Lost My Leo Of 15 Years Options

[macgrl]

This just happened yesterday and my husband and I are just devastated, even though we knew his days were becoming numbered.

The past year he walked with a limp and we had him on cosquin for cats and that seemed to ease the arthritis in his hips. My daughter who was only six when he came home as a kitten noticed his decline when she last came to visit a week ago. He was much more frail, and not living with him day to day she noticed the difference between even Christmas and now.

Superbowl sunday he was his usual self, we ordered a family chicken dinner and was getting his usual expected share of chicken. Yesterday morning I gave him his usual can of soft food, then about a hour or two later he vomited it up, and by the looks of it the chicken from last night, undigested. He also had a dirrehea like drainage and was trying to pass a stool where he was laying but all he could do was just spasm in pain. Good god we tried to help, I got a warm washcloth to clean his hindquarters which clearly bothered him. I called the vet and made an appointment as soon as possible which would have been the next day. In the meanwhile Leo went to hide behind a desk and curl up, my daughter went to put him back by the towels in the bathroom and he had his mouth open for a moment in a pant. I had to call back and ask if I could bring him in immediately to put him down, so I got the car ready because it is frigid cold here in WI and my daughters brought him to the car. My husband could not bare to go with us because that was his baby.

I got half way and I was ready to turn the car around, but my daughter reminded me even though he was alert he was periodically spasming in pain. This was it. It hit us so fast we did not have time to brace ourselves. He calmly stayed still there for the vet when he got ready to get the shot and he went so peacefully. It was a mix of relief and grief for us, especially the girls I have at home who have grown up with him. After all was done the vet showed us his skin that had signs of liver failure. It is comforting to read the posts where everybody had their doubts and second guesses like I did. I am still going through the motions, I never had a pet for this long.

[Shortrish]

I am so sorry of your loss of Leo. He was truly a beautiful guy. There is somthing so soulfull in his eyes, in his picture. It is so hard to make that decision to end our pets suffering. No matter how we &%^yize it, we still have our doubts if we did the right thing. It is obvious that was the case with Leo. You loved him so much and he is so lucky to have had such a loving family to care for him. You were with him when he passed, and that was a comfort to him, I know. It will be hard, the pain and the tears, but they are a necessary part of healing, unfortunately.
We had to have our cat Scooter put to sleep because of kidney failure that he fought for 18 months. He was only six years old. The pain was unbearable and I thought the tears would never stop. It has been a long road, with all the stages of grief. It has been a little over 6 months now, and we miss our guy so much, and still have tears from time to time,
What helped was getting together all of his pictures and putting them in an album. That eventually helped us to remember the good and happy times, the funny things that he did.
For now, writing here will be a tremendous help. Everyone understands your pain. I can only say , cry if you want to, but do everything you can to care for yourself, get rest. You and your family are in my prayers.

Scooter's Mom