 Purred: Sat Jan 7, '12 3:03pm PST |
 | |  | | Alfie was a lovely little ginger tomcat which my husband acquired from our vet. They had a litter of kittens about 4 days old with no mother that someone had found in a shed back in September 2011 and they were lovingly hand reared by the nurses. Alfie was beautiful and was the first kitten to find a home.
We brought him home from the vets on 12 November when he was 8 weeks old. At 11 weeks old he went back to the vet for his first part of the vaccinations. He was a delight, an absolute mischevious terror and brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. I have always had cats/kittens and have 2 adult ones, but none have been as adorable as Alfie.
Alfie had a 2nd visit to the vet on Christmas Eve for his 2nd dose of vaccinations, but was a little under the weather so the vet gave him an antibiotic jab and some antibiotic tablets. He did not improve and by the 27th December I had admitted him to the vets for observation and blood tests. He had started to slow down and was not very playful. He wanted to sleep all the time and was eating very little. They took some blood samples and said it was possible he had been born with a liver shunt (portosystemic shunt). He was referred to Davies the Vet Specialists hospital near Barton Le Clay, England for Tuesday (yesterday). In between his visit to the vet and to the hospital yesterday Alfies little tummy became very big and he promptly went back to the vet who gave a mild diuretic – this was the day before yesterday.
Alfie was admitted yesterday and underwent several tests, blood tests, ultrasound of his abdomen and a sample was also taken of the fluid in his stomach. The diagnosis today which could not be 100% came back as Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) which is impossible to diagnose without tissue sample and Alfie was too ill.
After much discussion, crying and a whole load of pain we made the decision to let go with love and not prolong Alfie’s life just to ease our pain. When we visited him at the hospital today although he looked a bit perky and was trying to cry his meow was rather weak and pathetic. I held my fingers up in front of his face moving them up and down and side to side, but he did not follow them with his eyes. Both my husband and I are absolutely devastated as we love little Alfie with a passion he was with us just 7.5 weeks.
It was an extremely hard decision to make but we feel we made the right decision. Alfie was born on 18 September 2011 and died today 4th January 2012 he was nearly 16 weeks old.
I have read and learned much about this disease over the last few hours and I know that Alfie had the best of care from both my vet Aston Lee Vetinerary Surgery in Newport Pagnell and Davies the Vet Specialists. I truly believe that there can have been no other outcome for Alfie and that to try to prolong his life would have been selfish.
Rest in Peace Alfie because you were loved and you brought so much happiness into our lives. We would not have missed out on your short life for the world. |  |  | |  |
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I'm glad that you brought joy to each other's lives in the short time you had together.
poor Alfie. I think you did a lot for Alfie. 
