I promised on Facebook yesterday I would relate the bittersweet story of our cat situation this weekend, so we'll dispense with my usual coverage of the local arts scene for this weekend and return to that subject again in the new year.
First, let me say my wife and I are pet people; we love pets, especially cats, although we have had a dog we lost to cancer several years ago. Pets may come and pets may go, but they leave an indelible mark on your heart you can never forget. So it is - and has been - with the myriad of pets we have allowed to own us over the past dozen years or so.
Since we don't have children, the cats are essentially our kids, and we do what proud parents do: celebrate the good times with them; deal with the bad times, and through it all, love them unconditionally as they do us. What more symbiotic relationship can there be than a man or woman and their beloved pet?
Let me introduce you to the current brood we share our home with in St. Catharines. First we have Pia, short for Olympia (my wife is Greek, need you ask), although I often referred to her as Princess since she ruled over her kingdom when she first arrived on the scene in 2006. She was the runt of a litter abandoned in a field in Niagara, and suffered a torn lower lip before she arrived with us, sewn up and ready for a new life. Tiny, she was only about 5 pounds even fully grown, all white with a dark spot on the top of her head, and two different coloured eyes. She had what some would call a "delicious temper", but others might call it attitude. Upon arriving on the scene, she promptly whipped the two elder statesmen of cats we had at the time, Pushkin and Tom Kitten, into line.
Next on the scene in 2008 was Sweet Pea, a female tabby who came to us via a friend who found her abandoned in Short Hills Provincial Park, and couldn't keep her due to the fact she had dogs of her own. We took Sweet Pea in and she proceeded to dominate the other cats in short order, although oddly, she had a soft spot for old Tom Kitten and they often played together in the sunroom. Sweet Pea, sort of the "Grand Dame" of the cat world, was sort of a den-mother to the others, cleaning up the litter box mess after the others used it, among other things.
The third addition to the brood came via our neighbours who adopted him from the Niagara Falls Humane Society a couple of years ago, and he was not comfortable with their older tabby, Hobbs, nor with being outside in the neighbourhood. Shalom, a small black male cat with rather a rather dainty character, would routinely visit many of the houses on the street, crashing on their couch and mooching food, all the while ingratiating himself to one and all. He did the same in our house, often spending more time inside than outside, playing with our other two cats, Pia and Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea was particularly fond of Shalom, so after much discussion with our understanding neighbour, it was decided Shalom would stay with us permanently.
In August of this year, not long after I lost my full-time position with my previous employer in fact, Pia took a turn for the worse that resulted in a visit to the local emergency clinic on Labour Day weekend. There she stayed for a few days, and we discovered this tiny, young little cat had diabetes. How could it be? There was no logical explanation for it: clearly she was not overweight and she was only about seven years old. But diabetes was the diagnosis, so we were faced with insulin injections twice a day and a special diet, along with regular checkups to check blood glucose levels and such.
This we managed rather well until late November when Pia, after going off insulin for a few days to see if she was in fact in remission, went into a tailspin with her blood glucose levels shooting up in short order. Getting the diabetes back under control proved problematic and very tricky. Pia being so small, the dosage had to be minuscule. Things improved somewhat until late November when Pia's condition worsened considerably. We were faced with the eternal dilemma: pull the plug or work on finding another treatment that might stabilize her condition.
After much soul searching and observing she still had quite a bit of fight left in her even in her weakened state, we decided she wasn't yet ready to go. We were referred to the emergency pet hospital in Oakville where a planned ultrasound was delayed until they could stabilize her condition. When done we discovered the diabetes was likely hereditary, and the prolonged high blood glucose levels had likely resulted in kidney damage. It was not going to be an easy fix, but we faced the situation and decided to go ahead and try to correct things if at all possible. Five days later, she was released and we took Pia home.
The recovery was slow but sure, with a different type of insulin helping to stabilize the situation for about a month. Now, while all this was going on, a week after Pia came home I did the unthinkable: while putting the garbage out one afternoon, Shalom managed to slip out the door behind me and escape my grasp, thanks to being chased by another cat over our fence.
The evening of December 10th was spent scouring the neighbourhood looking for Shalom and actually coming close to catching him one street over, but he was clearly ill at ease with the situation and bolted over the neighbour's fence, and in the dark of night, a black cat was not to be found anywhere.
