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- Apr 25, 2018
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10 years ago I bought two orange tabbies. Ginger and Marshmallow. They both had flu’s and the animal shelter didn’t think they were going to survive. They heavily recommended I choose other pets but I took them anyway.
Ginger specifically was very ill and at times he couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t as active as Marshmallow and couldn’t keep up with him when playing. I would take him and put him under a blanket to allow him to rest and I took both him and Marshmallow to the vet on multiple accounts before finally killing off the flu. I had to bottle feed Ginger initially before he finally was up to strength and able to play.
Ginger would thank me by climbing onto my lap and kneading his paws on me and falling asleep on me while being petted. I then relocated from Atlanta GA to Seattle WA and took them with me. In Seattle they were about 1 years old, very active and hyper, would go into my bathroom and grab the bathroom tissue and scatter it all over my apartment so when I came home it looked like it snowed on my floor. Then they would wrestle and chase each other through my apartment during excursions at 3am waking me up to the sounds of cans, dishes and other objects falling from the kitchen counters.
One day though Ginger caught another flu and when he did he once again couldn’t breathe and has his eyes locked shut with crud. So I took him to the bathroom and turned the shower on hot and stood outside of the water with him and let steam fill up the room which helped open his sinuses up so he could breathe again and I dabbed all the crud off his eyes. After I did that he became more attached and more fond of me. He would cry for me whenever I left my apartment, he would go to the front door and scratch and yowl so loud you could hear it in the apartment halls. When I would come back home he would barrage me, and when I laid down he would immediately jump at the opportunity of pushing his paws into my gut or my chest and knead me before cuddling into my body and falling asleep, most specially, he would love pushing his purring face into my heart and listen to my heart beat.
Things job wise in Seattle at the time were shaky and I ended up having to move back to Atlanta, except my car blew an engine before I could leave which left me quite stiffed. I had to figure out a way to get back while also taking my cats. Flying at the time was going to be too expensive due to all the preliminary vet care needed, driving was impossible, but I didn’t give up. It turned out someone needed their vehicle delivered from Seattle to Orlando so I used it to relocate again, taking my cats with me back to Atlanta.
I had to crash with my mother / father. They didn’t have a very stable life and were constantly moving and consequently I had to move with them as I wasn’t able to find a decent paying job in ATL either at the time although that changed as time progressed. I took my cats everywhere we went even when things didn’t look like it was possible to take them. They grew an additional 6 years of age, mostly stable. Didn’t have any real conditions with them. Ginger always was my baby, would jump on my lap or knead into me or go to sleep with me and cuddle with me while I pet him to sleep. I felt that he was grateful by how much effort I kept into retaining him despite instability issues.
Things for me got better when I moved to Austin as I landed a much higher paying job. Of course my babies came with me and I settled in while spending a lot more time progressing my career. Finally Ginger and Marshmallow started experiencing health issues. Ginger specifically would not stop eating unless I took food away from him. I thought it was hyperthyroidism and had blood work done on him on multiple accounts and even sent it off to multiple labs but there was no trace. Later still I had X-rays done and nothing came up. He seemed insatiable. He was not like the cat I had before and he would gorge like I never fed him in his life. The vet said it may just be how he is, so I had been controlling his diet pretty strictly.
Later, back in our Atlanta property we found two feral cats, in a long story short I captured 2 of them because the neighboring businesses were having complaints about them and a few of them had been run over by cars, or captured by animal control. When I brought them back to Austin I had to spend a considerable amount of time socializing them which took time away from Ginger and Marshmallow. I still did spend as much time as I could with them. It took about a year for me to get the feral cats comfortable with me enough to allow me to pet them. Well anyway, one of them I have to keep in my bedroom, isolated because she isn’t friendly to other cats which greatly reduced the time Ginger and Marshmallow were able to sleep with me. I still made exceptions but had to do so with caution as to avoid cat fights.
Anyway, During last week, Ginger barged into my room. I figured if he wanted to be there so bad then let him come. He laid down with me and snuggled up and in my mind I heard a voice tell me ‘you should always make time to spend with them as you never know how much time you have left’ ... well a few days later he wanted to come in again but this time I didn’t let him because the maintenance involved with him and the feral and I was tired... finally the day after that I woke up and came to feed him and found him convulsing and he couldn’t seem to properly breath. I didn’t know what was going on so I took him to the vet and they told me because the symptoms they wanted to see him first... ...when they did they told me to come inside (even despite Covid) and showed me his XRays. His lungs were heavily compacted by fluid surrounding them making it impossible for them to expand when he breathes and only about 1/3rd of their size. They also found a tumor in his stomach and suspected cancer and it had most likely spread to other areas of his body. They were typically pro saving the animal but they said it had gone too far and it had most likely spread to other parts of his body and that he would likely die. I asked them how did this go unnoticed? They told me cats can hide a lot of pain and medical conditions. They gave me the option to try to save him or put him down. I didn’t want his elderly years to be filled with pain. I asked if I could see him...
When I saw him, he wasn’t the same. He was coughing out fluids and panting and struggling. They had him on oxygen and he was barely coherent. I petted him for a moment... I told them and gave them authorization to put him to sleep... I kept petting him and I told him I loved him while they loaded the lethal dose... and I kept telling him I love him while they injected. I held him tight and closed my eyes while promising I loved him while I slowly felt him die... I’ve never felt anything go from living to dead... but especially my baby... I was crushed ... it was like there was nothing after that. Like he just ceases to exist... I cried all day and the day after. I couldn’t go to work either. I’ve been praying for him all day hoping that he really is in heaven and after all this is over that I will be reunited with him. Going through pictures and memories. Every time I go out to the living room I can’t believe he’s gone. He seemed so normal just even a week ago. I never saw this coming.
