06/30/2024
*Sigh* here’s the “what happened post”
😭😭😭😭😭😭
An update for those who wondering what happened to my beloved best friend. It’s a long one.
Last Tuesday, my mom came to visit me because it had been a couple years since she was here. I’ve been going through a lot personally and she knew I needed her. I kept telling Whiskey that grandma is coming to visit! And they absolutely adored each other. On Monday, the day before I had to drop my mom back off at the airport, Whiskey had a check up appointment (simple standard appointment to check out a little scab on his face that healed perfectly). he was perfectly himself, nothing out of the ordinary, always happy purring even at the vets. He had a slight teenie tiny ear infection which we got drops for. He’s always been a chunky boi (19.8lbs) so we were checking his weight too, he been on a diet since last August, yay he was at ~15lbs! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
He has been fine, besides a simple scratch on his face. And now a little ear infection. I took my mom to O’Hare and dropped her off at the airport on Tuesday. I came back exhausted from all of the activities and just wore out of energy, got in bed and snuggled Whiskey. (The video below in the comments is from this past Tuesday). Wednesday morning, he didn’t really want to eat his food, which I chucked up to giving him eardrops, which he wasn’t thrilled about, and he missed grandma. Wednesday night after work, he still didn’t want to eat, and still didn’t like his eardrops.
Thursday morning I woke up and he wasn’t sleeping with me, I know everyone says it’s hard to lose a pet, but he wasn’t my pet. He literally was my best friend. He has been with me through everything the last 10 years. He was the MAN that never abandoned me. If he could sleep inside of my body, he would. Smothered me with love. Waking up alone was extremely concerning. I found him on my bathroom floor lethargic I brought him a bowl of water and some canned food which he never turns down and ate a little. I went to work called my vet and said somethings wrong, but my vet was in surgery and they would give him a note to call back. I started googling side effects from the eardrops thinking that with the timeframe it could be that. It’s not likely he was allergic to the eardrops, but vertigo could have been a cause. Which would make sense why he wasn’t moving a lot and maybe he was just too stressed to eat or drink.
Friday morning around 3 AM. I woke up and couldn’t find Whiskey, he was in my closet in the dark and very lethargic. I picked them up and put them on my bed, he immediately jumped down and laid right next to me on the floor. We both went back to sleep. I woke up around 7 AM again and waited until 8 AM until my vet opened. I immediately called and said something really wrong. He needs to be seen. My vet was in surgery again, and all emergency appointments had been filled that day.
Panicked I called every Vet in our area and no one would see him so I called Madison Veterinary Specialists. They told me there was a four hour wait but to come in. I immediately packed him up and drove him there right away. I remember thinking the worst it could be is cancer, and how amazing oncology is for animals now that we have a chance. But deep down I remember asking the universe and God out loud on the drive there as it was raining… What is this lesson, what are you trying to teach me? Something told me I wasn’t coming home with him. Within 20 minutes, they triage him. The last time I heard him, his meow didn’t even sound like him. 😭
They came in and said they don’t think it has anything to do with his ears that we needed to run bloodwork and a urinalysis. I said do what you need to do. An hour a half later the vet comes in and I sensed it. And the look on her face. I started crying and I said what’s wrong? How bad is it?
She said Whiskey is an undiagnosed diabetic and in DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). As well as one ther verge of liver failure. I can’t tell you if it’s fortunate, or unfortunate, but I do have some veterinary knowledge. Because as soon as she said, I knew, I was leaving without my best friend. 😭😭😭
I don’t know why I was hopeful, but I still asked for an estimate and what if. She gave me an estimate of $6.5k-$8.9k. Which would include him being there in hospital for 5 to 7 days, hooked up to many catheters, and getting constant blood draws every two hours from his throat. And even if he beat it, the prognosis isn’t great.
Whiskey wouldn’t understand why he didn’t have his mommy, why he was getting stabbed, and alone in choas. He’s only ever been with me. And I couldn’t let him suffer through that. DKA is pretty much a death sentence to cats and even if he did beat the odds, he wouldn’t understand why mommy has to poke him for the rest of his life. It would’ve been so selfish of me, for me, to put my best friend in the whole world through that.
I’m still struggling with guilt, how did I not know? And I just keep looking back at Monday, and coming home Tuesday and him just always being there for me. His weight loss was on purpose. He was on a diet. He’s always loved water, literally always. So there wasn’t a noticeable change in water intake. My vet ended up, calling me back after surgery around 3:30 Friday, and asked what’s going on, when can you guys come in? I completely lost it bawling, and I told him I had to put them down that morning. Him as confused as me after just seeing how he was on Monday asked what happened. Nobody’s fault, Whiskey just knew that with everything that I’ve been through the last couple years and I was strong I have become whether I wanted to or not, but he was confident that I don’t need my rock anymore. 😭 I didn’t ask my vet, but I do know him at a personal level after working with him, he apologized profusely, and he said Christine, with that diagnosis you did the most humble thing for him. And all I could choke out was “I know”.
He had known, for the last month that grandma was coming. He absolutely loved my mom. And I think he needed me to know that I will be OK. But he wanted to see grandma one more time. I am so devastated. Every day waking up as hard without his purring alarm clock. Every single night for the last probably four or five years he’s had this little mousy, he never played like a cat, but would always bring me his mouse to play fetch with him, it was the only “toy” he likes (besides my hair ties), in the middle of the night, he would get down and bring me his mousey in bed and I have woken up with a mouse in the crack of my back for at least four years now. He always wanted me to wake up with him and his toy. If he knows I’m gonna be okay, I owe it to him to trust him. Just not right now. I am not okay. But he would have never left me otherwise.
