My friend had to euthanize her sweet cat, Jackson, this morning. He was over 16 years old and had been in perfect health until a couple months ago. In early February, my friend had to euthanize her beloved dog, Kona, after an agonizing few months of declining health (crippling arthritis, loss of bladder control, increased immobility and pain). Jackson spent hours lying with Kona when she could no longer walk. Only a couple weeks after Kona's death, Jackson had a massive seizure and was in ICU for a few days. He recovered enough to come home, but he was often disoriented and needed assistance to find his food and litterbox. The vets ruled out everything except a possible brain tumor or neurological condition that wasn't treatable. Jackson had a couple months of relatively good days -- still eating and drinking, happy to be a lap cat. However, my friend was on eggshells waiting for another major seizure.
As these things sometimes happen, it was just as she was heading out the door this morning to bring her 6 year old to school, when Jackson started seizing. She had a shot of valium at home to get him as comfortable as possible, but then it was a frantic rush to get her daughter to school, alert her husband to come home to help get Jackson in his travel crate, then on to the vet. He was growling and hissing and had to be sedated heavily before everyone could be calm enough to do what they felt was best.
My friend is heartbroken - like us, she had an agonizing roller-coaster for a few weeks prior to her dog's death in February, then this crisis with Jackson began. To top it off, she's been sick in bed for a week with bronchitis -- this was her first day back to work.
It's the first time their household has been without a pet in almost 17 years. Their losses have been an extension of our heartache - Tonka's loss is just one of
far too many among our friends' and neighbors' pets in the last 18-20 months. We know so many dog and cat angels at the Bridge, I feel we have our own community up there.
Goodbye sweet Jackson. You'll find Kona up there waiting for you. We know you've not been well since she died - perhaps you wanted to be with her again. You'll be dearly missed.