Heart wrenching decision

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you this, I lost Tequila, my oldest kitty, today to that ever so dreaded word........cancer.

She was 14 years 9 months old. I've noticed over the past few months that she had been losing a bit of weight, but nothing drastic, so I figured that she was just aging. But about a week ago she started sneezing a lot, in fact, she'd often sneeze as many as 15 times or more right straight in a row. Still, Tequila would do that from time to time because she had allergies......no red flags there.

But, just the day before Christmas I noticed that Tequila had a bit of discharge from her right nostril, I called my vet but they couldn't see her at the time. I didn't worry, I figured that I would get her in to see the vet today...it being the first day they reopened. Over this weekend she developed a swelling in between her eyes, just above the bridge of her nose, and her right eye also started having a bit of discharge. I would have taken her to the ER vet here in town, but seriously, they scare me with their lack of knowledge.

So, I got her in to the vet early this afternoon...the earliest they could squeeze us in. Well, after an exam, bloodwork, xrays, and the other vets all reviewing the results, it was determined that Tequila had cancer.....in one of her lungs (a rather huge mass), a very enlarged heart with a heart murmur (she's NEVER had a murmur before), a severely deviated septum in her nose, and evidence of cancer in at least 3 of her sinuses.

I was/still am devastated! This came from out of the blue! Nothing like what I was expecting for them to say. Since the outcome was so bleak for my dear Tequila, and yes, she was in pain and having difficulty breathing with the stress of being at the vet, I called my husband, told him what they had found, and he came in from work. We talked to her, told her how much we loved her, and then he went home. I stayed, they sedated Tequila and inserted an IV cath. They then brought her to a room where I sat with her for a little while alone, talking to her and telling her that it would all be ok.

Then, when I was ready, the vet gave her a shot of anesthesia to let her go to sleep prior to giving her the euthanasia solution. But, that became unnecessary because she stopped breathing with the anesthesia shot. The vet did go ahead though with the other, I guess it's protocol. While it broke my heart I know that she's at peace now, and that there is no more pain for her.........just for me.

Tequila was brought to the animal hospital where I used to work, just a wee little kitten of about 3 weeks of age, her hind legs paralyzed. The man that brought her to us didn't seem to know what had happened to her, and since he was in too much of a rush to go to work he just filled out her paperwork, said "fix it" and as he walked out the door he said over his shoulder that he'd call us later. He never did. After xrays showed a broken pelvis we knew that nature would heal this little gray kitten's bones, so we waited the manditory time and then declared her as abandoned.

The vet was planning on putting her up for adoption, but before she could the kitten showed signs of having ringworm. Well, that cut it for the vet, she didn't want the kitten staying in the clinic spreading ringworm, so she was going to euthanize her.

I had developed a bond with this little gray ball of fur, as soon as I'd clean her cage she'd tear it up again. Then she'd literally scream at me, wanting to be held so that she could bite and hold my neck. So, when I found out what the vet had planned for her I asked her if I could take her home with me. At first the vet didn't want to allow it, she said "She'll just spread it to your crew"...so I worked out a deal with her. We kept her at the hospital, in 1 cage, for 2 weeks and started treatment for the ringworm. After that I took her home, and no one ever got ringworm from her.

Tequila, I'll always love you sweetie, and although we're no longer together in the physical world, you'll always be in my heart!

With deep sadness and tears flowing.....