Ode to Tabby

Yesterday was a hard day. I had a girl scout easter party to prep for and a Pampered Chef sales meeting that I was supposed to speak at. I woke up and was a busy beaver all morning long. The kids worked on homework and Lilly made little messes all through the house because she knew I was too busy to scold her much (she underestimated me and spent alot of time cleaning messes because I had an easter party I could take away if need be ( ;)

About 2, I finally was able to bathe myself and begin to get ready. It was then that I noticed our little kitty Tabby was acting very strange. She just was laying around in full view of the dog when normally she would hiss and stay hidden. There she was just lying by his food dish...odd. I chalked it up to her possibly being in heat-even though she did not have the typical symptoms. I told the girls to keep an eye on her and not let Toby "play with her". His play usually involves biting feet and tails. A little bit later I was looking at her a little closer and she just did not look normal. Erika then piped in that she was acting weird all day and even peed on herself and the floor a little. I made her a little pallet with food and water by the litter box and called the vet. I told them her urine was very concentrated and made an appointment for the next day. Then I re-emphasized how completely lethargic she was and did she think we had 24 hours to play with? We went on to the vet and got there about 3. We waited until 3:30 and I could tell she was getting worse and worse-but still no call back. Then she threw up and it smelled so horrid, I knew that was it. She was still breathing but I knew she would not be surviving. They took her from me, gave her oxygen and tried to save her. She had some sort of obstruction and they wanted to do something heroic-I knew she was gone and would not make it. I asked if we could see her while she was still alive and we went back and signed the papers for euthanasia which was not necessary because she died while we were petting her.

I am just devastated. She was such a sweet kitty. Cats are so low maintenance that it is easy to overlook symptoms. I wish I had noticed her lethargy yesterday-she was still hopping around and hissing at the dog but not her usual self either. I also wish the vet had just said there was no hope instead of charging me money to try to save a cat they knew had no hope. I wish I had had better composure and could say no-she only has a few more minutes, we are just gonna take her home. The only thing worse that taking your cat home in a box is paying money for 5 minutes of worthless intervention.

We had a backyard funeral and then went to our girl scout easter party. It was a good distraction. The party went well, I think all the girls had fun. Then I dropped the kids off at home and went to my sales meeting where I asked to be put off until next month. It was a hard day.

This morning Lilly's music class has been cancelled and I am totally relieved not to leave the house today.