Tiedye
August 25, 1998 - July 19, 2015
Tiedye's health began to decline a few months ago; a vet trip for a bladder infection also turned up thyroid and kidney problems. She was put on medication for the infection and the thyroid, and seemed to be holding pretty steady until she sustained some sort of injury to her front leg, causing her to walk with a limp. It was not a break, apparently, but a result of weakening ligaments that made the leg appear to bend in the wrong place. Then a few days ago, her appetite, which was already pretty low, dwindled to practically nothing, and I noticed that her breathing seemed to be increasingly labored. It was like she was constantly purring, but not in a good way. She seemed uncomfortable. Yesterday morning, when she laid down in the hallway and was clearly struggling to breathe, and wouldn't even touch water, canned tuna, or catnip, I knew things were bad.
I called the vet that had been treating Tiedye to see if she had any appointments available. She didn't, but the kindly person who answered the phone said, "let me tell her who you are and ask if she can fit you in today anyway." And she could. We showed up for our 1:15 appointment and they immediately took Tiedye back for a "stability check", and put me in an exam room. When Dr. Kim came in to talk to me, the look on her face said it all. Tiedye's heart did not sound good, and she may have had fluid in her lungs. We decided to do a set of X-rays, which revealed even worse news: some sort of mass in front of her heart (possibly a tumor or an enlarged lymph node) which was actually pushing up on her trachea. We had done X-rays back in May, too, and the change between then and now was pretty dramatic. So we could proceed with more tests, surgery, chemo, with no guarantees... or we could let her go.
So it was time to make that impossible decision. It was hard enough with Praline, and he was quite literally on death's door. Tiedye was clearly sick and uncomfortable, but she was conscious. She was looking at me. I took a long time, just sitting in that room with her. I could have taken her back home with me for one last night, but in the end I decided that it was time. It was awful. I know anyone who's been through it can relate. The vet, who was wonderful throughout the whole process, said she was behind my decision 100%, and that I was making the compassionate choice for my cat. I am so thankful to her for her honesty and empathy, for not sugar-coating anything or pushing aggressive treatments, and for fitting me into her busy schedule and letting me stay for as long as I wanted. Dr. Michele Kim (and the kindly receptionist) at VCA Bay Area - thank you.
