Au Revoir, my sweet little friend

Yesterday was what I would call Black Saturday. Our family, my husband, son Tim, daughter Red, and I had to say our goodbyes to Avalanche. With Avalanche's illness of kidney failure this poor little guy dealt with so many more complications, all working against him. He was such a trooper and fought hard to get better. But the odds were against him, and we are now suffering the loss and missing the sweetest, most even tempered cat in our world. The other cats in our household are also feeling the loss. And they, too, are grieving in their own way. Avalanche was one of three siblings living here. Misty and Midnight are his sisters, and Tornado was his buddy. Red watched Avalanche and his sisters being born, and this was probably the hardest thing she had to do in her life by letting him go. Please visit Red's blog to read her memoir on Avalanche.

Avalanche was only 12 years old. I know, many of you are probably thinking that he lived a good life. And yes, he did. But he is gone much too soon. I have mentioned in a previous post that when Red left home to attend KU she had to leave one of her three cats behind because she was only permitted to have two cats living with her in her apartment. A few months previous to her leaving home we had experienced saying goodbye to our first cat, Kitty.

Knowing I was temporarily "losing" my daughter who is also my friend, and losing her cats, I was facing an empty house. So shortly before she left town, we went to the Humane Society and "found" and adopted Tornado. Avalanche and Tornado totally bonded and became what we have called "best buds."
Please go read Red's post about our sweet little fur ball. I will deeply miss my furry little alarm clock. Avalanche was better than any mechanical alarm clock. When he was younger Avalanche would retrieve items. You could toss a cat toy and Avalanche would bring it back so you could toss it again and he could chase after it and bring it back again. Avalanche would also drag long pieces of chain around and lay it at our feet. That was usually his way of communicating to us that he wanted our attention.

Avalanche was the only cat who would lick my face. He was so loving, so communicative, so social, and so loyal. This cat has been one of a kind and will not easily be forgotten.

I have a couple of videos of Avalanche, too. But I think I will save those for another post.

Au Revoir my sweet little friend, my little "love bunny."

Pet care challenges

Pet care has been a challenge this past week. In particular, this has been a week of wondering what to do and waiting for test results. Last Friday morning I found that Avalanche, my furry little alarm clock did not wake me as usual telling me to feed him and the other cats. When I found him lying in the cat bed he did not want to move, even after I asked him if he was hungry. He really did not look well, but I thought maybe he'll be better in a little while. Well, unfortunately, Avalanche did not eat Friday morning or in the evening, and still did not move around much. By Friday evening I realized something was seriously wrong, but that is not the time to try and call the vet. Saturday morning and evening was still the same. So this little guy did not eat or drink any water for two days. Now it's time to "worry."

So Sunday morning I told Red that we need to take him to emergency vet services. We both knew he was severely dehydrated and needed some help. So while we were at church Sunday morning our son took him to emergency for us and we met him there. Avalanche had not been seen yet, so we all waited until his name was called.

Upon examination and getting answers from all three of us the vet said she could feel an enlarged left kidney and said it was probably renal failure or could possibly be a form of cancer. That's all I had to hear. It was only a year ago we had to deal with losing our husky, Kody, to hemangiosarcoma. I wasn't ready to deal with anything like that again! So tests were taken and we would have to wait until Monday or Tuesday before getting the results and they would also be sent to our regular vet. Meanwhile they could give him some fluids and we would have to call our vet to bring him in ASAP for a follow-up exam.

Our regular vet wasn't in on Monday, so we had an appointment at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The results from the lab for the tests taken on Sunday pointed to kidney disease. Avalanche's blood and urine count numbers were high, but not gravely high. Thank goodness. The worst "number" is his creatinine, and we have to get that number down before they do an ultrasound on him. This would be to "eliminate" a possibility of cancer. Meanwhile, we have to "pump" this little guy with 150cc of electrolytes/fluids each day until the bag is empty. My husband and I were given a demonstration on how to do it, but I wanted Red to do it because I knew she could handle "sticking" Avalanche with a big fat needle. I knew I couldn't do it without feeling like I was hurting him. (And to think I work in a hospital. No wonder I'm a librarian and not a nurse!) Anyway, we tried getting the fluids into Avalanche Wednesday evening, but we were not successful. So in desparation I called the vet's office Thursday morning and asked if I could bring Avalanche in and get a second demonstration and make sure Red was there to see how it's done. We all met there in the afternoon, and Red felt confident enough that she could do it.

So our second attempt was last night (Friday), and I'm glad to say it went very well. We had to do it again tonight and it also went well. It's amazing how resilient these little kitties can be. Right now, as long as Avalanche receives these fluids on a daily basis he seems to be acting more like himself. We have also had to put him on a different food than the other kitties; he's now eating k/d feline (vet prescribed, made by Hill Science Diet). I think one of my biggest concerns about Avalanche was that several years ago he was diagnosed as FIV positive. So we've known that as long as he was neutered and lived as an indoor-only cat, we knew he would be healthier and live a reasonably long life. So at the age of 12 I would expect this cat should still be able to live at least until he's 15. Well, let's hope! Viva la Avalanche!

**As a post script, I have linked Red's blog to all three posts she wrote on Avalanche.**