The Big Storm was Sunday, September 14. As of last night 13,000 people in our area still had no power. (At least that's way down from 180,000) Our neighbors across the street finally got theirs turned on last night. Who would have thought we would have a hurricane in Ohio?
Our family was fortunate, as I said in my last post, but we still had quite a bit of drama. Betsey has been cat sitting for a friend of ours who is visiting friends in China for 3 weeks. She goes every day. The power was off in his house until Sunday the 21st. Unfortunately we didn't think about his food spoiling until his power had been off for 4 days. Jim and Betsey went over and cleaned out and scrubbed his refrigerator and freezer.
Where most of the drama came from was with his cats--Proctor and Gamble. Proctor just doesn't like Betsey and either hisses at her or runs the other way. Gamble at least let Betsey pet her. This last Sunday afternoon when Betsey went over there, Gamble didn't look good. If she stood up she was very wobbly. Betsey thought she might be dehydrated for some reason, but couldn't get her to drink.
She called me and said she really thought Gamble should be seen by a vet. Fortunately I had the phone number of an emergency vet who was open on weekends and after hours. Jim and Betsey took Gamble over there and found out she was in end-stage kidney failure. Her blood work was off the charts. The vet said they could do some procedures but they would be expensive and wouldn't really work very well. He did inject a bunch of fluid under her skin so even if she didn't drink she would feel a little better. He said it would last only about 10 hours though.
The Vet said that this had been coming on for quite some time. She was only 9 years old. For some cats that's old, and for others it's not. Perhaps the stress of having her "daddy" gone, and having such a violent storm and then being without lights for a week, was just too much for her.
We brought her home here and fixed a box padded with towels in the kitchen. Betsey tried valiantly much of the evening and the next day to get her to drink with an eye dropper, and tried to get some liquid food into her, but she just wasn't having it. She just got weaker and weaker.
Gamble passed away during the night Monday night. Betsey checked on her about 1:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. She was still warm then, but limp, and Betsey knew she was gone. She tenderly closed Gamble’s eyes and mouth and positioned her body comfortably. She was in a sweet, relaxed position when I checked on her at 3:30. Betsey was still awake at that time, because she just didn't want to go to sleep. We hugged and cried and talked, and hugged some more. Then she was ready to settle down for the night. It was sad but sweet. We’re sorry Gamble couldn’t hang on, but this was best for her.
Later in the day when Betsey went to check on Proctor and feed him, he meowed at her. She explained to him what happened to Gamble and that his "daddy" would be home in a week. She told him she could pet him if he would like, but he hissed at her. Proctor still just doesn’t like her. Betsey hopes he won’t die of a broken heart before our friend gets home
4 comments:
How sad! Not that it would be cheap, but the friend didn't leave a phone number to call them, did he? That is just awful.
Oh, that is so sad. Poor kitties.
And poor Betsey!
Dearest Betsey,
I can only imagine how depressed you must be after the loss of Gamble.Even though he was not your pet, I know you cared for him with the gentleness and warmth you show everyone, including animals. Our Bichon Frisè, Arielle, just turned 7 in August. Don and I adore her, and she is great company with Don being gone so much. I cannot imagine losing her; the thought frightens and saddens me. Often I think of you and hope you are truly feeling well and enjoying life. Take care.
With warmest regards and much affection,
Mrs. Russell-Rader
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