8/18/2023 - Good-Bye Steve

 

It breaks my heart to tell my friends that I said good-bye to Steve on Wednesday. I called the vet because his respiration rate was elevated and he just wasn't his usual perky self. He'd been a bit clingy the evening before, sitting and sleeping close even though it was a warm day and night. Because the vet didn't have any open appts on her schedule I dropped Steve off for radiographs of his heart and lungs. The vet called me later to say that Steve had a temperature, was anemic and had a high white blood cell count and that, upon physical exam, she'd found a mass in his abdomen. She also said that she and the other vet on staff, weren't able to determine the origin of the mass. Time for the hard discussion . . . because of the fragility of his heart, surgical interventions were never an option and giving him high doses of antibiotics to see if the symptoms could be alleviated was also risky with no assurance that it would be helpful. Time for the hard decision . . . I had promised Steve back in January, when he was diagnosed with CHF, that I would do everything possible to make sure he didn't suffer, not even one day, so rather than bring him home and cry all night, I chose to go to the vet hospital and be with him as he crossed the rainbow bridge. Steve had perked up and was happy to see me and the treats I brought (I even brought some gravy from the cat food). He'd allowed the vet staff to place a catheter in his leg before I arrived so after treats and kisses the vet administered the anesthesia and then the euthanasia solution. The Dr. cried with me as Steve died peacefully in my arms. I love you, Steve.