December 28, 2009

• Not such a good month…

  For the past couple of months or so our cat, Rocky, has been losing weight, but eating like he was starved. We had planned to take him to the vet sooner, but then Greg started having chest pains and was in and out of the hospital.

  Finally today we took him and got really bad news. It seems that he had become diabetic. His sugar was 500…normal is 200. So the vet says that this can be controlled with meds, diet and keeping him inside for the rest of his life.

  Rocky is 12. He would be 13 in March. We got him from the animal shelter April 28, 1997. He was my daughter’s cat initially, but when she went off to college, he became ours. When he first came home he was so tiny. We had another cat at the time (Jake) who really wanted to completely reject Rocky. But he wasn’t going to be rejected. He kept pestering Jake until finally Jake gave in. After that, they were inseparable. A few years ago Jake passed away suddenly. I never really noticed that Rocky especially mourned for him, but when he would go back to lay on our bed, he would call until I went in to pet him.

  He is a hunter. We have a fenced in back yard now, but for years he has roamed the neighborhood. He kills and eats birds (mostly the mockingbirds that attack him) and squirrels, and just kills moles and rats. Recently he dragged a dead squirrel from the road into our house in the middle of the night! I woke to find him eating it in the hallway by my bedroom.

  So when the vet said that he could no longer be outside, that pretty much made up our mind. I don’t know how he would have handled having his urine checked daily or shots twice a day. He might have liked the special food he would have needed. But never again go outside? Not a chance. He had lost 4 pounds in the last 3 months and was obviously not feeling well. I know he could have gotten better, but what would be the point if he couldn’t live his life the way he had for the past 12 years. So we had to let him “go to kitty heaven” as the vet put it.

  I sure didn’t want to and neither did Greg. We had just gone through this a few months ago with our dachshund. But we both felt that we were doing the best thing for him. We’ll miss him. Hopefully we won’t lose another pet for many more years. Our babies (2 pomeranians) will be 2 in February. I think they will miss the cat, too. Or at least they will miss having the cat to harass!

  • 4:33 pm
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