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Sunday, January 25, 2015
RIP Oliver
I haven't really updated or written anything on here about Oliver these past few weeks. I guess mainly just trying not to think about it and willing it to be ok but ultimately a choice had to be made yesterday and we had to be selfless and release him.
He had kidney issues for the past 2-3 years but was on meds for them and all in all pretty stable. We were at the vet in late sumner and all was the same as before. He was fine throughout our move from the house to the apartment and out of all the cats settled in the fastest. Nosy, walking around, checking everything out and finding places he liked to sleep and rest.
He was 18 so of course not young but for his age doing well. Happy and alert. But a little after Christmas he started having more mobility issues, limping etc. So on New Year's Eve we brought him to the vet where he was diagnosed with severe arthritis. They put him on several meds in addition to his kidney ones (bone/joint vitamins and a pain/anti-inflammatory med) and all seemed well and hopeful.
He was difficult with taking his meds and I tried various tactics over the next few days and weeks. Plus his appetite seemed off. After a bit he also started to develop stomach troubles, diarrhea and also constipation. Last week Friday I called the vet and they recommended a certain product for the constipation so I tried that but things didn't really seem to improve.
So I made a vet appointment for him for Wednesday. Unfortunately it wasn't a very encouraging appointment. His arthritis was so severe that it was affecting his whole back end and spine influencing his nerves and how everything responds in regards to the bowel movements. If he didn't go to the bathroom there was the danger of his bladder exploding etc. All very scary stuff. He also had lost 3lbs since New Year's. They gave me steroids,a muscle relaxant, an appetite stimulant and some critical diet food to try fatten him up.
I stayed home with him and watched him 24/7 and at times it seemed like maybe I could get him to pull through but as the days passed it became pretty clear it just wasn't meant to be. We had a follow up appointment scheduled for Saturday morning and that's when we had to make our final decision. I really didn't want to let him go but he was literally skin and bones at that point so it just wasn't fair to him. The one good thing is that he was happy right to the end. He purred, meowed, ate and wanted attention Saturday morning. He even looked around at the vet, being his nosy self, before tiring himself out and curling up against me. My poor baby. So yes rest in peace. Now I have someone else waiting for me in heaven :)
Mail Update. Getting so behind on my mail again. Received letters from: Tiffany/OK, Nina/WA, Emilia/Finland, Lotte/Denmark, Kimber/Canada, Celia/MA, Charles/TN and Alexandra/Peru.
Posted by Hanna at 04:48 PM in Cats | Permalink
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