- Joined
- Aug 17, 2018
- Messages
- 40
- Purraise
- 65
I lost the last of my 3 cats last night. Scooter was the funniest kitty. He came to me as a tiny kitten who had been tossed away in the woods near my sister's house. By the time I got him he was nearly dead. He had the worst upper respiratory infection and could barely breathe. I got him to the vet immediately and he survived. A few months later we got a puppy and the two of them became fast friends. They would chase each other around the fireplace in the middle of our living room all day and night, rolling and swatting. His early illness left him deaf in one ear. I named him Scooter because of the way he would scoot out of the room any time a stranger came over. He'd crouch down and scoot away, close to the ground. He always held his head sideways because of the hearing loss. Any time he found me in bed he would come into the room, jump in bed with me and lay on top of my head. He'd bite my hair and stick his nose in my mouth to sniff my breath and make sure it was me. He always had the loudest, craziest meow. Like he was talking to me. He always answered me when I called his name or asked him if he was hungry. He never really cared for the other two cats I had, Pepper and Peanut. They were here first, mother and daughter. Scooter avoided them both most of the time. Sometimes he would chase Peanut because she was smaller then him. Pepper was big so he did his best to stay out of her way. He was a beautiful cat, white with several black spots. The spots on his back made a smiley face. Two eyes and a smiling mouth. I wish I had a picture of the smiley face. He hated strangers. Any time we had a visitor he would scoot his way to our bedroom and hide under the bed. If they were staying with us for awhile he would eventually get the nerve up to come out at mealtime. He loved it when my husband would grab his scruff and pull his ears back. He would just purr and purr and keep coming back for more. A few months ago I noticed that he was getting skinny even though he was always ravenous. I just thought it was because he was getting old. One night in August we woke up and found that Pepper had passed away during the night. She was 18 or 19 years old and lived a good life. Around the same time I noticed Peanut had a lump on her face, under her eye. She was put on antibiotics for what was thought to be an infection. Not long after she was diagnosed with mouth cancer. She passed away Sept. 1st. With all of this going on I failed to notice just how skinny Scooter had gotten. He was constantly hungry. Even though we only had one cat left we were still having to buy the same amount of cat food because he ate constantly. Because of his weight loss and appetite I did a lot of research and came to the conclusion that he had hyperthyroidism. We took him to the vet for an exam and bloodwork and they confirmed my suspicions. He was put on Methimazole. He also caught a bad cold at the vet's office. He hadn't had a cold of any kind since he was a tiny kitten until he went to that vet. Poor baby's nose was so stuffed up. I was continuously cleaning the mucus off so he could breathe. He also had terrible diarrhea. The vet gave us a medication for it but it didn't seem to help. Each day I would take him into the bathroom and run the hot shower to steam up the room, hoping to clear his nose. I also noticed that he was eating his litter. He finally got over his cold and seemed to be doing a bit better. It all happened so fast. Yesterday morning he ate like a pig and drank tons of water then went to sleep behind the couch. I don't know what happened or why it happened but by the time I realized he was dying there was nothing I could do but comfort him. I'm so confused now. Did I wait too long to treat his hyperthyroid? Had it done too much damage already? I thought he was starting to get better. I'm so completely broken right now. This has been the worst year of my life. I lost my Mom last September, then 2 of my cats passed away, I almost lost my dog when the vet gave him medication for his prostate and it caused his kidneys to fail, my Dad passed away in September, exactly a year after my Mom, and now Scooter is gone. My heart is broken.