Lost two of my cats in three days.

[Bridget]

I posted a few weeks ago about my black cat, Clarence, and the problem we were having with him. After over a year of struggling, I did have Clarence put to sleep last Wednesday. He was a good cat, despite everything and I miss him more than I can say.

On Saturday, my long-hair, Scamper, took sick. I took him to the emergency animal clinic and his kidneys were failing. I made the decision to have him put to sleep that night. I feel now that it was a bad decision, that I should have waited. I am having a hard time living with it.

I miss both of them so much. Our family just seems depleted. This has been a really bad year for us in many ways and losing both of them the same week just seems like the last straw. Heidi, my GSD, is a big comfort at this time.

[GSDBESTK9]

I'm so sorry to hear that. May both rest in peace.

[angelaw]

Kidney issues are VERY hard to deal with. Don't feel guilty. Gaudi was 5 1/2 when her kidneys failed. I came home on a Friday to a dog that had defecated all over herself (had acl surgery so wasn't moving around well). Not seeing what had happened, I cleaned her off and kept her in my bathroom in case I needed to. Something woke me up the next morning and said go check her. Running to the bathroom I found her in seizures, grabbed her and made it to the vet. Iv's, antibiotics, etc, Sunday morning she passed away. I kept saying please let her make it, I don't care if she has to be on a special diet for the rest of her life, just let her make it. She didn't. After she passed, I did research on diets for dogs in Kidney failure. To be honest, I don't know if I would've done it correctly and end up causing more pain that she was already in. I'm sorry that you lost your cat, but kidney failure is painful and he's no longer hurting.

[Woodreb]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Two close together like that is really hard and it's good you have Heidi there.

I lost Max to kidney disease 10 years ago and I soemtimes wonder if I waited too long before I let him. The last week of his life was really hard on him.

[arycrest]

I'm so sorry for your losses. May Clarence and Scamper Rest in Peace!

[DnP]

My heart goes out to you. Loss is never easy, but to lose two in such a short time, that's got to be so tough.

My sister lost her three kitties within 10 months of each other. One threw a blood clot while she and her family were at my folks for Thanksgiving. (their "catsitter" was the neighbor who was also a vet) She then lost her other two w/in a month of each other to cancer. She was completely devastated when she had to put them to sleep.

[JakesDogs]

I am so very sorry to hear of your loss. I still hear my vet's voice as he tried to console me describing how often he sees concomitant losses that even he could not explain. But, everywhere I turn, it seems another cat is suffering with kidney issues. I know there is a propensity toward kidney problems in cats, but it sure seems to be much more prevalent nowadays. I have two out of my kitty family that are prone to issues, but one is ancient (25+ years) and the other was saved by surgery prior to my adopting him. I'm always holding my breath, keeping an eye on diet, etc. I'm absolutely paranoid about the litter boxes and constantly am cleaning them. I have also found that if stress in the house increases for any reason, it may have a backlash in these two cats in particular with symptoms.

I hope you find comfort and rest knowing your efforts were made out of love and to end any potential suffering which, I believe, is the last and greatest gift we give the pets we love.

[JazzNScout]

Depleted is a good description. I'm so sorry. I'm glad you have Heidi there to help comfort you.

[GSDTrain]

I am so sorry to hear about your losses.

[Bridget]

Thank you for all of the kind words. One thing that is really tearing me up is that part of the decision on Scamper was financially-related and I am really ashamed to admit it. My husband has been ill, had two surgeries and has been off work for five months. The emergency vet really wanted to keep Scamper going through the weekend and then have on-going treatments. But after paying the bill for the weekend, we just weren't going to have any money left for treatments and I had to make a quick decision. It wasn't a question of wanting to spend the money, but of simply not having it. She did say the kidney disease would undoubtedly eventually take him no matter what we did. But I wish now that I would have waited through the weekend, if nothing else, just to think it through and have more time to say goodbye. I think what with Clarence and everything else, I just wasn't thinking clearly.