse for him over the weekend. We called the vet and they said he just needed rest but if he didn’t get better to bring him back on Monday. He stopped eating(and this boy never turned down food) and we noticed him walking into things. We suspected he lost his eyesight. Although he was still able to find his way to the toilet to get a drink of water. (that’s my boy). He would get up and start walking around then sit and cry because he was scared and didn’t know where he was and we would go pick him up and take him back and lay him down some place comfy. His tail had stopped working.(it was always twitching and swaying normally, and he could not even curl it up around him.) He had stopped purring and when he tried to it sounded funny. It was heart breaking to watch. He was such a sick boy.
So Monday it was back to the vet and we found out he was completely blind because his retinas detached. They suggested taking him to another vet, an internist to see if they could figure out what was going on with him since he seemed to be going downhill so quickly. Which of course we did right away hoping there was something we could do for him. At first we were hopeful they would be able to find a way to help and get him healthy again even though we knew he would never see again. However with each test they did it got worse. By 11:30pm they called and said he was bleeding internally someplace and they were not sure where, his liver was failing, his blood pressure was dropping, he had a urinary blockage and his red blood cell count was down. They were talking about blood transfusions, a catheter and feeding tubes. A lot of aggressive treatment for our boy and no guarantees when it was all done he would be well enough to come home. Plus no matter what he would be blind.
We just decided we didn’t have the heart to put him through all of it. We would have been selfish to do all that to him. He went downhill so fast and we have no idea why and decided the only fair thing to do for him was to say goodbye. He had a good, happy and full life and it was clearly his time to go. So we drove down to the vet and held him one last time and made sure he knew we loved him. Yes I cried like a baby the whole time. He was clearly in pain and his eyes were big and vacant. The fact that he didn’t even squirm a little as we held him and said our goodbyes showed just how sick he was. The Vet came in and after we said our very tearful good byes and put him to sleep. It was quick and painless for him. He laid his little head down and was gone. They gave us a little paw print of him to take home and bake and we opted to have a individual cremation and will pick up his ashes in about 2 weeks. Oh and we never really did find out what caused all this to happen and what was wrong with him to begin with. That was another reason we decide to let him go, they could not figure out the root cause...
There are too many good memories to list here but I wanted to list a few. He was very much the comedic relief at times. He was an indoor cat but would escape from time to tome and loved to roll around on the concrete of the front porch, we called it the caterpillar. He sometimes thought he was a dog. He would beg for food(he would take your arm off for bacon or American cheese) , follow you around from room to room and come when he was called. The smallest things amused him. He loved to bat around little balls of paper, twist ties, and bugs. He usually ended up eating the bugs. He purred so loud you could hear him in the next room. He slept in some weird places and for the longest time he claimed a box lid as his very own and would move it around to the location of his choosing to sleep in it. For years he had a little pink panther stuffed animal he would cart around and play with. He was spoiled and loved but he loved us right back.
Here are some pictures of my boy from over the years. I could only find some of the ones I wanted to use.
He was a little peanut when he first came into my life.
And there was never a sock he met that he liked. (or a pair of nylons for that matter)
Bath time was never something he enjoyed so luckily he only had to have a few in his life time since he kept himself pretty clean.
He was beyond disgusted when he got a “little brother” 2 years ago. (The brother has been looking all over the house for him and crying that he can’t find him. It is really kind of sad.)
He loved the outdoors when he was able to sneak out. Otherwise he sat longingly at the front door.
He was a champion sleeper and loved to find a sunbeam to curl up in on the sofa
The latest place he claimed as his was the top of my travel suitcase. He loved it so much I let him keep it as his bed.
I will miss him terribly and there will always be a special place in my heart that will belong to only him. He was a sweetheart.
Magical Realms Birthday Party
1 year ago
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