Yet Another Sad Day in the Roughton Home

Well, this is not the day I had planned.  But it really began last night.  We got home around 7:15 last night after long days at work yesterday.  When we came in, Woody didn't greet us as normal.  Later on he came around and I immediately noticed he wasn't breathing right.  I told Charles to look at him and he, too, noticed that Woody was breathing really abnormal.  He was breathing way too fast, was retracting, and his eyes were really dilated.  I got up to check and noticed he had not eaten or drank anything all day which is super unusual for him.  I got on the internet and searched for all possible causes but none of them were good.  I got on the vet's website but there was no emergency number.  So I called the girls and told them it looked like Woody was real sick and I wasn't sure if he was going to even make it through the night.  We all took turns praying for him and then Leah went and got him angel bear.  Angel bear is this stuffed bear with angel wings that the girls always want if they are sick or hurt.  It was so sweet.

So I got up early this morning and called the vets office which opens at 7 and was ready just in case they told me to come right away which is exactly what happened.  I was there by 7:15.  They did blood work and x-rays and were pretty certain it was leukemia.  He said that the x-rays showed his left lung was completely full of fluid and so was 1/2 of his right lung....so he was breathing on half a lung.  It also appeared that he had some srt of a mass in his chest.  He said that his circulation was already starting to shut down.  The only options were to drain the fluid, figure out the underlying reason, and try to treat but he was not very optimistic.  He said that really we would only be buying him time (maybe a couple of days).  So, of course, I am an emotional basketcase at this point and had to make the ultimate decision to go ahead and have him put to sleep.  As much as I didn't want to lose him, I could stand the thought of him suffering and struggling to breathe.  Charles is at work so Sammy came to help me bury him.  It is a sad day.  I've had Woody since right after Charles and I got married...which will be 14 years this year.  He has always been my little buddy...the most loving and affectionate cat. 

In the last 2 1/2 years, I have lost 3 grandmothers and 2 thirteen year old kitty cats.  I REALLY hope that this is it for a long while.  Ugh...I have a huge headache.