Goodbye my Sweetness

We (my mom, dad and I) had to say our goodbyes to Avalanche today. His kidney disease was just too advanced and there were other complications that all added up to his feeling miserable with no real hope for a turnaround without drastic and not enjoyable alternatives. Please read my mom's blog for her perspective... and scroll to others too because she updated more than I did.

Just 12 short years ago and 3 months, I watched his birth, and that of his littermates Misty and Midnight. He was the firstborn, then Cyclone (a boy) who only lived three weeks, then Misty, then another one that looked like Avalanche, but never lived, and finally Midnight who needed help to take her first breath since their mama was too tired by then. They were always close even when outside just hanging about the yard.

They're going to miss his kisses.

And I don't know what Tornado is going to do without him. They were fast buds from the start and remained that way over the last 9 years.

I loved the way he loved, but I also loved his spirit. He was a lover AND a fighter.

Our "oreo cookie" is missing its filling.

I'll miss his zest for life, his confidence, and cuddling forever.

Success at last!

A Further Update On Avalanche

It wasn't all that bad. The trick is to hold the scruff of his neck with your fingers from middle to pinky and then with the thumb and index finger grab more of the excess skin and make a tent to poke the needle into. I had previously made the tent, but did not grab the scruff of the neck. That seems so obvious now!

It went very smoothly. The needle popped out once towards the end, but at that moment I wasn't totally paying attention and it just happened. I managed to stick it back in and finish the job, so he got about 150cc of fluid last night before dinner. When we do this he seems to be so much better.

He's sluggish in the mornings after breakfast, but by afternoon he's very alert and becoming active again. He's wandering all around the house and is on the verge of wrestling again with his bud Tornado.

As Mom said in a comment on the last post... "Viva la Avalanche!" We sure hope so!

Update on Avalanche

He's a fighter :) He is doing so much better and this morning awoke as normal with the other cats begging for food. He's our fuzzy alarm clock... usually annoying, but this morning a welcome intrusion. He's been eating and drinking relatively normally the last few days, but quite slow at the eating. That's okay though, I hear inhaling your food isn't good for you anyway ;)

We still don't have any answers from test results yet, maybe today. We attempted to supplement his food/liquid intake with an IV last night. That sucked! He was too much of a fighter and we're too inexperienced to be successful. He got maybe 1/3 of what we were supposed to give him before we gave up. The needle popped out twice and it took three of us. One to hold him down tight, one to hold the skin up and stick the needle in and the third to turn the dial opening up the line and closing it.

Perhaps we'll try again tonight, but we rationalized that he's doing good enough for now to not truly need it, so why torture him and us :p

Keep this little guy in your thoughts and prayers please!

Avalanche has had a very rough weekend. We had to take him to the emergency vet and preliminary test results indicate kidney failure. We don't know why yet and hope and pray that it's easily treatable and that the other kidney isn't affected. He'll be going into the regular vet today. He's 12 years old now and while that's a decent age, we should have a longer time with him.

He's doing better today thanks to some iv nutrition and an appetite enhancer which worked. But I hope the test results come soon! I like to have a plan of action and get on with it when it comes to caring for our pets.

Spring's a-comin' so beware, I will be redecorating yet again. Now... what color scheme just screams MMATM? Red maybe? LOL

and just for fun... here's another recent photo