Control Your Tongue

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March 15, 2005

Goodnight my friend

Let me preface this post by saying...

I don't believe pets are sanctioned beings or have souls, but they do become part of your family and you can grow extrememly close to them.

Our cat, Treble, started to lose weight around the beginning of the year. She seemed to be acting normal as far as we could tell. We tood her to the vet. We had blood work done and tested. Nothing was abnormal. The vet thought that the other two cats, Muse and Patches, were probably keeping her away from the food.

Jump back a couple years ago. Kristina and I were living in Dayton, Ohio. We had all the animals we have in our household now, plus Kristina's cat Journey, whom she had since junior high. Yes, she was named after the band. Journey suffered kidney failure and was a very rough loss for all of us.

Shortly after we lost Journey, Kristina found a picture on a shelter website that reminded her of Journey. Long story made short...we wound up with Treble.

After we took Treble to the vet in January, we watched her very closely and started feeding her seperately in my office. She still seemed to be acting and now eating normally. As time passed she still was losing weight and started to not eat as much and eventually stopped eating. For several reasons, we thought it was dental related. We scheduled a dental appointment with the vet and took Treble in.

Upon examination, the vet found that Treble's teeth were pretty clean and in good condition. Back to square one...we thought.

Later the vet was checking Treble's abdomen while she was still out from the anesthesia. We felt what he thought was a mass. Xrays confirmed a mass on or around the left kidney. Not enough information to know the prognosis. That was Saturday.

So, here we are on Tuesday. This morning I drove Treble to the office to be there by 9am. Tuesday is my day off and the best time to get things done. However, I knew I wouldn't be able to get much done today. Treble was acting fairly aware, even though she hadn't been doing that well Sunday and Monday. I talked to the doctor at the office and he told me he would call when he knew something more, maybe around 1pm. I scratched Treble on the head, said goodbye, closed her carrier and handed her over to the vet assistant.

Approximately 1:20pm:
The vet calls and explains. It is cancer. It has enveloped the entire left kidney, spread throughout her abdomen. He explains that if she is stitched up and brought home, she would only last a day or two.

We couldn't put ourselves through that again. We took comfort in knowing that Treble was unconscious and that "putting her to sleep" while she was still out was the best thing to do.

I think everyone questions themselves from time to time. For us, it was "could we had noticed it sooner" or "done something differently?" We have to come through today and know we did all we could. Her blood tests did not show any signs or anything wrong.

Treble was a good pet and had one of the funniest personalities of any pet we have owned. I have to think that even though pets don't have souls, God enables us to have pets to go through some rough times in our lives.

Thank you, Treble, for being there when I lost my mom and baby. Thank you for being a good kitty.

Posted by Marc at March 15, 2005 11:41 PM

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