November 13th 2005 1:27 am
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On Monday 10/17/05 Peaches was hobbling on 3 legs. I called the vet and rushed her over. They took some xrays and determined that she was having a flare of arthritis so they gave her a shot of depo-medrol and sent us home. We stopped at Wendy's and got Peach a Frosty (her favorite). She ate it on the way home. When we got home I carried her upstairs and put her by her food dish. When she tried to walk she could only scoot on her rear-end... she had gotten worse. I picked her up and put her in bed with me. We slept for about an hour then she had to get up and go to the bathroom. I put her in her litterbox, but she is stubborn and wanted to get into the box on her own. She literally fell out of the litterbox. I put her back in again. It took 2 tries but she was finally able to go. Then she scooted all the way across the room to her special bed in the corner. I grabbed a blanket and pillow and went to lay down on the floor, just to be near her. She seemed really restless. I called the vet and made a 6:30 am appt.
This time at the vet they did a reflex test on her back legs. Her right back leg had absolutely no reflex and her left leg was delayed. The vet felt this was a neurological problem and the only way to determine the cause would be to go to a specialist and get an MRI. I asked to have her kidney values run (all they ran was sodium, potassium, and chloride). They were able to add BUN/Scr, Ca/PO4. The lab results didn't make sense. Her PO4 had doubled but her Scr had gone down. I thought this was the answer to our problem (the increased PO4). I asked the vet if I should give her fluids and she said yes. I gave Peach her 100ml subq and shortly after she started to pant/wheeze... it sounded horrible. I called the vet in a panic. They said it could be pulmonary edema secondary to the steroid. They said to bring her back if it happened again. I called my mom and she asked the toughest question I have ever had to answer... did I want to put Peach through anymore... What would the specialist be able to do for her. I called Dr. K and made the appt for him to come to the house to help Peach cross over.
Peaches always hated the vet and she let them know it. When he was trying to inject the pentobarb she was fighting... it was so hard to watch... I started second guessing my decision.. maybe she was trying to tell me something. They decided to use her right back leg. She never felt the needle go in. She had lost all feeling to that leg. It was over in seconds after that. I had her cremated and she is now home with me again. I have a life chest that has her ashes and her sister Stripe's ashes along with all of their favorite toys. It was the saddest day of my life the day I said goodbye to my best friend. I love you Peach with all my heart and I will miss you until we meet again in Heaven.