I cried. Long and hard. I scratched under his chin and stroked the sides of his face. He purred as I did so and I made me feel so much worse. I kept apologizing, over and over. His name was Teddy.
He was a fat, fluffy cat. He was always full of life. He loved his treats, my dad fed them all temptations every morning. He didn't much care for his wet food, but he chewed down on treats and dry food the rest of the day.
About one year ago, we took him to a groomer to get shaved down for the summer. It was the first time we attempted getting him shaved, and he seemed lively. Like he could move for the first time. If we didn't brush him for over a day, he started developing matted knots and we had to get them cut out, so we opted for a full shave this time and it seemed to do wonders. He even started losing weight!
He kept losing weight. We thought it was great, he was overweight and now he's not! It happened so slowly I thought it was just because he got shaved, so we didn't take him to the vet. Then we got a new kitten in November. This brought us to 3 cats that belonged to my parents (including this Teddy) and two cats for my fiance and son and I (including the new kitten).
He didn't want to play with the new kitten like the other cats did. We assumed he was just becoming a grumpy old cat, he was nine years old now. After a few months, he lost more weight.
Then he stopped eating. We noticed a week ago that his spine was protruding out. You could feel it. I begged my parents to make an appointment with the vet. But they got him go eat! I felt relieved, he munched down some wet food, and drank some water. A few days later we notice he lost even more weight. Enough is enough, an appointment is needed. I made it for Thursday, February 14th, the soonest they had. It wasn't soon enough.
My dad saw him laying in the litter box on Monday. It broke his heart, so he sucked it up and took Teddy to the emergency vet. They wanted to keep him for 36 hours for observation at a rate of $2000 a day. My dad said no and brought him home. Tuesday morning, we called our regular vet and requested an appointment asap. They got us in at 9:30 am.
At 2:30, they called us. He is severely diabetic and could be experiencing liver and kidney failure. He is also severely dehydrated. We go to pick him up and speak with the vet. She tells us to either take him to the hospital now, like RIGHT NOW or put him down. I tell my mom I will split the bill and take him. She agrees and I take Teddy, leaving my son with my mom.
The emergency hospital takes him back and hooks him up to IVs. After an hour of waiting, they take me to a room and basically tell me that everything that could be wrong with a diabetic cat, is wrong. Everything that's not supposed to be elevated, is elevated. His symptoms of liver and kidney failure could be due to his progressed diabetes. Yes, he's in severe fucking pain. He cannot eat and cannot rehydrate himself fast enough, he is 7% dehydrated which is super fucking bad.
But! The vet says on the plus side, most cats he sees in this state that do receive full treatment do leave the hospital in good health. Yes, he will need insulin for the rest of his life and special meals and special care but it's all okay! He will live!
Then they bring me the estimate. Teddy will need to be there between 3 and 7 days. They bring me the estimate for 3 days. The total is $4,700
Immediately my heart sinks. I know my dad won't go for it. He's a big softy for pets, but $2300 is too much without a guarantee he will be out of there. And to be honest, it was for me, too. It's very likely that total could double if he needed to stay longer. They tell me about Scratch pay and care credit. I nod, and the tears come.
I call my dad. I tell him everything. "I'm sorry honey. I'm so sorry. Its....too much. I don't think so...I'm sorry.".
Teddy's quality of life would have been diminished, according to the vet. He first need insulin for the rest of his life, and second a special diet, and third, extra care elsewhere. The vet was very professional. He was solemn, sympathetic, and facts driven. Assuming everything went according to plan, Teddy would need to be watched closely. If he even missed a meal, he could be sent back into the same metabolic state. A scratch from our new kitten attempting to play could send him down.
I cried over the estimate. I sat there for 10 minutes battlingmyself. I called my fiance. He said if I felt I needed to, to just pay it. He said he trusted my judgement. I knew it was too much for our family that couldn't even move out of my parents place.
So I told the receptionist I needed to put my cat down. Everyone was very nice of course. They had a special room for this very thing, and I sat with him for a while, telling him how sorry I was that we fucked up so bad for him. I called them in to put him down.
They injected the anesthetic. He went to sleep. They continued with the rest, and he was gone. They left me with him and I again apologized.
Today, his brother who we adopted from the shelter at the same time, is extra needy. He is following us around, meowing quite a bit, and laying in Teddy's usual places. I'm heart broken.
I'm so sorry Teddy. I'm so sorry we didn't do right by you in so many ways. I'm sorry we overfed you. I'm sorry we neglected to take you to the vet when you lost weight. I'm sorry we didn't pay for the treatment.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/aqfdzg/had_to_put_our_car_down_yesterday/
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