Rainbow in the distance

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  • #857129
    Leeny
    Participant

    Penny will be 12 years old on Wednesday. Yesterday I took her to the vet to have her claws treated. For a second time, she had developed an accumulation of gunk in her claw beds with abnormal, thick casings growing over some of the claws. At her checkup in December, the vet had mentioned that some of her teeth had plaque on them; he also thought he heard a heart murmur. While under anesthesia she had her claws and teeth treated and had an X-ray to evaluate her heart. They gave her a blood screen first to be sure she could be given anesthesia.

    This is what happened.

    1. Penny’s kidney function is worse. She also has a kidney stone in the middle of her right kidney. The vet said she “doesn’t need sub-Q fluids yet.”

    2. Penny had two teeth extracted because of something weird that happened to her once before in which teeth start being reabsorbed into a cat’s jaw. Such teeth have to be extracted because the resorption is very painful if it progresses.

    3. The vet sent liquid pain medicine home with her. She’s had two doses.

    4. Last night she was drooling bloody saliva. Right now she’s alternating between taking sips of water from the bowls and splashing the water out of the bowls all over the floor with her paws. I gave her water with a syringe. She drank some of it but let the rest run out the other side of her mouth. At least that helped wash out her mouth. I dried her with paper towels. I have not yet seen her eat.

    5. The vet said to cut the pain med doses in half and give the med to her for twice as long because she doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing.

    The worsening kidney function concerns me. Seeing her act like this, even if it’s because her mouth hurts and she’s dopey on medication, reminds me of other cats’ declines. I know she’s in the range of the species’ typical life span, but I’m not ready to think of that baby kitten who sat in my hand and licked my thumb not being with me here anymore.

    “The days seemed to have passed all too quickly
    No longer interested in play
    Dreaming of the gentle winds and green meadows
    More precious now, the pawprints.”
    (http://dailykitten.com/chat/topic/pawprints/)

    This is the point that Penny has reached, and the days have passed too quickly. They always do.

    But the Rainbow is always in the distance, for all of us.

    #857228
    Brigitte
    Participant

    I know the helpless feeling all too well, but I will send good thoughts and healthy vibes your way!

    We always have the happy memories, and the knowledge that their lives were made so much happier and healthier by being with us, and our lives that much better for having them in ours.

    #857229
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    You know sweet Penny better than anyone else. If you believe she would benefit from a second opinion then get one. The end of life age is no longer set in concrete. So do what’s right for you and Penny, Lenny.

    Know that me and my gang are sending both Miss Penny and you gentle healing light and love.

    PG, Miss Gaea, LilBit, Miss Moppet

    #857236
    JerseyJoan
    Moderator

    Leeny, I’m sending love and tons of good vibes to you and Penny. I hope her mouth feels better each day and that you have good days ahead with Penny.
    Wishing Penny a Happy 12th Birfday!

    #857252
    Leeny
    Participant

    Penny is in the hospital. The vet had been calling every day to check on her progress. On Monday evening I told him that she still wasn’t eating and was drinking very little and that I was getting scared. He said to bring her in the next day (which is yesterday now).

    She lost a pound in four days. They gave her sub-q fluids and were going to give her food last night through a gastric tube, but she ate some wet food on her own. As of this morning, though, she hadn’t eaten much more, and they gave her a tube feeding.

    The problem is that the site of one of the tooth extractions isn’t healing well and is irritated, making it painful for Pen to eat or drink. The sutures are supposed to dissolve, but the doctor said he was going to remove them.

    Today is her birthday. When I called to check on her, I asked the tech who answered the phone to tell her happy birthday.

    #857255
    Leeny
    Participant

    Someone from the vet’s just called. Pen still isn’t eating and is hiding in a box in her “condo.” The doctor who saw her last night had suggested she might feel more at ease at home and might start eating again. Those are too many “mights” for a 12-year-old cat who’s just lost a pound from going 4 days without eating and could go into renal failure if she doesn’t start drinking, and schlepping her back and forth to the vet’s isn’t stress-free for her, either. The doctor in the practice who didn’t remove Pen’s teeth said this morning that the site looked okay, but last night the one who did the extractions said it looked irritated, so the issue that caused all this hasn’t been settled. The doctor who did the extractions is planning to come to the clinic this evening to check her. He has cancer, though, and had a chemo treatment today, and his ability to do that will be determined by his own physical condition.

    “But the ending always comes at last.
    Endings always come too fast.
    They come too fast, but they pass too slow.
    I love you, and that’s all I know.”
    (written by Jimmy Webb; performed by Art Garfunkel)

    I feel sick.

    #857262
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Love and healing prayers to both you and Penny.

    I know the song to the verses you posted, and it’s so appropriate. May the God in whom you put your trust, wrap his loving arms around you both, and give you peace.

    #857267
    Leeny
    Participant

    The doctor couldn’t come this evening. I didn’t get a call.

    But I’ve placed Penny in the scarred hands of the Sweet Young Man who watches over the Rainbow Bridge. He may give her back to me. Or, he may set her down in the rich green grass that grows in the meadow at the foot of the Bridge. When she was a kitten, she used to dart out the door to eat grass. And that’s was she was supposed to eat in the beginning; the animals were supposed to eat grass and herbs and we were supposed to eat fruit.

    She’s in His hands, and I will see where He chooses to place her.

    #857268
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    This is the experience I had with my boy.

    When my Loki was having kidney issues, I left him at the vet. because I thought we could do something. He ate and drank a little but not much. He was there for 3 days when the vet. said he was in renal failure. He wanted to check something else but I said no. My boy (and I) needed to be together for last few minutes. I wanted him to know how very much I loved him. He passed away 3 hours later.

    #857277
    Brigitte
    Participant

    I’m sending good thoughts your way, Leeny! And a belated happy birthday to Penny as well.

    My Atticus is 18 years old – he has diabetes (which is in remission), and a thyroid condition which he receives medication for every day. Every day he’s with me, I say a prayer of thanks. They are the light of our lives, and when it’s their time, they won’t go unless they know that you, the light of their lives, understand that they may be gone, but they’ll always be by your side.

    One day at a time, ok?

    #857281
    Leeny
    Participant

    My Tiger Lily lived to be 18, and she left quietly in her sleep.

    They tied a little balloon to Penny’s “condo” at the vet’s yesterday.

    #857294
    JerseyJoan
    Moderator

    The Sweet Young Man loves all animals, that we know. We trust that He will do what is best for Penny.

    #857313
    Leeny
    Participant

    The Sweet Young Man has given her back to me. Penny is at home now, staying in the bedroom with some special wet food, her usual kibble, water, and a litter box. I need to keep track of her eating, drinking, and litter box use. When she first got home, she drank, and drank, and drank, like she’d been in a desert. We also had some very good pet-and-purr time. Her brother and sister each got a taste of her special wet food. They also sent more pain medication home with her.

    After Pen stayed three days in the hospital, I was only charged twenty-something dollars for the wet food. The doctor who owns the practice (the one with cancer) said over the phone to his employees that, because Pen’s hospitalization was a result of a procedure they had done, there would be no charge.

    Thank You, Sweet Young Man, for giving Penny back to me. And please let her doctor stay with us.

    #857323
    JerseyJoan
    Moderator

    I’m sooo glad Penny is home with you, Leeny. {{{hugs}}}

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