Stopping by to say I love you

I stopped my mommy's dreams twice this week to give her a big hug and tell her I'm still with her and still thinking about her. I love her always. I miss all of you but I'm watching over you and I'm doing great!

Love,

Velvet

One year at the bridge.

I've been at the bridge for one year. Yesterday was my Bridge-aversary. Mommy was visiting with friends but I went to see her to let her know I'm still ok. I walked along the bed near her arm a few times. I know I'm more ok than she. Marina and Tosca are doing a great job of helping her adjust. Hopefully I'll never NEED to visit her again but maybe I'll be able to visit again just to say I'm still here.

My death saved a life.

I had a good long life of 15 years. I'm sorry for my family that I had to go to the bridge but knowing I saved a life has helped ease that pain.

My last week on Earth I was very ill. I wouldn't eat, drink or clean myself. I would hardly move. Mommy was very upset and shared this information with her friends.

Rosemary, one of mommy's good friend's, was at her dad's house shortly after my death. His cat was sick. When Rosemary heard that the kitty wasn't cleaning herself she told her dad to take the cat to the vet. She had learned that was a very bad sign because of my death.

They took the kitty to the vet. It turned out the kitty had Bobcat Fever. This is a disease with a 95% mortality rate. They began treatment right away but did not give the family much hope. The vet said the kitty would be in the hospital for two weeks at least. After a few days of treatment, the kitty was well enough to be sent home with a guarded prognosis. Now, a week later, it appears the kitty is going to make it. The vet told the family if they had waited one more day, the cat would surely have died.

We found out this is a very common disease in our area of the country and especially in our part of town. The ONLY prevention for this disease is Frontline. Both of my sisters are now on Frontline since they go outside to play. Please, please, if you go outside at all, use Frontline to prevent this from happening to you.

This link will give you more information about Bobcat Fever and what symptoms to look for.

Purrs and angel kisses to you all.

Before I went to the bridge...

I went to the bridge a week ago today. My last few weeks were hard, especially for mommy. It really started about nine months ago. Last June I got sick. Mommy took me to the vet, they gave me meds, but this time Mommy heard herself say "If we can just get through Christmas..." She doesn't know why she said that but she had a feeling it meant it was close to my bridge time. She wasn't sure so she tried to carry on like everything was normal. I was basically healthy again until the first week in February. I started vomiting again. Mommy thought I was going to crash. She tried giving me Pepsid and I got better for a few days. I started vomiting again. Mommy thought I needed to go to the vet so she was waiting to see for sure.

On Feb 23, I got out of bed, vomited and got back in bed. Mommy took me to the vet. They took blood, which looked great. They thought it was just a mild bout of anorexia and told me to wait until Monday and if I didn't get better they would give me IV fluids to get me better. By bedtime it was obvious I wasn't doing any better. I wouldn't eat or drink and I would just lie in bed. Mommy had to take me to the Emergency Vet for treatment. They kept me overnight and gave me IV fluids and medication for a bladder infection. I had to stay for 24 hours. Mommy took me home Sunday night. I still hadn't eaten or had anything to drink.

Monday morning mommy took me to my regular vet. They continued IV fluids, antibiotics and gave me meds for nausea. Mommy took me home Monday and took me back Tuesday. I still wouldn't eat or drink anything. I would sometimes pee in my box, sometimes not. I would also just have diarrhea on my blanket then move to a different spot to lay down. Mommy had to confine me to the bathroom.

Wednesday I got to stay home. That night, Mommy came to a brilliant discovery. Try to give me warm water instead of cold. Marina and I both like to drink the warm bath water when mommy takes a bath. She thought she had nothing to lose and had tried almost everything else. Finally, I took a few sips of water. This miracle was very short lived. As it happened I was only taking the tiniest of sips and only about twice a day.

