RIP Greystone, our cat

[HeadphoneAddict]

So, in July 2011 my father-in-law passed away, and we inherited his 12 year old cat, Greystone. Greystone was frightened by the ambulance and the police and ran off that day, and it took 3 weeks for my brother-in-law to lure him back into the house. My wife's siblings were unable to keep the cat, so we agreed to take him.

When we picked him up he was in poor health, with a mouth full of rotten teeth and he was malnourished and all skin and bone, weighing about 7 lbs. We took him to the vet whom we've used for 6 years with our other pets, and Greystone had to have all of his remaining teeth pulled. We nursed him back to health but he couldn't gain weight. He had normal thyroid tests but was diagnosed with early inset renal failure, and placed on a special kidney disease diet and benazapril. Nevertheless, over the past two years his renal function has gotten worse on his blood work.

He never did gain much weight, but for the past two years he was a happy old cat, being affectionate and loving attention from everyone. We all fell in love with him, especially my son, and the cat would sleep with him every night. About a month ago Greystone seemed dehydrated and had dropped from 7.5 lbs to 6.7 lbs, so the vet gave him some subcutaneous fluids and he perked up for a couple of weeks.

But about 10 days ago he started sleeping more and being less active, until late Thursday night when he seemed listless and would not eat, and he was very wobbly when he tried to walk. We were able to get him to drink an ounce, and forced another 2 ounces down him with a syringe, so he perked up and ate a tablespoon of moist cat food. We all went to bed, but he wasn't feeling much better the next morning.

So I called the vet and got an appointment for 2pm to get him some fluids. But after weighing him we find that he'd dropped from 7.6 lbs (weight after last fluids a month ago) to only 5.6 lbs! He was also hypothermic (97 degrees too low for a cat), and after examining him the vet said that he only had maybe one more day to live, and that he was likely suffering from a very high blood urea nitrogen.

We spoke at length and she didn't think there was anything we could do to extend his life, and she felt that it was time to put him down. She said that giving him fluids today would only delay the inevitable for a day. I had a friend pick up my son after school and bring him to the vet, and we gave him the options, and we all agreed on euthanasia as the most humane option. Ben didn't want to stay for the injection, or keep the ashes because he thought it would haunt him.

So, tonight has been miserable for the family, with lots of tears and regrets (we had them do a paw print in clay as a momento but my son is paranoid that we needed several as a backup in case it breaks). He usually can't sleep without his cat. Prior to Greystone his previous cat got outside and never came back, at a time when we had coyotes roaming the neighborhood, and Ben slept on the couch for over a year! I hope that doesn't happen again.

So, I raise my head-case brandy snifter to the sky, and salute Greystone the cat, for over two wonderful years. We will miss you so much...

[Torpedo]

Sorry for your loss, Larry.

[Dreadhead]

RIP Greystone. Sorry Larry.

[Salt Peanuts]

RIP Greystone.

[raffy]

Sorry for your loss, Larry. RIP Greystone.

[skullguise]

RIP Greystone, sorry for your family's loss Larry.  Sounds like he had a decent extended life with lots of love for those two years.....

[agile_one]

Rip Greystone. Sympathies to you and the family, Larry.

[swt61]

Rip Greystone.

[Dusty Chalk]

Condolences, Larry, and to your son.  You did good keeping him alive for as long as you did, and it was probably the right decision -- I still feel an occasional pang of guilt not putting Luvbug out of her misery.

[Pars]

Rip Greystone

[morphsci]

Condolences to you and your son Larry. R.I.P. Greystone.

[Hopstretch]

Sorry Larry.

[n_maher]

Rip Greystone. Sympathies to you and the family, Larry.

This.

[dsavitsk]

Sorry to hear, Larry.

[shellylh]

RIP Greystone. 

[The Monkey]

Rip greystone. Sorry for your loss, Larry.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Thanks everyone, we appreciate it. It's not much easier to deal with today. We picked this momento up from the vet, his paw print in clay.

[Augsburger]

Sorry for your loss Larry.  Greystone looked like a very sweet kitty.

[morphsci]

That is a cool momento Larry. I wish we had done that for our pets.

[Aimless1]

RIP Greystone.  Sorry for you loss Larry.  

[boomana]

Great little kitty.  RIP Greystone.  

[Absorbine_Sr]

Sorry for your loss Larry. Take some solace in the fact that you gave Greystone two years of happy life he may not otherwise have had.