Our sweet little Buddy met Jesus this morning after her health issues needed to be addressed. Even from this summer's bloodwork and tests, she had gone down hill significantly. Even the morphine like drug wasn't helping her anymore. There have been vet visits in the past that I felt would be "the one" but, she pulled through. When I took her for shots and a mani pedi yesterday, in the back of my mind I thought...maybe, because she had some good days, especially with Roy and remembering my mom how she had some daisy days before she passed away, I just wondered if that is what we had experienced with Buddy. Last week her cries were painful ones and when I would go to her, she would whimper. After consulting with Dr Sarah, we chose 8:00 am this morning. She gave her a pain med injection to help her rest. Ha! The joke was on us, cause Buddy never shut her eyes in sleep last night. She stayed awake the whole night, thus I was awake all night but it was a privilege to sit with her, pet and comfort her. She sat on my lap or under my neck, just like she used to do as a kitten. She left twice for a potty break, I took advantage and grabbed a few minutes of shut eye. When we first arrived home, she just sat by her water dish. She would drink a little but it was as if she had forgotten how to drink water. She did the same at her treats and her food dish. Dr Sarah believes Buddy had a tumor or growth in the upper part of her gastrointestinal track. She had lost so much muscle mass, her red blood cells were down even more than in the summer, her blood pressure up, her back legs were giving out and her gait leaned a lot to the right. She ran everywhere, kind of like Edith Bunker from All in the Family. Must have thought the quicker I arrive, the less pain there will be.
I cannot say enough good about Appalachian Animal Hospital. Megan, who took the calico now named Dorothy, was the tech who assisted. What a gift from the Lord. Dr Sarah explained everything, how it would happen. And she gave us time together before she gave the morphine shot to Buddy. Buddy went into her carrier but then tried to make her way to me but her legs were giving out. I picked her up and she laid her head on my arm like she has done so many times before all this pain. She had started sleeping with her head up as if her spine hurt. Shaved a little fur and administered the shot. I couldn't look, heck I don't look when I get a shot. She was gone in seconds. The vet said, Buddy was ready to go and I have that assurance that we made the right decision for her.
When I came home, The Feral Fam were all sitting in a row by the fence, like they were waiting and knew something. They were fed early this morning and by this time of day only the ones who stick around are here with all the others scattered to the wind. They sat and watched me walk to the gate, then most of them came into the garage. I went into the house and got the good stuff. Now The Feral Fam gets the good stuff when it comes to wet food, but dry, I try to find what is on sale. To celebrate Buddy's long life and even though she considered them her mortal enemies, I fed them some filet mignon Fancy Feast dry food. All that could be heard in the garage was the crunching sound of dry food be wolfed down. Cali, Riley, and HP probably met her once she crossed over. Now they can be friends and get along.
Writing is how I process my feelings and probably in the coming days I'll be writing about Buddy. Truthfully, she started out with an attitude, big personality and a temper. She could be so cranky and grumpy. I was her human and she loved Roy, but not as much. She kindly let him sleep with us. 😊 She was notorious for getting angry and waiting till I was asleep to take a swipe at me for the payback.
I was so happy she made it to her 16th birthday this year. We share the same birthday, but she got older faster. Sweet Sixteen.
Buddy was consistent in that September is usually when she would use one of her nine lives and scare the heck out of me. She came into our family in September 2005. I had just gone back to work after a hysterectomy had kept me out for about six weeks. Lisa Lewis posted a pic in an email to the staff and said she had one male kitten to give away. She brought him to meet me at the office and it was love at first sight, for me. About a week later, Lisa dropped him off at our condo. Dena was there that evening and she got to help welcome kitty kitty too. No name as of yet. After Dena left and Roy was on the computer, I sat there with this little gray ball of fur sitting on my lap, going through names from To Kill a Mockingbird and such. I said out loud, well no matter the name, you'll be my Buddy. The name fit even after his/her identity was discovered.
Buddy rescued me at one of the lowest times in my life and she helped me through that deep depression. After my heart diagnosis and waiting for Hurricane Ike to arrive and leave, she never left my side except for short potty or food breaks. She'd come back and crawl the best she could underneath my chin and eventually she had to settle for sleeping on my right arm.
Just one more story for today...maybe, after her first vet visit, they gave me some shampoo. To give her a bath to knock off any residue of fleas. That little one shook so hard and crawled out of the towel to get, you guessed it, under my neck. She has had baths through the years, but professional ones, not any from me. I wrote about Tuesday, giving her a bath and just like before, she crawled up as best she could underneath my neck and shook just a bit. It dawned on me, we had come full circle. Getting her cleaned up for the vet visit because in the back of my mind, I knew.
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