As the title of this blog reads, we have lost another pet. Our second cat Ashley, presented the same signs as our first cat Paws did in the end. It’s taken me a little while to get this post written. Not a happy subject, so I kept delaying it. I didn’t expect to have to go through this so soon after the first time. I thought we had another two or three years. But, sadly, that wasn’t the case.
I don’t know if it was my imagination, but not long after we took Paws in, Ashley seemed to become more active. The move active she was, the more weight she lost. This was a good thing. Ashley was a very long, and very tall cat. She was also very fat. She became more active, and looked like a healthy cat for a while. But the last few months, she looked a bit too skinny.
She was still playing and running around a lot more than usual, but it was starting to show. What really got me a bit concerned was the fact that she was tolerating our third cat Abby more than usual. Normally, if Ashley and Abby got close, one or both of them would hiss and turn the other way. Or there would be the “stare down”, and they would stare at each other for a long time. In the last few weeks though, Abby was more friendly, and was grooming Ashley also. Abby would follow Ashley around from time to time to see what she was doing.
A few days before we took Ashley in to get checked out, I had both cats on my lap at the same time. Abby was on my lap, and Ashley was beside me with her head on my leg. They were face to face for a while with now problem.
A few days later, we took her in to confirm what we already knew. The vet said the exact same thing as he did with Paws. She was severely dehydrated, was in kidney failure, and her liver was also failing. We decided to do the humane thing and had her put to sleep. The vet said if she was younger, it might be a different story. Could have her on a special diet, or whatever, but, she was 13 years old, so it was best.
We did not stay like we stayed with Paws. It was a hard decision. I was torn. My husband absolutely did not want to stay. He still has that final image of Paws, and didn’t want to do that again. I think he’s right. It’s been a bit easier to get over the loss this time as opposed to the first. It was hard walking out of that room though, knowing she was still in the back. They let me hold her for a while and then took her into the back.
One thing about not staying is I wondered when they would do it. I would think to myself “Did they do it yet?” I did the same thing with my childhood dog, Tipsy. I didn’t go to the vet that day, but the outcome was sad. The rest of the day I wondered if it had been done yet. In the end though, I think I made the right choice with Ashley.
So, we’re now down to one cat. And she is healthy. Active, playful, and still agile. Abby is about 10 years old, so I don’t expect to go through this again for some time. To close, here’s a picture of Ashley just a few days before we took her in.
Ashley: July 1999 to September 18, 2012
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