We picked out Muttsy 3 years ago when she was just a kitten. I remember visiting the Humane Society several times until we found her. There was a whole litter of kittens and she struck us as the friendliest one. She was our 'pick of the litter' per se. We quickly adopted and took her home and she was loved and cared for. Our other cat Sparkles, was less than thrilled to have a new cat to share her home with. She growled and hissed at this little kitten relentlessly. We gave Muttsy extra loves to let her know we cared.
Muttsy grew up and turned out to be a great mouser. She has caught more mice, gophers, rats, and birds, than our other previous 4 cats combined. We were happy with her hunting skills, even though she was not as snuggly as some of the other cats.
Muttsy caught some crazy virus the first part of June. We noticed she wasn't as energetic as usual. She also seemed weary and not her regular self. We kept our eyes on her and she seemed to be getting better. Well, she would improve and then regress a week later. It was a strange situation. Finally, we took her in to the veterinary hospital the middle of July and they pricked her and tested her for kitty cancer and Aids. (Didn't even know these diseases existed in cats!) They both came back negative. It was clear, however, that something wasn't right. She was losing a lot of weight.
Her pee was way too dark which meant that her kidneys were not functioning right. We agreed to hospitalize her for a few days to get some antibiotics and fluids pumped through her. Muttsy came home and was put on some eye drops and another strong antibiotic. Muttsy was definitely sick. The worst we had ever seen her. Barely moving, and not even caring where she peed now.
Our family was headed out of town to camp at Fish Lake with Scott's family. And we knew Muttsy needed her medication twice a day, so we asked our next door neighbor, Vickie, to help us. Vickie is a cat lady who never married or had children of her own. We figured she would be a great choice since she loves cats and has her own as pets.
I called home on day 3 of our weeklong camping trip to check on Muttsy. To my surprise and shock, Muttsy was no longer alive. The conversation went something like this:
Me, "So how's Muttsy doing?"
Vickie, "She didn't make it. We had to put her down."
Me, "You, WHAT?!? What do you mean,
you had to put her down?!?"
Vickie, "She was suffering too much, and I couldn't let her do that. So I took her in and had her put down."
To my complete horror and shock, my next door neighbor chose to end our pet cat's life. We had an unclear picture if the medicine would work or not, but we wanted to at least try it for a week and see. I was thinking it would be nice to say goodbye to Muttsy and give her some love. I never got the chance. Muttsy was put down on my birthday, July 29th, only 2 days into our trip.
My neighbor later told me that she wasn't going to tell us until we were home so that it didn't ruin our trip. Scott and I were so upset and frustrated by the whole situation, that we talked and vented for at least a few hours/days. Maybe it was better that we found out sooner than later so that we could compose ourselves when facing our neighbor.
The whole situation is absurd and not even believable, but truly, it happened. And I guess I should have made my wishes clearer to my neighbor Vickie on the whole euthanasia idea. We had talked about it and I had told her if she felt that it was absolutely necessary, (like an emergency), then we could go ahead with that. I guess I underestimated her stance with my pets. Clearly, a cat lady, is going to be extra sympathetic to animals. Not only did she end Muttsy's life, she also took it upon herself to take our other cat, Rosco, to the vet and have him checked out for the same freak virus.
Muttsy probably would have passed away on her own, she was
that sick. And we wouldn't have known about Rosco's auto immune disorder where his gums attack his teeth, if he hadn't been examined. He has since had 20 out of 30 teeth pulled out in a surgery.
Muttsy lived 3.5 years on earth which is 25 cat years. Muttsy was cremated and her ashes were scattered on an orchard in Idaho. We will miss you Muttsy! Go have fun running around up in heaven! Rest in peace.
All I can say is, WOW! What a strange situation!
