And then there were three...

[Lili Von Shtupp]

Baby died in hospital Saturday night. On Christmas Day he collapsed. A blood test showed his vital organs were all over the board, and x-ray showed some sort of fluid filled his chest.

Three weeks prior he'd gone in for an ingrown claw problem and received an antibiotic injection for it. The claw had been healing nicely, and the follow-up appointment was made for the new year so nothing raised alarms for me. With all the rushing around for the holidays, I have to admit, I wasn't as observant of these cats as I normally would have been. The best explanation the vet had for his collapse was that the infection from the claw had spread in his body, but he couldn't be sure, he also suspected there may have been an underlying diabetes problem.

I've been taking it really hard because it was just so out-of-the-blue. He was only seven, and I'm just not prepared for this at such a youngish age. Having found him dumped at 10 days old, I really felt like his mommy. In recent years he suffered from mental illness, what the vet believed was obsessive compulsive disorder that made him highly anxious and afraid of everyone and everything in the world, except for me - he spent most of his time squirreled away in our master bedroom, waiting for me to come to bed at night to cuddle. He was the sweetest, gentlest cat.

So my resolution for 2010 is to get my two other adult cats in for general health screenings and to stick to it annually - I have appointments for Kitten and Guy one week from today.

[daffodil]

Sorry to hear it Lili,

[FurBaby]

i'm so sorry Lilli

you gave Baby a wonderful life, and it sounds to me like he's had 25 years of love in his 7 years of life.

all the best for Kitten and Guy's checkups, and do let us know how it goes with them.

[Pinklepurr]

Oh Lily, how sad. At least you gave him so much love in his short life, and obviously he appreciated it.

Big hugs to you, it's a hard time...

[Lili Von Shtupp]

Thanks so much for the thoughts. Give all your furry friends a big hug today!

[FurBaby]

i have, Lili, i have