For those of you who follow me on social media, you already know. For anyone else, I had to say goodbye to my cat, Galahad Friday night.
It was a complete shock, and I'm still wrestling with the grief and guilt.
He was fine and happy (I thought), even playing, until Thursday evening, when he stopped eating. When I returned home Friday afternoon, he did not greet me at the door, demanding uppies like he usually does. I called for him, and he did come, but his back legs didn't look like they were working properly. His food was still uneaten.
So I called the vet to book an appointment. They only had time Monday morning, so I went ahead and booked it. Upon hearing his symptoms, however, they advised I take him somewhere where he could be seen immediately.
With the help of a dear friend, I got Galahad to the VCA on Carling, and there I learnt just how unwell he was. It was a shock. He was his usual, cuddly self, even playing until Thursday evening.
Treatment wasn't possible, really. If they treated on thing, it would have an adverse effect on the other things. It wouldn't have been that effective, giving him maybe a few weeks. As it was, he was given days.
I'm still reeling. I'm heartbroken.
Galahad has been with me through some difficult moments in my life. There were moments when he was the only reason I got out of bed in the mornings. Depression be damned, Galahad demanded to be fed. He was beautiful and sweet and he has taken a piece of me when he left.
I will be struggling with this for a while, and will not be on social media much, if at all, while I work through it.
For those of you who had already reached out, thank you so much. I don't have the strength to read through the messages at the moment, but I really do appreciate the kindness.
A special, most profound thanks to my friend, Tri, who picked me up, and then sat with me through all the waiting at the vet, and was there with kindness and patience when I said goodbye.
I miss you, little man. I'll see you again.
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Oh, no! I'm so sorry that happened, SMC. Heartfelt, long, and very warm hugs to you.
When my Rikki claimed her place in heaven, it was a similar conflict of problems. She already had kidney problems, which required hydration. Then a botched veterinary procedure gave her a severe UTI and shoved her into heart failure, and heart failure needs reduced fluid. There was no way to make things better for her. That's the worst thing-- not being able to fix it for them. So you definitely made the right choice! You did the very best thing available to you! Can you cling to that certainty?
We all love you, SMC. Take some time to recover, but please come back to us. And I think that Galahad wouldn't like it if this kept you from dancing, again; I've never known a Galahad who didn't like dance.
Thank you for your kind words. I'm so sorry to hear about Rikki.
I'm slowly coming around, but there are still some days I cannot function properly. I should be back to writing soon-ish. We'll see.