Weddingbee boards

We're one week away from the wedding. We were supposed to fly out today but we had to postpone our flight until Monday.

We have two kitties, Sampson and Jeremy. Yesterday morning at 5am fiance woke me up to tell me that he was taking Jeremy to the emergency veterinary hospital because he could barely breathe. Jeremy's always had respiratory problems, but he'd been doing very well for a year or two, and then a couple months ago he developed some kind of asthma and started wheezing every now and then, and yesterday morning the wheezing was so bad that he could barely breathe.

So fiance took him to the hospital, and then a couple hours later he called me in tears. He had to leave Jeremy at the hospital. They took x-rays of him and the x-rays show that there's a section of his trachea that's almost closed. They can't tell what exactly is causing this. It could be inflamation from a bacterial infection or it could be a cancerous tumor. Doing a biopsy could tell us what it is, but it could be fatal to the kitty because it's a complicated procedure or something. A CT scan could tell us what it is too, but they're really expensive and it won't make him feel any better. So fiance had to leave Jeremy at the hospital, where they gave him antibiotics and steroids and he's in a little oxygen chamber to help him breathe.

Today fiance went to pick him up in the morning, and he was doing better, still having a bit of difficulty breathing but doing much better than yesterday. But as the day went on his breathing got harder and harder and then he started wheezing again and we had to run to the hospital with him again. The vet said the situation doesn't look good. If he doesn't respond to the medications... then they can't really do anything to make him better and... well... I really don't want to think about what we might have to do :'(

The vet told us to go pick him up tomorrow and bring him home to spend the day with us, then on Monday before we fly out we're taking him to the vet's office to board him so that he can be monitored 24/7 and given his medicines on time (the other kitty is staying home and being cared for by a petsitter). But basically, the way the vet phrased this made it sound like tomorrow might be one of the last days we'll get to spend with Jeremy, because he might not get better...

Fiance was crying nonstop since we left the vet hospital until he fell asleep on the couch, in tears. He's had these kitties for 10 years, practically since they were born. Jeremy's always been his baby. I keep telling him that he'll get better, that when we come back from the wedding we'll find him happy and healthy and back to normal, but I'm afraid that the worst might happen, that he might not respond to the medications and there won't be anything that can be done to make him better.

I'm just so sad. I'm crying while typing this. I love that little furball, but I know that fiance is hurting a LOT more than I am because, well, he's their mother basically.

I thought we'd be all happy and excited the week before the wedding. I picked up my dress a couple days ago, fiance picked up his tux, we finished the programs and the menu cards and the favor bags, we're going to be married seven days from now, and now it's all just... :'( 

Sorry for the length, I just needed to vent a little. I don't want our kitty to die

Thanks. I also hope he gets better. I mean, we're leaving him at the vet's for the entire time we'll be in PR for the wedding, and he'll be constantly monitored and stuff, but I can't help but worry that he might worsen and we'll get a call from them to give us bad news :'(

I can't picture ever having a happy wedding anniversary if Jeremy dies or has to be put down at any time close to the wedding :'(  And that makes me feel even worse :'(

Oh and I think Sampson (the other kitty) can tell that something's wrong. He's the alpha kitty between them, and he's always kind of a diva and distant and stuff, but ever since yesterday he's been really vocal, meowing for no reason, and very clingy. He acted aloof for the few hours we had Jeremy back at home today, but when Jeremy's in the hospital Sampson's behavior changes. Even his meows sound sad :-(

We just got a call from the hospital... :'(

The vet said she had to give Jeremy a sedative. He's not getting better and he was freaking out because of how labored his breathing is. She said she and the rest of the staff are very worried for him. We basically have no good options, and they're concerned that something bad might happen while we're away.

We may have to make a decision tomorrow.

I can't stop crying now :'(

Azula,
I am so so sorry. I had to make the decision to put my dog to sleep last week and the pain is still very fresh. I know nothing can ease your pain and sadness right now and the timing of this and your wedding is truly unfair. Its sounds like your kitty has had a wonderful life with you both and he will always be with you in your hearts. My thoughts are with you and your fiance and your dear little kitty.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and for sharing your stories and for keeping us in your thoughts :)

The vet called us this morning to tell us that Jeremy was doing better. They even took him out of the oxygen chamber and put him in a normal cage. He's fine as long as he doesn't get agitated. If he does get agitated, he breathes harder and then the wheezing starts again. This happened in the hospital whenever a dog walked in front of his cage -- not because he's afraid of dogs, but because he wanted to jump out and chase it! He's a brave little kitty! So full of energy.

We did most of the packing we need to do for the wedding after the vet called us and then around 2pm we went to the hospital to pick up Jeremy. Just like the vet said, he was doing just fine, but when he saw us he got excited and started breathing harder. We took him to a private room to just sit around the floor with him and pet him until he calmed down, then we were able to put him in his carrier and check out and come home.