Immediately posters were put up around the neighbourhood, 70 flyers were distributed to homes and businesses in the area, the Lincoln County Humane Society and St. Catharines Pets Alive, among other organizations, were notified of Shalom's disappearance. I was regularly walking the neighbourhood, treat bag in hand, trying to find him, and calls from observant residents and business owners came in on a regular basis, all to no avail.
The stress level for both Sophie and I was considerable, as we had just brought Pia back home after almost losing her and then this happened. The Christmas season was not shaping up as a good one any way you look at it. And for good measure, Sophie had to be rushed to St. Joseph's Health Centre in Stoney Creek for emergency laser eye surgery to correct a torn retina the week before Christmas! That went well, thankfully, but certainly not what we were expecting - or needed - at that point.
While the search for Shalom continued, Pia took another downward turn on Christmas Eve, resulting in a very sad Christmas Day when we felt we had no choice than to let her go that night. She held on until Boxing Day, once again rallying briefly and starting to eat again for awhile, but clearly, she was out of fight this time. For a little while in the late afternoon on Boxing Day, we took a drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake to look at the lights, with Pia bundled up in a towel seated in Sophie's lap. She was watching everything as we drove along, becoming animated at the sight of all the colourful displays. It will always remain one of the magical, treasured moments of our time with Pia.
We waited until her scheduled visit to the vet on Friday morning in order to properly assess the situation, and it was not a good report.
Pia's blood glucose levels were at their highest point ever, and she had advanced kidney disease. We could go back for another ultrasound and try more treatments, but at that point we knew the best thing for our little girl was to say goodbye to her, which we very reluctantly did Friday afternoon. It was one of the toughest things we have had to do as Pia was always a very special cat in so many ways, having survived so many hardships in her young life up to that point. She is now gone, but will never, ever be forgotten.
When we arrived home about 5 pm, teary-eyed and emotionally wrung out, I decided what I needed most at that moment was a walk to clear my head. So out the front door I went, and was greeted with the plaintive cry of a cat somewhere nearby clearly in distress. The noise came from my neighbour's house, where Shalom had begun his tenure in our neighbourhood, and there, behind the wooden lattice work of their front porch was a cat looking back at me. I coaxed him out and upon doing so, I realized this could only be Shalom; but I had to be sure, so hurriedly I went back to our house and with a struggling, scared cat in my arms, managed to unlock the door and present the evidence to Sophie in the kitchen.
It was Shalom, 17 days missing, and also missing a small chunk of his tail. Obviously another cat had put the bite on him while he was on the lam, so a quick call to the vet and ten minutes later he was on the examination table there. He checked out fine, although he had lost a little weight, and his tail, following treatment, really looks awful at the moment. We are hopeful he will heal, but have to give it some time.
So, from saying goodbye to Pia to one hour later returning with our prodigal cat for an examination? As a noted author once penned, "It was the best of times and it was the worst of times." The evening was spent quietly with Shalom and Sweet Pea getting back together again, and Sophie and I both numb from exhaustion after a bittersweet Christmas miracle on December 27th.
I can't say thanks enough to all the people who cared enough to help look for Shalom, with tips, ideas and looking themselves for our missing cat. What a tremendous team effort in a neighbourhood that knows the value of a pet in your life. To all of you, Sophie and I are forever grateful.
We are also eternally grateful to Dr. Locking, Dr. Wagar and the rest of the caring staff at Fairview Animal Clinic, as well as all the staff we met at the Niagara Emergency Pet Hospital and the Oakville/Mississauga Pet Hospital for all their efforts caring for Pia over the last several months.
Yes, it has been a tough week and we lost Pia. But we are at peace with the decision now, knowing we did the right thing at precisely the right time. You have to accept that and move on, and Shalom returning at that exact time was, if not providence, certainly a turn of good luck much needed right now.
You can't put a value on what a pet brings into your life; nor can you quantify the return on the investment you make in them over time. But you can be thankful for the time you have with them and be thankful for how much they enrich your lives. We do that each and every day, and that makes every day very special in this household. I hope the same holds true for you and your household.
So, with all these vet bills we have to deal with, Daddy needs to find a full time job more than ever now, so after New Year's the search will continue at an even more accelerated pace.
Speaking of which, about that walk I was planning for myself last evening...
Happy New Year, from Mike, Sophie, Shalom, Sweet-Pea, and yes, Pia too.
December 28th, 2013.
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