Judith and Thomas
Member
Hello all-
For those of you who remember my Thomas, I wanted to let you know that I had to let him go yesterday. His kidney tumor that he had had since 2004, became just too big for either of us to fight any longer.
Ironically, he had been doing pretty well, considering the issues he had on his plate. I had known since Dec. 31 that he had begun his final journey, and it was just a matter of time. His belly had begun to fill with fluids from the tumor, for which there was no 'magic fix'. I was just treasuring every day, and trying to keep him as comfortable as I could during the time we had left. Just 11 days, as it turned out.
I took him to the vet yesterday for a shot of Epogen (to increase red blood cell count) which had actually been helping him to feel better...he was eating drinking and walking when I left for the appointment. When we got there, he could no longer use his hind legs. I have no idea what could have happened in just 20 minutes. This was such a sudden and unexpected change. The vet said it was spine related, not a blood clot. Perhaps the tumor had grown into his spine, and somehow hit critical mass in that short time frame. In any case, I knew my proud and independent Thomas could not be happy being unable to navigate, so I made the difficult choice so many of us have had to make, to help him leave this physical plane.
I took him home and laid on the floor with him for four hours until my veterinarian friend could arrive to help him cross over. He was remarkably calm, and peaceful. On the one hand this makes me feel sad, but on the other hand, I am glad his final hours were without pain, and peaceful. We laid there and he purred loudly when touched or spoken to, he 'talked' (yes, that's right), I talked (and cried) and he slept a bit. He was alert and very comfortable and seemed 'happy' ironically, if this at all makes sense. Had I left his side, I fear he would have tried to walk, and this would have been frustrating for him and painful for me to see, so I did not want that to happen. It was a very special time for us.
Those of you who knew him, knew he was a survivor...not just of diabetes and severe diabetic neuropathy (in remission for almost 2 years), but of a fall through an icy pond, a deep abscess in his tongue which required half of his tongue to be removed and a 2 week ER stay, over a dozen surgeries for mast cell and lypoma removals, radioactive iodine therapy for hyperthyroidism, an acute CP attack during his OTJ countdown where he was in the ER for four days and I almost lost him...PLUS he kept his BG down throughout that stay.
For those of you who did not know my boy, I hope his spirit and journey can be an inspiration to you, and remind you that miracles are indeed possible, and to not give up hope of good regulation and a happier cat, during the inevitable ups and downs of this sugar dance.
He was my hero and my miracle boy, and I shall miss him so. His spirit was very large, so he leaves an equivalently sized void. My heart is breaking. I hope in time I will recall with much fondness all the fun and quirky and poignant memories of this cat who was my Thomas, and not feel so deeply saddened by his (physical) absence.
I just wanted to let everyone know...he would not have made it as far as he did without the amazing love and support we found here in LL after his diagnosis in Dec. of 2007. We are forever grateful to all of you who so generosity and kindly offered their caring support and encouragement to us during his diabetes journey.
Thank you so much again.
Judith and Thomas (GA January 11, 2010)
For those of you who remember my Thomas, I wanted to let you know that I had to let him go yesterday. His kidney tumor that he had had since 2004, became just too big for either of us to fight any longer.
Ironically, he had been doing pretty well, considering the issues he had on his plate. I had known since Dec. 31 that he had begun his final journey, and it was just a matter of time. His belly had begun to fill with fluids from the tumor, for which there was no 'magic fix'. I was just treasuring every day, and trying to keep him as comfortable as I could during the time we had left. Just 11 days, as it turned out.
I took him to the vet yesterday for a shot of Epogen (to increase red blood cell count) which had actually been helping him to feel better...he was eating drinking and walking when I left for the appointment. When we got there, he could no longer use his hind legs. I have no idea what could have happened in just 20 minutes. This was such a sudden and unexpected change. The vet said it was spine related, not a blood clot. Perhaps the tumor had grown into his spine, and somehow hit critical mass in that short time frame. In any case, I knew my proud and independent Thomas could not be happy being unable to navigate, so I made the difficult choice so many of us have had to make, to help him leave this physical plane.
I took him home and laid on the floor with him for four hours until my veterinarian friend could arrive to help him cross over. He was remarkably calm, and peaceful. On the one hand this makes me feel sad, but on the other hand, I am glad his final hours were without pain, and peaceful. We laid there and he purred loudly when touched or spoken to, he 'talked' (yes, that's right), I talked (and cried) and he slept a bit. He was alert and very comfortable and seemed 'happy' ironically, if this at all makes sense. Had I left his side, I fear he would have tried to walk, and this would have been frustrating for him and painful for me to see, so I did not want that to happen. It was a very special time for us.
Those of you who knew him, knew he was a survivor...not just of diabetes and severe diabetic neuropathy (in remission for almost 2 years), but of a fall through an icy pond, a deep abscess in his tongue which required half of his tongue to be removed and a 2 week ER stay, over a dozen surgeries for mast cell and lypoma removals, radioactive iodine therapy for hyperthyroidism, an acute CP attack during his OTJ countdown where he was in the ER for four days and I almost lost him...PLUS he kept his BG down throughout that stay.
For those of you who did not know my boy, I hope his spirit and journey can be an inspiration to you, and remind you that miracles are indeed possible, and to not give up hope of good regulation and a happier cat, during the inevitable ups and downs of this sugar dance.
He was my hero and my miracle boy, and I shall miss him so. His spirit was very large, so he leaves an equivalently sized void. My heart is breaking. I hope in time I will recall with much fondness all the fun and quirky and poignant memories of this cat who was my Thomas, and not feel so deeply saddened by his (physical) absence.
I just wanted to let everyone know...he would not have made it as far as he did without the amazing love and support we found here in LL after his diagnosis in Dec. of 2007. We are forever grateful to all of you who so generosity and kindly offered their caring support and encouragement to us during his diabetes journey.
Thank you so much again.
Judith and Thomas (GA January 11, 2010)
