R.I.P. Mickey...

Well, 2011 has been… a strange year so far. It started off wonderfully. My New Year’s Eve was filled with music and laughter. Literally. Unfortunately, that lightness didn’t last  through the first week. One day my family came home to find our youngest kitten, Mickey,  in severe pain. His hind legs didn't move, and were completely unresponsive. He wasn’t interested in food, and unable to use the litter box. The next morning, we rushed him to a vet.  She took Mickey’s temperature and said it was significantly lower than it should be, and noted that he was lethargic. She also used clamps to pinch the pads of Mickey’s hind paws… which got no response from him. After doing a few more tests, she concluded that Mickey had a blood clot that had cut off circulation to the lower half of his body.

Mickey as a mischievous kitten

                 
                                           

She bluntly told us that we were lucky we hadn’t walked in to find him dead; as the clot could have easily gone the other way and traveled to his brain causing a stroke. Through tears, we asked about treatment options. Again, the vet minced no words. She told us that a specialty vet would have to treat Mickey, and that the options could easily cost thousands of dollars. We’d also have to wait 6-8 weeks to see if the treatment worked. During that time Mickey would be incontinent and need someone home with him to feed and pretty much coddle him. The vet stressed that he’d still be in pain during this time, that treatment only had a 50% success rate, and there was a chance he could pass away in those 6-8 weeks. The vet then suggested that the only humane thing to do was to have Mickey put to sleep.

For my family and I, this entire diagnosis came out of left field. Honestly, I thought Mickey had somehow broken his hind legs while running and jumping through the house. I pretty much expected him to leave the vets office with two casts. Euthanization?! Never entered my head. The vet left the room briefly, and came back with a veterinarian’s encyclopedia of medicine. Under treatment options, the first thing listed was euthanasia. My mom agreed to it, not wanted Mickey to suffer anymore. By this time, Mickey was completely non-responsive. His hind and front paws were ice cold from a lack of blood flow, and his heart beat was slow. The vet asked us to leave the room as she tried to find a vein to stick the needle in (his body shutting down meant it was hard for her to find a vein), and invited us back in the room. I requested to be with Mickey as he passed. I could not imagine my poor baby dying all alone on a cold metal table.

Mickey and Louis XIV last year

The euthanasia took less than 5 minutes to work. I stroked his fur and talked to him; in hopes of providing some last bits of comfort to him. We opted to have him cremated, and should be receiving his ashes in two weeks. The loss of Mickey felt like the lass of a family member. He was the baby of our house, and treated (spoiled) as such. It’s only been a few days, so at any moment I half expect him to come bouncing into my room with his noisy bell. As much as I wish it could, I know that won’t happen. So now, we just have to re-adjust. As for Mickey, I hope he knows how much he was loved. They say all dogs go to heaven. Hope that goes for kittens too.

Mickey (4/11/09 - 1/6/11)