Thursday I had to go back to the vet for an IVP test. That is an x-ray done with dye. This is when mommy found out how serious things were. The vet said I had one kidney that was much smaller than the other. The larger kidney wasn't having any output. They believed it wasn't functioning at all. They didn't know how well the smaller kidney was functioning but they didn't think very well at all. My liver was half the size it was supposed to be. They belive because of this the liver wasn't functioning up to par. That would explain why my blood values looked normal but I was actually dying of kidney failure. My colon was enlarged and my stomach and colon were completely empty. This was worrying to the vet. She said the only thing left to do was give me a shot of valium to stimulate my appetite but it might not work.

Friday I got to stay home. I still didn't eat. Mommy had everyone come over Friday night to say goodbye to me. She wasn't sure if she would give me the valium on Saturday or if she would help me to the bridge. Her brother is a nurse and his wife has been a CNA off and on for years. She asked their advice. They both said they couldn't make the decision for her but the little things they said made her believe it was time to help me to the bridge. She couldn't deal with that so that night she went to bed knowing she would give me the valium and give me one more chance. In the back of her mind, she also knew there was a possibility she would have to help me to the bridge anyway.

MY BRIDGE DAY...

Grannie came over first thing in the morning and brought mommy some breakfast. They discussed what to do. How could mommy eat? Well, she was still sure she would give me the valium. That's what she kept telling herself anyway. Grannie drove us to the vet first thing Saturday Morning, March 1, 2008. She got me into the vet and was determined to give me the valium. She saw Dr. Laura that day. She said she had consulted with Dr. Christy, who had worked with me all week, and it was clear that it was my time to go. Laura could give me the shot of valium still but it would buy me days at most. We appreciate that Dr. Laura pulls no punches.

Mommy wasn't sure what to do because I was fighting. I didn't want anything to do with the vet. All I wanted was to be left alone. She thought if I had that much fight, how could I possibly be ready to go to the bridge. She was worried that she was helping me too soon. She basically asked the vet if it was ok to help me to the bridge and the vet said yes. My life would be cut short by a few days but so would my suffering. Mommy made the decision to help me to the bridge.

Grannie called Mommy's friend, Rosemary and Sis-in-Law, Carrie. They both wanted to come be with mommy. Mommy knew she wanted me to be as happy as I could at the end so she told the doc and everyone that she wanted to do it outside. Thankfully it was a beautiful day. While Mommy made the arrangements, Grannie took the vet aside and told her to give me the valium to relax me. It made me really loopy.

Mommy, Grannie and I went outside and Grannie started calling people to tell them it was time. Mommy laid out a red plaid blanket and sat down with me in the grass. I got up and wobbled over to a napkin then to an empty cup. Boy was I hungry!! Mommy quickly grabbed a jar of turkey babyfood and started feeding me. I don't think I've ever eaten so quickly. I ate almost the whole thing. Grannie went and got me a bowl of water and I just drank and drank. In the mean time, Rosemary and Carrie showed up.

After I was finished drinking, everyone wanted to hold me. Someone said, "Who's got a camera?" Mommy pulled out her cell phone and took turns taking pictures of everyone with me. There's one of Grannie holding me and we are looking at each other. Mommy likes that one because Grannie never held me before. She is terribly allergic to me but that day she wasn't.

The vet popped her head outside and said when we were ready she would help me to the bridge. Mommy knew she would never be ready, not in five minutes, not in five years so she said she was ready. The vet came out with Donna, the vet tech. Donna and mommy held me still while Laura gave me my shots. Mommy kept saying "I love you baby, bye baby, I love you." The vet said "That's why you're doing this." Before I knew it, I was floating toward the bridge.

Mommy visited with me for a few more minutes. Rosemary snuck off. Mommy gently picked me up and took me inside and gave me to Donna. Donna took very good care of me and told Mommy everything had been taken care of. As it turned out, Rosemary paid for my cremation. What a very generous gift.

Before everyone left, mommy told all of them thank you for being there for her. She also said that all week she had heard kitties meowing when there was no human way she could have heard that. She believes I was being called home.

Mommy has had a rough week dealing with my departure. She said the hardest things are the firsts...the first time she cleaned the litter box I used last, the first time she tells someone I'm gone, the first time she washes the blankets I was sleeping on. She knows it's all necessary but it still hurts her. Today was extra tough for her. This week she got my ashes and yesterday my urn. Today she found my collar. Now there is nothing left to do but grieve and move on.

