Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Duncan is dead :-(

Hi there all -- *(or whomever still reads this blog). I had to put my oldest cat, Duncan, down tonight. :-( I probably should have yesterday but then the vet told me they would do blood work and call me today with the results, and he gave me anti-biotics to give him in case the problem was an infection. Frankly, I am NOT at all happy with how the vets ended up handling things. They SAID they would call today but they never did and then when I called them for the blood work results they just kept giving me excuse after excuse as to why they didn't have the results. I had to call a lot and be on hold a lot and even call the vet I saw yesterday over at a diff office (where he was today) THEN they didn't even FAX him the test results when they said they were doing so --"The fax machine was broken" ... and the "blood test machine was broken" yesterday, ... and "The Dr wasn't here today" (but they already KNEW he wasn't going to be there ... and then the Dr who WAS in was soooo busy today (well, again, that is THEIR mis-management - not mine). Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. .... And "she can't read the other Dr's writing" etc etc ..... all to FINALLY get the blood test results that Duncan should be put down. :-( I could have saved Duncan one more day and night of suffering if I had put him down when I took him to the vets yesterday!
Also, by the time I finally got the blood work test results -- I couldn't FIND Duncan! He had gone off to hide (as cats often do when they don't feel well) somewhere in my apt but where???? He wasn't coming when I was calling him, even when I opened a can of food (the other two cats chowed down). I thought maybe he had hidden somewhere in the diningroom where the last care-giver (two years ago) had stacked all this stuff (making it virtually impossible to even get IN there) ... but after searching around -- I didn't find him in any of the places he could have hid in the diningroom. Since he was not meowing or making any noise when I called him, I truely felt that at this point I was searching the apt for a dead cat. :-(
Thank goodness/God ... my sis in law (who came over to help -- Bless her) and I finally found him alive, in the bedroom. (Hiding in a small square lower bookshelf. Poor little guy) :-( At this point I had mixed feelings about whether I should be taking him to be put to sleep or if it would be better for him if I could just let him peacefully go to sleep in my arms here at home. I wanted to do the later but I also didn't want him to be suffering..... Fortunately I am now VERY glad that I took him to the vets (a diferent one btw) because the Dr said that with Kidney failure -- an animal doesn't neccessarily have a peaceful death -- that more likely he would be nauseous and then even having seizures. (Well I definitely would not like him to go through that!) Soooo, hopefully I did the right thing ... altho it is hard to leave the apt WITH a cat and then come home without one. I am sure it will hit me later -- I think I am numb about it now. I had him 16 years! From October of 1992 'til November of 2008. It will be hard having him gone. :-( Poor Duncan! I will miss him.
On a hopefully more optomistic note. I am glad for the results of the election for turning out as they did (despite my whole family voting the opposite of how I voted). I sure HOPE that the new President can turn this country around and try to undo so much of the damage that the Bush administration did (IMO). Still, Obama is "inheriting" an awful lot on his plate - I am not sure one man/administration will be ABLE to fix things. And my brother is now talking about leaving the country (which scares the heck out of me -- I don't want my brother to move) I just hope that the coming changes are GOOD changes (I know -- "good" is very subjective). For as we know, we can have CHANGES and not neccessarily have the changes be for the better. (and of course, many people probably have many different ideas of what "better" would be).
I just hope we survive as a country and that the dollar can survive. I hope we can find new and cleaner energy sources, and I hope that we can take better care of animals and the Earth than we have been. I hope we can strive for peace both within the country and around the world but I also hope that we can avoid being blown up and/or killed off from biological warfare.
I guess I still am a dreamer .... I hope that these next 20 to 30 years can/will be better than my brother (and so many others) are feeling that they will be. Bless the animals and the people of the world. Bless the little kitties. Bless you, Duncan, whereever you are. =^..^=

7 comments:

Wildstar Beaumont said...

I am very sorry about Duncan, Aurora. I was very close to a friend a few years ago during the last days her beloved cat and I learned a lot about them from her tales, despite the fact that I never had one. Mostly I learned that the little fellows have a lot of dignity and when they suffer they do not like to be around and show themselves. So, I am sure you did the right thing, sparing him a lot of lonely suffering.

**tight hugs**

Anonymous said...

I am sorry Aurora. It is very hard to say goodbye to a pet, I have had to do it myself far too many times - but I agree that you did the right thing too.

Be well my friend... (((Hugs!)))

AuroraSkye said...

Thank you so much both of you! I sure appreciate the hugs etc. I really do miss the little bugger. :-( I think the girls (the other two catlets) may be wondering where he is as well but of course, I don't know that for sure. I just hope that Duncan can forgive me for not taking him to the vets when he first STARTED to lose weight. I just put it down to his age and didn't take him to the vets as long as he was eating, and purring etc.

NOW I am wondering if I could have prevented his kidneys from giving out if I had had him checked out WAYYYYYY back when he first started losing weight (at least 6 months ago = probably even a year ago) :-( Maybe it would have been easily cured back then with anti-biotics or something. I think I would do things differently now. (Please forgive me, Duncan)

And ty both, Wild and Mykyl. Hugsssss!!!

FD Spark said...

I bet Duncan was just happy for wonderful years he had with you and didn't blame you for anything.
I know I felt bad when my kitty died, I felt guilt,etc but I did the best I could and I know she loved me and she knew I loved her.
And Duncan I know loved you, blueberry and taichi in his own way too.

AuroraSkye said...

Awww ty so much, FD. I know your catlet loved you too. I DO love cats (and the other pets that share our homes and our lives) I wonder if Tai Chi and Blueberry are missing Duncan. I would think they must be but it is a bit hard to tell. I know that Blue sure seemed to miss my sugar glider, Critter, when I found a new home for him (with other sugar gliders). I think she and Critter were kind of pals (even tho I wouldn't have left her alone with him unsupervised). lol

PS: The word verification is a funny one today == SNWORTS! LOLOL Sounds like that would be a funny name for a kitten or something. "Come here, Snworts! Here kitty kitty, Snworts!" (I guess it has finally happened -- I've lost my mind) lol

FD Spark said...

Mine was the other day bosess but I guess I was too slow.
Todays is anagambo that could be nice pet name too. Here Anagambo! Stop that Anagambo!
Going to bed today. I feel crappy and SL was being annoying when I was their briefly.

AuroraSkye said...

LOLOL That was good, FD. Anagambo! That would be a good pet name! LOL I guess I will have to come here to BLOG to find out what to name my next pet!

Grins!