Mr. Tom: R.I.P.
Poor Mr. Tom died this morning. He was one of our tom cats. Our fuzzy little buddy. We will miss him dearly.
We're not sure what he died from. He started losing weight real fast a month or so ago until he was just a shell of what he used to be. He went from 12 pounds to, I'm guessing, less than five in a month to a month and a half's time. You could literally feel the outline of his skeleton. It was quite upsetting. I figured he had leukemia, or some such.
We finally took him to the vet a few days ago and the vet couldn't find anything wrong with him except he was anemic. He gave us some antibiotics and steroids to cover anything he might not have found. They didn't work.
It broke our hearts as he got worse and worse and could hardly walk. Last night he was sleeping between us on the bed. About 2am he started wailing like he does when we put him in the kitty carrier and take him to the vet. He did that for about an hour, then quieted down.
After a while I could feel him going through convulsions. Just short ones about a minute apart. Then, about 4:30 he had a major seizure. It lifted him right off the bed and woke Connie. We both figured he'd had it. Connie wondered what we could do to help him. I told her there was nothing we could do except wait for the vet's office to open and take him in to be euthanized.
I couldn't sleep after that. Tom was stiff as a board from the seizure. I figured he might already be dead. We covered him with a towel and let him lay there. As I played on the computer I figured, and hoped, he was dead, not wanting him to suffer any more.
About 7am I heard some weird breathing sound in the bedroom. It couldn't have been Connie. I went in and could see it was Tom. He seemed to be having trouble breathing. Connie awoke and told me she'd felt him a little earlier and he was still alive. She was upset to see him having trouble breathing.
We decided to take him to the vet for the last time. We called and the vet's office wasn't open yet, but they said they would be in a few minutes and to go ahead and bring Tom in. I was dressed enough already to handle going down there. Connie almost was.
I went to look at Tom and thought he was dead. I told Connie. She looked but couldn't be sure he wasn't breathing. I wasn't completely sure but pretty sure he wasn't breathing. Besides, his eyes were open and pupils were dilated. I flashed a light in his eyes and they never changed.
I asked Connie if we should go ahead and bury him but she said she didn't want to bury him if there was a chance he was still alive. She suggested calling the vet and ask for advice.
The doctor said it sounded like he was dead as it should be easy to tell if he wasn't breathing but, if we wanted, we could bring him in and he'd listen to his chest. Connie finally agreed he was dead.
We wrapped him in a towel and buried him under one of the apple trees outside our back door.
We'll miss poor Tom, but at least we still have two and a half other kittens to enjoy and be annoyed by.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 9:18 AM
21 comments
21 Comments:
Sorry for your loss, Fred.
Was his body cold? And stiff with rigor mortis? If not, he might not have been dead. Maybe you should dig him up and check.
You jerk 10:24
What? I thought you cared about animals Rose!
Sorry you lost your kitty, Fred.
Over the years I've had several wonderful cats that were in the range of 15 to 19 that finally had to be put down. It's so hard to say goodbye to a beloved pet, but I'm glad we can euthanize them and end the suffering. Too bad we can't extend the courtesy to humans in the same situation. Maybe someday we'll be more enlightened about that.
Orange Elmo
I am so sorry Fred. Just lost a 16 year old cat and a 13 year old dog this year.
He had a good life and a caring family.
I feel your loss, Fred. The loss of my cat, my friend of ten years, was one of the hardest things to get over emotionally as I cared for her for about four months of slow dying. I too had to double, triple check at the end to see if she was alive or dead, her breathing had become so shallow in the last days.
I loved my parents, was my mother's care-giver up until her passing away but somehow it was easier to deal with parental loss than my cat's death! I can't explain that except in reality I had spent much more physical time with my cat than my mother or father. We do grow attached to these other species and they us. It's really wonderful overall..
Deepest condolences Fred. The bond between a pet lover and pet is strong, and it sounds like Tom had a fine home and life.
a normally cantankerous poster
Oh, so sorry for you and Connie's loss. Know that the pain of losing a beloved family member is lightened (just slightly) by sharing your burden of grief with your friends. Just out of curosity how do you have half a cat?
Well, Stinker- the other tomcat- makes one. Miss Kitty- our female calico- makes two.
Since we've had cats here, we always seem to have at least one stray, or it might be someone else's, cat hanging out in our back yard. We end up feeding them and they become regulars.
Our half cat now is Cloney. Cloney because when we first saw him, we mistook him for Stinker. We figured he must be a Stinker clone. Once he was around for a while, we find the two are easily told apart.
Anyway, he pretty much seems to live in the backyard, usually sleeping in the greenhouse. Don't know if he belongs to someone else, or is a stray. We've seen him wandering around the neighborhood, but he always seems to end up back in our back yard.
Fred and Connie,
We are truly sorry for your loss. We had a similar experience with our beloved cat Dumpster Diver not long before leaving Weitchpec. He had graced our world for 13 years and had even cruised with us aboard Leonidas. I will quote a message we received some time back and hope it helps. I call it: "What If"
Rainbow Bridge
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
Author unknown...
I had neighbors who kind of adopted a stray that kept coming to their yard. They all grew very close, so much so that they essentially thought of it as their cat. The routinely fed it, took it to the vet, had it groomed, the whole nine yards. This went on for like 3 years. Once day the cat walks in with a note attached to it's collar saying "I don't know who you are, but thanks for taking such good care of our cat. We just wanted you to know he has a home. My neighbors simply ignored it and went on as if they had never read the note. No harm, no foul.
Sorry to hear about that Fred.I have 3 cats and 2 dogs myself,and losing any one of them would devastate me.What do you think caused this,it sounds like things went astray fairly rapidly.Did you have any blood work done?I hope old Tom went as painless as possible.Watching a pet suffer sucks.Anyways,have yourself a cold one in memory of Tom.
"The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together...."
Disgusting. Some people care more about their pet animals than about innocent human children.
Hey, Fred...
I hope you didn't bury one of your GOOD towels with the dead fucker.
Why waste something that the starving kids in Biafra could use for a dress?
I'm just saying...
Larry Glass will save him !
Uncle Enore.....how rude!!
Delete those creeps, fred.
Who is being rude?
I mean, el gato ain't gonna be needing that towel for much of anything, right?
Personally, I would've stuffed the sucker and kept him for my grandkids...assuming I ever GET any...
How scarey that Uncle Enore has DNA out there that could procreate.
Thankyou for your comments about yourself , Mr. Glass !
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