They told us to keep him calm, not let him get agitated or over-exert himself. That means no stairs (he likes to race up and down the stairs with us), so we have to carry him, and no rough play with our other kitty. Fiance is in the bedroom with Jeremy, and he's pretty calm by now (he was a bit scared from the car ride back from the hospital), and I'm in the living room distracting Sampson (the other kitty) because he can smell that his brother is back and was scratching at the bedroom door asking to be let in, and that was making Jeremy get excited.

Hopefully Jeremy will continue to be calm the rest of the day so he can sleep with us tonight. Tomorrow morning we're taking him to the vet to board him there for the time we'll be out for the wedding. We also cut our trip short. Instead of coming back Saturday the 6th at night we're coming back Thursday the 4th in the morning. I hope he continues getting better, ot at least that he continues being stable.

Fiance's eyes and my eyes are all puffy because of all the crying we did last night. I hope we don't have more reason to cry and that the puffiness goes away before the wedding.

And just to give you a visual, this is a picture of our kitties.

Jeremy is the sweet little gray guy on the left. The shiny black kitty is Sampson. This picture is from about a year or two ago.

Aww, this post made me so sad, but I'm glad to hear Jeremy is home and doing better.  I had to stop reading it and go give my kitty a kiss.  I also had FI read it and he got teary...we adopted our cat after a year of dating and often joke that we never thought we could love a pet this much!

I hope Jeremy does well at the vet and you are able to enjoy your day.  Keep us posted!

I'm so glad to hear he is doing better!

Totally weird, I have 2 cats as well, a gray and a black, and they literally could be twins of your cats. Except mine are not as good of friends as yours are! That pic is priceless!

Just wanted to post an update on our kitty situation.

Jeremy is still alive, and he's stable. He stayed at the vet's for the entire time we were in PR for the wedding, and when we came back we was doing ever-so-slightly better. He spent most of the time in a regular cage, but he had to be put in an oxygen chamber for a few hours one day. We took him home and we've been back for over a week already and he's been doing better. He has learned that he can't run up and down the stairs like he used to because he gets wheezy if he does, so now he's kinda keeping a low profile. He's still full of energy though, and he purrs like nobody's business.

They had to change the medication while he was still boarded, to a higher dose of steroids and by injection. The vet showed us how to inject him and now we're giving him daily injections of steroids. The injection keeps the inflammation on check, stabilizing his condition. However, we still don't know WHAT is causing the inflammation, and it's still possible that it could be cancer... If they do a CT scan on him then they could determine what exactly is going on, but that would be REALLY expensive and I don't think we can afford it right now, not to mention that it would really stress him out and we're trying to keep him as calm as possible.

So in conclusion, he's stable. We're injecting him once a day with the steroids and he can breathe properly as long as he doesn't get agitated. He's not suffering, and he's still a happy little furball who loves to play with his brother and cuddle and purr with his mommy and daddy =)

Yes, the wedding went well, thank you :D  The vet also called us every other day while we were gone to let us know how Jeremy was doing, which was very nice and helped us be less worried/stressed.

@SweetAdelineXO -- Oh man, tell me about it! It's been really stressful because there were times when we didn't know if Jeremy would even survive, let alone recover! Things are still not rock solid though, and it could still be cancer, but he's stable and happy and that makes us happy too. He's also being a very good kitty about his injections, so if we have to keep injecting him every day for the next however many years we'll keep doing it, so long as he's stable and healthy and not suffering.

We just lost him, less than an hour ago

He was doing better, he was stable with the daily steroid injections. Then two days ago he started having trouble breathing. We took him to the vet and we had to leave him there overnight. The vet gave him stronger medications, the highest dose possible to try to get him to breathe properly again, and put him in an oxygen chamber. They also took x-rays. The growth around his trachea was much bigger than before. We don't have a biopsy but there's little doubt now that it's a cancerous tumor, because it's growing and it's squeezing his trachea even more.

Yesterday we went to pick him up. He seemed fine while he was in the oxygen chamber, but as soon as we took him out he started having trouble, he was even breathing through his mouth, in desperation no doubt. The vet said to leave him overnight again.

Today we called. He was getting worse. Even in the oxygen chamber he had to breathe open-mouthedly. The vet said there was nothing else he could do, he was suffering and there was no way to make him better. We decided to put him to sleep.

My husband took Jeremy out of the oxygen chamber, to take him to a private room to have a final moment with him. He said Jeremy felt limp. Once we got to the room I picked him up and he was very limp, he felt like a big noodle. We spent about 20 minutes with him, petting him and hugging him and telling him how much we love him. He tried to walk but he couldn't even get up. He was too weak, his legs couldn't hold him up. His breathing was even more strained. He didn't look happy anymore. He was in pain.

Then the vet came, with the injections. After the first injection I couldn't watch anymore. My husband watched the whole thing and said that at the second injection a big blob of blood came gushing out of his tiny little pink nose. All that blood was probably in his lungs, or maybe it was a result of the tumor around his trachea, don't know.

At least he's not suffering anymore... He'll be cremated and we'll get his ashes back in about two weeks.

RIP Jeremy, 1999-2010. We miss you so much already