I'm still around watching over her but she can't feel it right now. I did let her hear me rattle my collar today, just once. Tosca heard it too. I just had to give her a little bit of hope that it would be ok.

Mommy knows she did the right thing at the right time. She has been able to have a lot of peace about that. She is struggling with the sadness. She knows I'm doing very well but she misses me very much. Tosca is doing very well. Mommy is pleased about that. Marina seems to miss me some but not as bad as Mommy thought she would. Mommy believes if they don't miss me, that's less pain for them which is ok.

Well, that's my story. I'm off to the bridge to nap under a tree. If you need me, you know where to find me, under a large shady tree. Purrs to you all!

Cat Age

Mommy heard about the Cat Age test so she helped me take it. Right now I'm 14 years 10 months and 28 days old. This is what it said for me:

Velvet's CatAge is 65.1! That's 9.6 years younger than the average CatAge for Velvet's breed.

Wow, that's pretty good for a kitty with CRF!!

Tosca is ok, I guess.

It took me two weeks but I finally decided that Tosca could stay. I told her this by licking her neck. I think it scared her because she turned around and bit me. *sigh* Now if I could just get her to leave my tail alone.

Bad mommy!!

hmph...mommy locked me in the laundry room ALL DAY today. She said it was an accident. Yeah, right mommy. What did I do wrong? No food, no drink, no litter box. The only "good" thing was no fighting with Marina. Well, I guess you have to look at the bright side of every situation, right?

A Walk on the Wild Side...

Yesterday, after Marina when back in the house, I snuck out under a hole in the fence I had been carefully digging. I just wanted a little adventure. I hid in a dark corner of the neighbor's yard (actually everything was dark by that time) until I knew mommy couldn't catch me. Mommy was out looking for me on foot and saw a cat. She started chasing it thinking it was me. Once she got about a block away and realized the other cat wasn't me, she turned and caught me running into the drainage ditch. She tried to catch me but I was too far away.

She went back to the house and got the car and drove around the neighborhood about three times looking for me with a flashlight. She couldn't find me. I've learned to play hide and seek from Marina. Mommy went back to the house then a few minutes later walked around on foot again for a while but she got cold so she went back inside and got the car and drove around two more times.

She had finally decided that I would come back in my own time when grandpa called. He came over and told her to start making lost posters while he walked around and looked for me. He found me on the next street over between two houses. I thought about running but realized it was really cold. I finally came to him.

Grandpa called mommy and told her to come get me. She ran all the way over there. I let her carry me until we got to the driveway, then I wanted down to walk the rest of the way. She said no way, scruffed me and carried me all the way in while I wiggled. What was wrong with her? I was just out for a little adventure.

Mommy said I'm grounded from outside until she fixes the holes under the fence and until she gets the office painted. That might be a while. :-( At least I still have Catster.

I had to have Sub-q fluids

I got really sick on Dec 21 and had to go to the emergency vet. They wanted to keep me overnight and give me IV fluids but mommy told them no. She said I would be far less stressed at home and she would take me to my regular vet the next day.

I went to the regular vet and they wanted to give me IV fluids too but mommy told them we should start with sub-q and see how that goes. That went really well and by Christmas I was 100% again, thanks to the purrs of all my friends.

I'm still doing well but mommy says my eyes change color when I'm ill and she thinks they are looking a bit to the ill color. Maybe she's wrong...

Never too late to teach an old cat new tricks

I'm fairly set in my ways and I believe that food should be eaten with the mouth. I prefer to lap up my food like you would milk, rather than chomp into it. Tonight I went against that. Mommy had a big piece of pumpkin pie and it smelled so good. After she got done, I dipped my paw in the leftovers and licked it off my paw. I know, lots of kitties do that. But mommy has had me for 12 years and she has never seen me do that before. But the pie was good. I also tried to steal a drink of her slim-fast shake. Marina dared me to. She created a diversion by jumping on mommy's desk then when mommy was trying to get her down, I snuck a lick off the top of the can. Yummy! Mommy then put us both down on the floor.