Conference misery::feline

                                  
    
    
    				1
    
    
    Len,
    
    	I had a Siamese cat that lived to the age of 21 human years.  She
    finally died of kidney failure.  Several times I brough her to my vet
    becuase Mai-ling would be de-hydrated -symptoms as you described in
    your note.  Each time, Mai-ling received water (saline solution???) 
    subcutaneously (I think), and she repsonded well to this treatment.  
    Plenty of fresh water was available for her to drink at all times.  
    
    My vet said that I could 'put her down', because I may have to keep 
    bringing her in repeated times for the treatment.  I opted to keep up
    treatment.  I didn't have the heart to put her to sleep.  The vet said 
    that my cat was not in pain to naturally die this way (I forgot what 
    the technical term for this type of gradual kidney failure was), so I 
    decided to continue with the treatment, which was ocassional over a two - 
    three year period.  Eventually, Mai-ling died peacefully one afternoon at 
    home.  I knew that she was dying and she was comforted throughout the
    afternoon with a lot of TLC from me.
    
    Eleanor

    Hi Len,
    
    I'll keep my fingers crossed for Chunky.  It is such a hard thing to go
    through.  I'm sure Sandy will do what is best for him..
    
    Best wishes,
    
    *joyce

    
    Merlin (my 18 year old) has tired kidneys and has been in several times
    for subcutaneous fluids (mostly when he's stopped eating for other
    reasons, like when he caught the URI that the kittens brought home with
    them and he got a sore throat and laryngitis).  He's always rebounded
    well.  Chunky looks much worse off though (and his bloodwork results
    were much worse than Merlin's), so while I'm not ready to give up on him,
    I'm also prepared for the worst.
    
    Well, as prepared as one can be.  I've known him since Sandy adopted him
    as a wee kitten, and she will rely heavily on my advice, since I went
    through this a few years back with Wabbit.  "Chunks" is an old friend of
    mine and I will try to look out for *his* best interests rather than
    ours.  He's certainly not as bad off as Wabbit was in her final days
    (she had almost total kidney failure, diabetes, and recurring bladder
    infections, but she was such a fighter that we hung in there until it
    was clearly not fair to her any longer).
    
    len.

    Len,
    I am sorry to read about Chunky, please tell Sandy I send best wishes.
    It is not difficult at all to give sub-q fluids.  It is called Ringers
    Lactate and comes in plastic pouches.  You would get a syring from the 
    vet that hopefully will be able to hold the proper amount of cc's
    needed each time.  Hint:  if you have to give more than 30cc's at a
    time it is quicker if it is a larger guage needle.  It is painless
    to the cat.  Good luck....
    Karen

    Len..best wishes to Chunky too!!!  But believe me...nobody had
    looked as bad as Mr. Meow looked when we first brought him home.
    He went from 12 pounds...to 5 pounds and was just skin and bones.
    His backbone and ribs showed completely and his back legs could
    no longer hold him up.   His eyes were totally sunk in..he had
    stopped eating...and his fur was like hay and was turning rusty 
    red.  (ask Yonee...he looked like death??)
    
    But...for some darn reason Mr. Meow still wasn't ready to give up
    and has completely turned around once again.   I know someday Mr.
    Meow won't have the strength or will to live....but this time
    around he wasn't ready to give up.
    
    Please keep us posted...and give both Sandy and Chunky a hug!!
    
    Sandy   

    I can sure vouch for how bad Mr. Meow looked a while back! I couldn't
    believe he was still fighting! Now his fur is SSOOOO soft, and he's
    such a love bug! What a guy!
    
    Len, I know you and Sandy will make the right decision based on how
    Chunky is doing, and the test results from the vet. You'll know when
    the time is right. 
    
    Please give my best to Sandy, and hugs to everyone in your households!
    My thoghts are with you.
    
     Love,
    
    Yonee

    Best wishes ...
    
    
    ken and karen
    

    How is Chunky this morning and what was the prognosis at the Dr's 
    office?
    
    Keeping fingers/paws crossed that everything is okay.
    
    Marilyn
    

    
    There's some "sort of good" news, but mostly we're waiting to hear about
    the results of the blood work tommorrow morning.
    
    The good news (which actually isn't that good because it makes Chunky's
    decline that much more precipitous) is that Sandy misunderstood what
    Dr. Stuer told her during Chunky's last visit; she thought when he told
    her that by the time cats show overt symptoms of kidney failure they
    have lost about 75% of their kidney function that he meant Chunky had
    lost 75% of his kidney function.  As it turns out, the blood work done
    then showed that he had lost some kidney function, but not enough to be
    concerned about.
    
