I lost my beautiful 15 year friend a few minutes ago. My cat Gizmo took a turn for the worst when I came back to Tampa last week, for those that don't know. After a very bad weekend, I took him to a vet ER Saturday afternoon who did very little for him and I took him home and nursed him over the weekend until I could get him to my regular vet this morning who put him on oxygen right away and gave him fluids for the dehydration but he was just too weak. She was calling me to ask my permission to euthanize him but Gizmo didn't force me to make that decision. He expired while we were on the phone. My vet was so sad that she couldn't save him. She had removed some of the fluid from him and did another x-ray earlier and while we were on the phone, one of the other vets in the office read the x-ray results and found that Gizmo had a big tumor in his belly. She said that he didn't appear to be in great pain and that he was unaware of what was happening when he died.
It's so hard to lose such a wonderful friend but I feel so much better that the vet that he was with was a compassionate one that did everything she could to save him. I was with him all weekend and I'm sure he knew that I was with him and I also think that the sweet little guy hung on until I got him to someone in who I had confidence so that I could live with the decision I made. He was so selfless and left me with the best memory that I could have of him. He held on so bravely until I could get him to a competent and compassionate veterinarian and then he finally let go so I wouldn't have to make such a horrible decision.
Thank you Heather and RT for giving me one of the best friends that I've ever had. For those early years when I moved to the Panhandle and knew nobody, he was by my side, walked on the beach with me and brought me more joy than I can ever express. I'm going to make him a little box and bury him in the yard of the house that he loved so much right next to Apollo (his older brother that I lost a while back) and I will be back to myself soon.
I was hoping to be back on sowal when I got back and wanted to let you guys know what happened.
