Goodbye, Annabel

Back in April, our Annabel started having coughing fits, wasn't eating as much, and wasn't being her usual active self, so we took her to the vet.

(I posted about it here, but I can't remember the date, and don't feel like scrolling back.)

The vet did a thorough physical exam, and said her heart and lungs sounded fine, and that her trachea felt fine, so he speculated that maybe it was allergies, like we were all having at the time.  He gave her a steroid injection, like the ones Pete had been getting previously, that would last a month.

He said to get back in touch if she wasn't better at the end of the month, and he would do more extensive testing.  

She did really well at first, though she still wasn't eating as much.  The coughing stopped, but she still wasn't her old self, running and playing, and having her "corner yodeling" sessions.

(when she was having her "zoomies," she would go into various corners, and YOWL.... then RUN through the house)

We would be out of town when the steroid wore off, but we let her be, as she seemed to be feeling better with the steroid still working.

Then, we were gone for 8 days, during which time the steroid wore off.  

Our cat sitter said Annabel seemed like her normal self, and she said that the food was always all gone when she'd come back the next day, but when we got home from our trip, Annabel seemed even skinnier than she was before we left.

She wasn't coughing, that we knew of, but she was hiding more, so we kept an eye on her during our first week back in town, and determined that we would call the vet on June 1st and take her back for more testing.

Well, sadly, we didn't make it to Monday June 1st.   

Last Sunday morning, Dave heard her having an extended coughing fit that I didn't know about until later in the day.

She hid all day, until around 5 pm, when I was getting ready to make dinner.  At that point, she came out of her hiding place, flopped down on the dining room floor, and was in OBVIOUS respiratory distress.

Dave pulled up local emergency vets (we never want to go back to the place we took Sammie), selected one, and off we went.

After checking us in, they put her in an oxygen chamber that had little doors so we could reach in and comfort her.  

The oxygen didn't seem to be helping, so they gave her an injection to relax her, and slow her breathing, so they could do an ultrasound.  The injection worked, and she was able to breathe more normally.

The ultrasound revealed our greatest fears.  Apparently, that coughing fit in the morning had ruptured something, and her lungs and pericardium were filled with fluid.  There was also a mass in one of her lungs.

The vet said we could go through the ordeal (and expense) of draining off the fluid, but that we might end up back in the e/r at 2 am, or the next day.... He said there wasn't much that could be done, so we decided to let her go.

Annabel Lee was 13 years old, and had been the first female cat I have ever loved.  May her little spirit rest peacefully.  I hope her beloved Jack was there at the rainbow bridge to meet her.

I held her as she went to sleep, and her ashes are now ready to be picked up.  I will be cleaning our little "shrine to the lost ones," so that her ashes can be placed there with respect and love when we bring them home.

It seemed so very sudden.  SO, it's been a long week, with lots and lots of random tears.   I burst into tears when I opened a can of tuna, and Annabel didn't come running, meowing as she ran, to beg for the "juice."  Sigh.

There will be no new adoption here, either.  Two cats are plenty to keep up with, especially when one has a chronic health issue.

Speaking of Pete, he is doing better after his increased steroid dosage for a while.  He is now off of that, and we will go back to "as needed."

In other news, I had my scans on Monday, and all went smoothly.  No long delays like that last time.  No phone calls this week from the oncologist, so I feel relatively confident that the results were favorable.

I see her on Tuesday to find out for sure.

Dave has been getting good results from the lasix his PCP ordered to address his swollen ankles, and he has been trying to not sit as much, though it doesn't seem to happen every day.

He has an echocardiogram this coming Friday, to be sure we are not dealing with anything more serious than him being sedentary.

We got a new lawn mower on Friday, and gave the old one to a friend with a smaller lawn.

Once the lawn dries out from the rain we have had this weekend (some but not enough), Dave has said he will start mowing regularly as part of his effort to be more active.  If the weather is really hot, he will mow early in the morning.

No more paying someone to mow.

Today, I will do a few chores, and the next lesson in my course.  Have a good week.