    However, he's down from 12 pounds to 8.4, and he looks terrible.  His
    magnificent grey coat is reddish and tattered.  His eyes still sparkle,
    and he's still friendly "up to a point", but the examination was not
    encouraging.  He's presenting all the classic symptoms of kidney
    failure - weight loss, appetite loss, irregular kidney shape, ammonia
    on the breath.  In addition, he has some mouth sores, and if I recall
    correctly from the Cornell book, that and seizures can be symptomatic of
    kidney failure.  This was his second seizure in six months (he's never
    had one before).  He's never had any medical problems 'til now (he's led
    a charmed life since the day he showed up on Sandy's sister's doorstep),
    so he probably doesn't know what to make of all this unpleasant
    attention.
    
    While talking with Dr. Stuer, we learned that Pye(wacket), the
    Westborough Animal Hospital office cat, passed away in her sleep two
    weeks ago at the age of 17.  Pye was one of the mellowest cats I've
    ever come across (the only one that comes close is the big black angora
    that lives at Mama's Fish House on Maui) - she would sleep peacefully
    in her basket on the counter on the *dog* side of the front office,
    totally oblivious to everything going on around her, letting anyone pet
    her.  I had no idea she was that old.  She will be greatly missed by the
    Hospital staff.  I'd like to add her to the SLM list.  
    
    len.
    

    Len,
    
     As I've just sent this quarter's fund out, would having Pye be the
    first name on this quarter be acceptable?
    
     No offense to Pye, but I HATE having to start the list already! :-( I
    suppose it was inevitable, but I was hoping for at least one day! Let's
    try real hard to keep this quarter's list down to a minimum, OK? Last
    quarter was an emotional roller coaster for us all!
    
    Love,
    
    Yonee

    
    Sure.
    
    len.
    

    Chunky is at peace.  He was much loved and will be greatly missed.

    Sandy asked me to talk to Dr. Stuer about Chunky's test results, because
    of my past experience with Wabbit and Merlin's kidney problems.  Dr.
    Stuer called with the blood work results late Saturday afternoon.  They
    were very bad, so bad that it was a wonder that Chunky was functioning
    at all.  Dr. Stuer said he had never seen numbers this high in an
    active cat.  Some of the blood factors were eight times normal levels. 
    I asked if subcutaneous fluid therapy would help, and he said even IV
    fluids would not be worth the discomfort to Chunky.   I asked the
    obvious question of how long before Chunky was bad off enough that we
    should consider euthanising him, and to my dismay, his prognosis was
    that Chunky had at most a few days before he became very sick.  After I
    hung up the phone, I started to cry, and all my cats came to see what
    was wrong.  I called Sandy and told her that Chunky was dying, but that
    Dr. Stuer honestly believed he wasn't in any pain yet. She didn't want
    him to suffer needlessly, so we agreed we'd take him in Monday
    afternoon.

    Chunky spent most of Friday and Saturday hiding, and by Sunday morning
    he was throwing up and had had another seizure.  He was noticeably
    weaker.  It was clear to both Sandy and me that waiting even just one
    more day would be unfair to him.  Sandy asked me to call Dr. Stuer and
    see if we could bring Chunky in that afternoon.  I had Dr. Stuer paged
    and he agreed to meet us at the Hospital after he dealt with another
    emergency at their Grafton office.  A little after noon, Dr. Stuer
    called and said he was done in Grafton, so we arranged to meet him at 1.

    Driving to the office, Chunky was alert and seemed to enjoy the warmth
    of the sun.  His eyes sparkled in the sunlight.

    We were both with him when he passed away.

    We honored his passing with the finale of Nikolai Myaskovsky's Symphony
    No. 6, a setting of the Russian folksong "As the Soul Departs from the
    Body":

	How do we see a wonderful portent,
	a good omen,
	in a lifeless body? -
	since the soul, the breath of life,
	leaves the body and submits to God's judgement,
	forsaking the body for burial in the earth.

    This solemn and deeply moving chorus yields to an ascent of ineffable
    beauty, ending the Symphony in everlasting peace and harmony.



				  Chunky
 
		       February 1978 - November 1993

			   He was such a good cat. 

    Len,
    
     As I sit here in tears, I am feeling much sorrow for you and Sandy.
    How wonderful of you to release him before he truly suffered, but how
    hard it must have been for you. My heart goes out to you both.
    
     Chunky is being added to the Silver Lining Memorial.
    
    Love,
    
    Yonee

    How wonderful for Chunky to have humans like you, who care enough to do
    his suffering for him, and will let him go in peace!!!!

    My heart goes out to you... as well as my admiration!

    Huge HUGS,

    M-L

    Len...I am also sitting here with tears and want to send both
    you and Sandy my sincere sympathy.   Chunky's life was full of
    love and you sent him to kitty heaven without any suffering
    and pain.   He is now at peace with many of our beloved friends
    who will show him the way to everlasting love.
    
    This hurts...because I know this day will come for Mr. Meow
    and I hope I'm strong enough to make that final decision and
    give him the peace he deserves.  It hurts...even when they
    are old !!
    
    Hugs to you....Sandy

    
    Len (and Sandy), my deepest sympathies. Chunky was lucky to have two
                     wonderful people with him till the last minute.
    
