This post has absolutely nothing to do with jewelry and as a rule, I tend not to talk about too many personal things. But I thought maybe writing about our sweet kitty would help to heal from this great loss I feel. And maybe it would help someone else who might have a similar situation.
On September 30, 2014 I had to say goodbye to my beloved Sweetie Pie. He was still so young at only 10 years old. My husband and I adopted both him and his brother (Cookie Toe) from a local shelter. We were told they had found their way there, with their mom, when their previous owners turned them in. If I recall correctly it was because they had too many pets? Neither were neutered and sadly, it looked like their mom was pregnant again.
We had gone to the local shelter every weekend for a number of weeks looking for the cat who would best fit in our home. One the day we made the decision to adopt these two brothers, it was Cookie Toe who had stuck his paw through the cage wires to grab my hair..and ultimately get my attention.
The beauty of these two were they looked almost exactly alike except Sweetie Pie is gray and his brother, Cookie Toe is all black. They both have this little white patch on their chests. They sat in their cage together with their mom in the cage next to them. While Cookie Toe was meowing at me and not getting my attention, he then decided to grab my hair. When I looked up to pet him, I saw this brother Sweetie Pie, sitting in the litter box (that was a silly place to decide to lay). I said to Cookie Toe, "are you my baby"? And as if on cue, he meowed right back while looking me directly in the eyes.
It was quite the decision to make because we were initially only looking to adopt one cat. But, looking at the both of them, we knew, if we only adopted one and the other was not adopted....well, you know the possibility. So, that day we completed our paperwork to adopt both!
There are so many stories I can share of the goofy Sweetie Pie, like how he would bounce along the floor like a rocking horse -which was his way to telling you to play with him, or how you could use the yellow feather on the rod and get him jumping for it at heights that were unbelievable. He also had this fascination with a pair of my fun slipper socks that had small stuffed frog faces on them. One day one of the socks turned up missing. Come to find out Sweetie Pie decided he liked the frog so he took the sock as his toy! From that day forward I just cut off the frog faces and gave both to him as a toy. He
loved those frogs! He would carry them all around the house in his mouth! Silly Sweetie Pie! :-)
Sadly in 2012, Sweetie Pie was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma (intestinal cancer). We were devastated. Prior to the diagnosis his weight had gone down to just a little more than 5 pounds. It pained us greatly to see him suffering. Our fantastic veterinarian performed surgery to remove the mass that had grown at the intersection of his esophagus and intestine -which had prevented food from getting to his stomach. After surgery she educated us on his prognosis.
We were told this type of cancer in cats was not a good one. Ultimately, he would be on borrowed time. There was the option to do radiation therapy but he would have to endure the discomfort of the therapy and there were no statistics that showed this therapy worked, for this type of cancer. So, we opted to not do the therapy and let him enjoy the last months or years of his life.
Sweetie Pie's recovery from the surgery was absolutely phenomenal. He went back up to a healthy weight, his spunky, quirky, goofy personality was back. He was running around playing and enjoying life to the fullest! Over time, he did gain a little too much weight. We think he was making up for lost time. :-)
But, something changed around early Spring, mid-Summer this year. Throughout this time and into Autumn, I noticed his weight shifted...it just didn't look right. It looked like he had a football, laying sideways, in his mid-section.
I took him in just two days ago because of his weight, he had refused food since late last week and overall he just looked unhappy. He had an x-ray done and it was discovered he had a lot of fluid in his stomach (hence the odd shaped weight he was carrying), as well as, some fluid in his lungs. He also had a low temperature and was slightly anemic. I was heartbroken.
An ultrasound was scheduled for the next day to see what was causing the fluid buildup. However, I spent that evening researching the information I was given and I also spent the next day with him and had the opportunity to really watch him. It was very apparent what we really needed to do.
At the ultrasound appointment, we declined that service but asked that he be re-checked by a vet because I had noticed his breathing was really shallow and labored, he seemed unresponsive to what was going on around him, he was even more wobbly on his feet and more.
While the vet talked to us, Sweetie Pie was given a warming bed and some tender loving care. Armed with additional information about how sick he was, his heart was weak, his low temp was dangerously low...we made the heartbreaking decision to help Sweetie Pie to Rainbow Bridge so he didn't suffer anymore. :-(
I've cried for two days and know that time heals all wounds. At this time I am still so immensely sad, however, I will say CANCER SUCKS!!
Goodbye my sweet, sweet, Sweetie Pie. We LOVE YOU dearly. We hope you are running around and playing with your kitty friends, brothers and sisters.
And thank you, in advance, to all the readers who have chosen to allow me this moment of sadness on the blog and to offer words of comfort. Hug your little fur-babies a little tighter today -and everyday.
