patch

Patch was the first pet I ever had. I got him when I was only 23. He came from a pet store in Bowling Green. He was only 5 weeks old when I took him home and I was lucky enough to have him in my life for 16 years. This morning, we had to put him to sleep. It was so incredibly heartbreaking.

Last night, we found him under a table in the basement. He couldn't walk. He tried to get up but would just fall over. Steve and I couldn't remember the last time we saw him out, but it was just a few days ago. We get so caught up in the kids.. and Patch has been more isolated since he got older, so we didn't even notice he was missing. After we found him, I fed him and he ate like there was no tomorrow. And there wasn't. Not really.

I had a vet, who is a neighbor on our street, look at him. He suspected diabetes or kidney problems. He knew he was deydrated and highly recommended I bring him to the emergency clinic which is about 20 miles away. I left at 9pm. I was there for 2 hours. I could not be with him while they examined him. The doctor came back and said he likely had kidney problems. He was incredibly dehydrated and she also suspected heart problems and possibly a tumor or knotted up bowels. She strongly recommended he be put on an IV overnight. She came back with a proposed bill of somewhere between $600-$900. That does not include any of the blood tests and work-up they would do on him the next day. I was not convinced she was right, especially at his age and that price so I threw caution to the wind and took him home even though she had said he is likely to not make it through the night. We put a blanket in our jacuzzi tub with food and water and he slept there all night. True to form, he most certainly made it through the night, and was wide awake in the morning.

I took him to our vet. A brilliant man but socially, leaves a lot to be desired. But I trust every word that comes out of his mouth. He is not about making money like so many other vets and clinics are (especially the one I was at last night). He has always been dead-on with every diagnosis he has ever given any of our cats. He took him out of the carry case and put him on all 4s and he fell completely over to the right. He did this 3 times. The vet then said "did the doc, last night, tell you that your cat had a stroke?" No... she didn't. He was sure he had. He had no movement on the right side of his body. His breath smelled like urine which signals kidney failure. And he said he has a failing heart. No amount of IV fluids would have helped him. He told us we were lucky that many years ago, when we rehydrated him that he bounced back. He was not near in the condition, then, as he was in today. He was sure we would not be lucky this time and that it was time for him to go.

I sat with him and held him.... and then we made the extremely difficult decision to put him to sleep and we were by his side until the end. It was so difficult. He sedated him first. Like the cat he is - active, feisty, and with SUCH an attitude, he refused to be sedated. These qualities are what I loved most about him. He was so unlike any other cat.

Against all odds, he remained awake for quite some time.. and then he threw up a bit. His claws were deeply gripped onto the towel he laid on. After quite a bit of time went by I asked "shouldn't he be sedated by now?" The vet said " yea.... and OH.. about 1 in 500 cats can do that with their claws under sedation". He said a "normal" cat would be have been sedated by now and referred to Patch as some sort of a robot and suggested we might just want to replace his "parts". It was refreshing, for a minute, to laugh. It was so true! Patch was not a cat who would just roll over and die no matter how sick he was. It was good to see him in his true form. The vet then sedated him again and just a few minutes later, he put him to sleep. He was a feisty, attitude driven cat until he took his last breath.

I am going to miss him so much. Every little bit of my life as an "adult" has been spent with Patch. I feel so heartbroken.

RIP Patch. I'll never ever forget you....