It is with great sorrow that I am writing to tell you that my best friend, Dietos, the Russian blue cat that has lived with me these past five years or so, had to be euthanized tonight.At the beginning of July, he sustained a reasonably severe bite wound defending his territory from neighborhood cats. A trip to the vet got him some wound care and antibiotics, but of course he had to be kept indoors for fear of getting an infection in the open wounds.He healed well, and he was ready to resume his normal prowling around, until two days ago, when he stopped eating his food and drinking his water. For those that knew the fellow, you know that it took something pretty bad for him to not want food.I took him to the emergency vet today at around 6pm. He was dehydrated and lethargic, and wouldn't eat or drink a thing. The vet told me he had developed acute lipidiosis, and his liver was shutting down. The extremely rapid onset was brought on by diabetes, a condition we were previously unaware of.The choice became: spend several thousand dollars and a week of hospitalization to get him stable (hopefully, maybe), and then treat him with insulin daily for the rest of his (questionably satisfying) life. Or, he could end his time with us comfortably, satisfied with a well-lived life and accompanied to the end by the people that loved him. While it was difficult to make the right decision, I believe that it was better to make his final time dignified and happy than to subject him to a life he wouldn't have enjoyed, and I couldn't have sustained.He died August 4th, 2007, at about 11:40 p.m. It was quick and painless, and Lesley and I were with him the whole time, petting and reassuring him.You all know that I loved my cat, and I will miss him dearly. I feel terrible for agreeing to end his life, but I didn't think that there was any other rational choice. Euthanization was the most loving thing I knew how to do - I'd trade my own pain to mitigate his.Tomorrow morning, I will bury him in the backyard here, at the house he lived in for his whole life. That was his territory, after all, and now it will be his forever.
About me:
I am a cat... I enjoy playing outside, eating bird meat, hanging out with Ian & Lesley, rubbing my stink on things, and the smell of shoes and feet. I live a simple yet very good life. If you want to chase mice sometime, look me up.
