On 3/12/2016 4:13 AM, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
Our beloved kitty Taco is not with us anymore.
Oh my, I'm sorry to hear that, especially for Monica.
This week he stopped eating and was basically just sleeping all the time, or sitting under the table. I took him to
the vet Thursday afternoon. She examined him and gave him an anti-inflammatory injection in case it was just some
garden variety illness. But he deteriorated further yesterday, and so at 5 p.m. I took him back to the vet for a blood
test. About 1 1/2 hour later the verdict came. Taco’s kidneys were failing completely and he had only days to live.
There was really only one possible decision, but I could not make it on my own.
When our last cat, and my best loved of this life, was obviously failing, Carol tried taking her to the vet, against my
advice. From virtually comatose, she arose to a major incarnation of Kali - on a bad day - frightening even the
experienced vet and assistant. They risked their hides to give her some subcutaneous fluids and sent her home. We then
let her do it her own way, slowly giving up eating, then drinking, slowly moving occasionally from one favorite spot to
another. I thought she was finished one night, but she stayed here long enough to get a final petting from our younger
son in the morning, who was very close to her. A couple of hours later, we found her dead, right where he had left her.
A sad day for a truly great cat. I'm sorry Taco and Monica didn't get a last moment together. At least she was there
quite recently for good cuddles and naps together while she and Taco could fully enjoy each other.
My wife is in Colorado visiting our son, and my daughter is in Cardiff, so after a conference call during which the
family decided,
I don't envy you that call. I once had to call a woman I lived with to tell her that her beloved cat had suddenly and
unexpectedly died, while she was on late shift at a vet clinic where she was finishing her Vet Tech practical training.
Pig had been with her through a lot of thick and thin since being found abandoned in an alley in Tokyo and nursed to
health.
Best Wishes to the survivors,
Leaking Moose
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