Losing one of my little buddies

[BMacklem]

Believe me when I say I know your pain.
I've had to put a couple of cats down, and although it was for the best, they both were the sweetest cats I've ever had the pleasure of being owned by.

It may be callous of me to say this, but I've only cried about death when I had to put them down, not even when my grandfather died did I cry, but for Twerp and Slinky....I had tears flowing.

Slinky was aptly named because she loved to flop down stairs while being pet in a manner similar to a slinky going down stairs, and Twerp was just a plain twerp, she'd always jump onto the table and push down the newspaper and lay down on the page you're reading.
But both of them had the gentlest attitudes towards other animals.
Twerp even was very protective of birds, she'd grab the cockctiel and sit sphinx-like with the bird between her paws and just watch over it.

Sigh... I really miss those two, but we still don't know what caused them both to get tumors.
I'm guessing that they were inbred too heavily and passed along some bad recessive genes, but Slinky got a massive tumor in her lower abdomen that actually pushed her intestines up into her ribcage, and she just wasted away, while Twerp ended up getting a tumor along her windpipe that basically made her have to choose whether to eat or breathe, so they both wasted away, and the vets couldn't do much of anything. The worst part was that it took numerous trips to a couple of different vets to even find out that she had the tumor, and that was only a fluke that the vet wanted to take an x-ray of her belly.

It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life putting them down like that.

But other cats have come along and have helped to heal the hurt, so know that the pain will be there, but in time it will get better.

[InfidelSerf]

Brad you have my sincere condolences.
We are going through a similar situation...
Fibonacci my 10yo Manx mix went from a high of nearly 30lbs
(26 to be exact, yes he was a fat obese cat, and loved every minute of it)
That was about 14months ago, he is now about 7.5lbs.
The vets are clueless, I really think it's a hyperthyroid regardless of the normal T4 tests.
He has a voracious appetite (always has) however he vomits up a fair amount at least once a day or every couple days.
His body is simply burning more calories than he consumes
All of our cats have always had 24/7 access to dry food. With every other to daily feedings of wet.
He now gets wet 3-4 times a day.  Still no noticeable weight gain.
Well about 2 weeks ago he was in one of his down days  lethargic only this time he was wobbling around
like he couldn't stand on his own.  I had an appointment made for that evening for the vet to come out.
(I highly recommend having a vet come out to put a pet down if it's available.
We have always felt its best if they can just lay in the yard or their favorite spot before passing.)

We hadn't been letting him out since the most recent drop in weight.
Since his hours were numbered my wife wanted to let him out (I was concerned that he would walk off and choose a place
to lay down and let go)  He ventured out and I followed with my camera,
He made his way up the street and to the empty field across the street a few houses away.  He hunted something in the ground,
and just walked around on his own.
When he walked back he seemed to be perkier.
My wife convinced me to cancel the appointment.
He has been 10-20% better since that day.
While I know we simply put off the inevitable, he seems to be in better spirits.
So for now Fibonacci is still with us, and hopefully he will start putting some weight back on.
If not then I know the day is coming soon that I must let go of my little buddy.

[Brad Johnson]

Some good news today.  Minnie, my little one that went through the whole unexplained weight loss thing a couple months ago, has put on another half pound since just before Thanksgiving.  As of today she's up to 5 lbs 7 oz from a low of 3 lbs 12 oz in early October (her normal weight run 6-6.5 lbs).  She's eating like a horse, tearing around the house like she did as a kitten (she's 14), and definitely has all her attitude back.

Brad

[280plus]

Wish I was 14... 

 

[Brad Johnson]

I act like I'm 14. Does that count?

Brad

[280plus]

Yes and no...