    Shaw

    Len, Sandy,
    
    My heart goes out to the both of you.  I lost Rocky and Tanya  over the 
    summer with kidney and liver damage.  I know how hard it is to let them go.
    
    
    My deepest sympathies go out to the both of you.
    
    
    *joyce
    

    Sandy and Len,
    I am so sorry...
    Your strength and kindness is what allowed Chunky to have such a 
    wonderful life with you both.  I am glad that you were able to
    be there for him.
    Pawpats,
    Karen

         My deepest condolences to you both.
    
    					- Andrea

    Len, Sandy, my deepest sympathies to you both.  Chunky was a very lucky
    cat to have you as his "parents".  He knew how much he is loved.
    
    Steffi

    my deepest condolences.
    
    Deb
    

    
    Sandy asked me to thank you all for your thoughts and support.  It
    really meant a lot to both of us after making and implementing one of
    the most difficult decisions any of us can ever face.
    
    We know it will be a long time before we can talk about Chunky without
    tears, but life goes on and we make new feline friends.
    
    Last Saturday morning after we left the show in Marlborough, Sandy said
    "let's stop at the Hopkinton shelter, it's not far from here".  She had
    been talking mostly about looking for a pet quality pedigreed kitten at
    the shows, but I kept suggesting we check a few shelters, especially
    since I found three of the most wonderful "mixed breed" kittens in the
    whole Universe at a shelter, and there were lots of kittens and cats
    that needed good homes.
    
    So we stopped at the shelter.  There were two adorable little kittens
    right in front, but the staff said, "come on, there are more back
    here".
    
    I could have taken a half dozen cats home that morning, but I resisted.
    
    But Sandy couldn't.  There was a young male cat who'd just arrived the
    day before.  He'd been abandoned in a vacated apartment, presumably by
    the former residents, his former owners.  He looked so much like Chunky
    that we both started to cry on the spot.  He was very friendly, in
    excellent health, neutered, declawed, up to date on his shots.  They
    were planning to take him to the show on Sunday in hopes of getting
    him quickly adopted, as he was "prime adoption" material.  We took him
    out of his cage and held him for a while.
    
    We took him home.
    
    He doesn't have a name yet.  He and Caspar Kelly accommodated to one
    another in a matter of hours.  He's an incredibly good natured cat.
    He's apparently been taught to stay off the furniture, but he sleeps
    beside Sandy and purrs up a storm.  Sandy says it's uncanny how many of
    Chunky's habits he shares; he sits in the same places. does the same
    things.  It's almost like he's been briefed, and he looks like he could
    have been sired by Chunky.  (Actually, his face looks like Merlin's
    except for his eye color; we seem to have a weakness for big grey cats,
    or, in Rocky's case, a "gonna-be" big grey cat.) 
    
    He went to the vet yesterday for his first checkup.  We're waiting for
    the FIV and FeLV test results (he looks so healthy, and as a solitary
    indoor cat we'd be astounded if they were positive).  Dr. Stuer
    estimates his age at about three or four years, and he's in excellent
    health except for a bad tooth or two.
    
    Sandy wanted to call him Sweetheart, because he *is* such a sweetheart,
    but I and the hospital staff have pretty much convinced her that he
    deserves a bit more masculine name (our apologies to Holly and
    Sweetie).  The current front runner is (Rudy) Valentinose, because of
    his heart shaped nose leather.
    
    We know we can never "replace" Chunky, but he lives on in spirit,
    especially with our new found friend to carry on in his tradition.
    
    len (for Sandy and Caspar Kelly and the new guy).
     

    Len!
    
     How wonderful that Valentinose (gotta love it!) found you and Sandy
    like that! ;-) It seems like it was destiny that this match was made.
    Sandy did seem to have her heart set on a pure bred. Shelter kitties
    can do that to you though! If I didn't volunteer, I'd have a house full
    myself!
    
     Please tell Sandy how happy I am for her, and for you. Chunky will
    always be with you, but it sure seems like this new guy WAS pre-
    programmed by SOMEONE! Hmmmmm, could it be? Believe it! 
     
     Good luck, and enjoy your new addition. He seems to be fitting in
    better than you could have dreamed!
    
     Love,
    
     Yonee (who totally forgot about the show that was held about three
    	    miles from her house, and missed seeing you both! :-()
                                       

    
    Yesterday we got the wonderful news that Rudolf Valentinose is FIV and
    FeLV negative.
    
    He goes in in three weeks for a tooth extraction; maybe I'll bring
    Rocky in at the same time for his neutering, so the big grey boys can
    keep one another company and commiserate.
    
    len.
     

    Len!
    
     Great news that the tests came back negative! Give him a big hug from
    me! 
    
     Try to convince Rocky that he's only going to the vet to keep Mr.
    Velentinose company! Yeah, right! ;-)
    
    Yonee
    
    

    Len,
    "Rudy" sounds wonderful!!!!  You guys are lucky to have found him.
    Things always seem to work out in the end for everybody.  Enjoy him
    and love him.
    Karen