Ginger specifically was very ill and at times he couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t as active as Marshmallow and couldn’t keep up with him when playing. I would take him and put him under a blanket to allow him to rest and I took both him and Marshmallow to the vet on multiple accounts before finally killing off the flu. I had to bottle feed Ginger initially before he finally was up to strength and able to play.
Ginger would thank me by climbing onto my lap and kneading his paws on me and falling asleep on me while being petted. I then relocated from Atlanta GA to Seattle WA and took them with me. In Seattle they were about 1 years old, very active and hyper, would go into my bathroom and grab the bathroom tissue and scatter it all over my apartment so when I came home it looked like it snowed on my floor. Then they would wrestle and chase each other through my apartment during excursions at 3am waking me up to the sounds of cans, dishes and other objects falling from the kitchen counters.
One day though Ginger caught another flu and when he did he once again couldn’t breathe and has his eyes locked shut with crud. So I took him to the bathroom and turned the shower on hot and stood outside of the water with him and let steam fill up the room which helped open his sinuses up so he could breathe again and I dabbed all the crud off his eyes. After I did that he became more attached and more fond of me. He would cry for me whenever I left my apartment, he would go to the front door and scratch and yowl so loud you could hear it in the apartment halls. When I would come back home he would barrage me, and when I laid down he would immediately jump at the opportunity of pushing his paws into my gut or my chest and knead me before cuddling into my body and falling asleep, most specially, he would love pushing his purring face into my heart and listen to my heart beat.
Things job wise in Seattle at the time were shaky and I ended up having to move back to Atlanta, except my car blew an engine before I could leave which left me quite stiffed. I had to figure out a way to get back while also taking my cats. Flying at the time was going to be too expensive due to all the preliminary vet care needed, driving was impossible, but I didn’t give up. It turned out someone needed their vehicle delivered from Seattle to Orlando so I used it to relocate again, taking my cats with me back to Atlanta.
I had to crash with my mother / father. They didn’t have a very stable life and were constantly moving and consequently I had to move with them as I wasn’t able to find a decent paying job in ATL either at the time although that changed as time progressed. I took my cats everywhere we went even when things didn’t look like it was possible to take them. They grew an additional 6 years of age, mostly stable. Didn’t have any real conditions with them. Ginger always was my baby, would jump on my lap or knead into me or go to sleep with me and cuddle with me while I pet him to sleep. I felt that he was grateful by how much effort I kept into retaining him despite instability issues.
Things for me got better when I moved to Austin as I landed a much higher paying job. Of course my babies came with me and I settled in while spending a lot more time progressing my career. Finally Ginger and Marshmallow started experiencing health issues. Ginger specifically would not stop eating unless I took food away from him. I thought it was hyperthyroidism and had blood work done on him on multiple accounts and even sent it off to multiple labs but there was no trace. Later still I had X-rays done and nothing came up. He seemed insatiable. He was not like the cat I had before and he would gorge like I never fed him in his life. The vet said it may just be how he is, so I had been controlling his diet pretty strictly.
Later, back in our Atlanta property we found two feral cats, in a long story short I captured 2 of them because the neighboring businesses were having complaints about them and a few of them had been run over by cars, or captured by animal control. When I brought them back to Austin I had to spend a considerable amount of time socializing them which took time away from Ginger and Marshmallow. I still did spend as much time as I could with them. It took about a year for me to get the feral cats comfortable with me enough to allow me to pet them. Well anyway, one of them I have to keep in my bedroom, isolated because she isn’t friendly to other cats which greatly reduced the time Ginger and Marshmallow were able to sleep with me. I still made exceptions but had to do so with caution as to avoid cat fights.
Anyway, During last week, Ginger barged into my room. I figured if he wanted to be there so bad then let him come. He laid down with me and snuggled up and in my mind I heard a voice tell me ‘you should always make time to spend with them as you never know how much time you have left’ ... well a few days later he wanted to come in again but this time I didn’t let him because the maintenance involved with him and the feral and I was tired... finally the day after that I woke up and came to feed him and found him convulsing and he couldn’t seem to properly breath. I didn’t know what was going on so I took him to the vet and they told me because the symptoms they wanted to see him first... ...when they did they told me to come inside (even despite Covid) and showed me his XRays. His lungs were heavily compacted by fluid surrounding them making it impossible for them to expand when he breathes and only about 1/3rd of their size. They also found a tumor in his stomach and suspected cancer and it had most likely spread to other areas of his body. They were typically pro saving the animal but they said it had gone too far and it had most likely spread to other parts of his body and that he would likely die. I asked them how did this go unnoticed? They told me cats can hide a lot of pain and medical conditions. They gave me the option to try to save him or put him down. I didn’t want his elderly years to be filled with pain. I asked if I could see him...
When I saw him, he wasn’t the same. He was coughing out fluids and panting and struggling. They had him on oxygen and he was barely coherent. I petted him for a moment... I told them and gave them authorization to put him to sleep... I kept petting him and I told him I loved him while they loaded the lethal dose... and I kept telling him I love him while they injected. I held him tight and closed my eyes while promising I loved him while I slowly felt him die... I’ve never felt anything go from living to dead... but especially my baby... I was crushed ... it was like there was nothing after that. Like he just ceases to exist... I cried all day and the day after. I couldn’t go to work either. I’ve been praying for him all day hoping that he really is in heaven and after all this is over that I will be reunited with him. Going through pictures and memories. Every time I go out to the living room I can’t believe he’s gone. He seemed so normal just even a week ago. I never saw this coming.