Sleep Tight Sweet Tiggy
Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 8:55 am
To those of you who have seen my posts in the past, when Tiggy has given us a one of her scares, it will probably come as no surprise that we have had to finally say goodbye to her.
Its been one of those weeks, my computer had been playing up for a bit, and over the weekend it took me several attempts to get Chrome loaded as the computer kept shutting down. i'd already got a monitor program loaded so I started watching that a bit, and the CPU, the main brains of the computer, were overheating, at about £1200 to replace it with something of a similar standard, i decided to see if I could get it repaired, I know some basics of computers, but when it comes to that type of thing it is time to go to the experts. So it was collected Monday, and I didn't get it back until yesterday evening, fortunately it seems to have done the trick, for quite a bit less than replacing it would have cost, but that is why it has taken me till now to say what i want to say.
Tuesday morning Tiggy was a bit subdued, but pretty much her normal self. By teatime, she was sat out n the back step enjoying some afternoon sun, I have no idea whether she actually came in for some food or not, she was always a bit of a grazer, so we had left her to it, she did however manage to get in the cat flap by herself. Then 8.00 rolls round and it is time to clean the litter trays and lock the cat flap for the night, while the other cats aren't coming as frequently now, we have kept to keeping the flap blocked at night, Saturn and Freyja seem to have got used to it, so there doesn't seem any reason to start letting them out at night until they start to insist they want to. Anyway, I go downstairs to find Tiggy on the bottom stair sitting in a neat loaf position, but she is totally unresponsive. I pick her up carry her upstairs and sit her on my knee on the bed (with no pc, I've been watching a lot of stuff on my IPad while sat on the bed). She just sits where she is put, i can just about make out shallow breathing which is the only sign she is still alive. Even rubbing her ears evokes no response, normally that risks a back paw shredding the hand rubbing the ears, it was just a very strong reflex with her. I heard her lick her lips once during the 2 hours we sat together and that was the sum total of her movement. We got her into a cat bed for the night really believing she wouldn't be with us come morning, she was warm and comfy, and if she went to sleep not to wake up, then there are worse ways to go.
Much to our surprise, she was still with us in the morning, and had actually turned around in the bed during the night, I don't think she had done more than just circle a little, but it was more than I had expected. So I got her up, and she was responsive, she wasn't good, but far better than she had been the previous evening, I put her by the water bowl and she had a few laps at it, but it was more an automatic response, her nose was by water, so she drank, rather than she was drinking because she felt thirsty. She then turned, the bowl was close to her Igloo bed and she just went in there and curled up. That is then where she stayed all day, In the 24 hours, I don't think she used the litter tray, had more than a few licks at the water, and nothing to eat, she just wasn't interested in anything except sleeping. So that night she went to the vets.
I think we both knew she wasn't coming back, but she did seem to pick up a bit while at the vets, walking in circles on the table, not herself, but more life than we had seen in 24 hours. The vet then started talking about tests, they could do a blood test while we waited and they would have the results Wednesday morning, the bloods would then show if there was any treatment that would help her and we both started to waver. In the end we both decided that it would just be prolonging it for her and us, and the improvement we were seeing was likely just to be due to the adrenaline from being taken to the vets. So we said to call it a day.
They took her to put the catheter in and when they brought her back i think the adrenaline had worn off (they might have given her a sedative), either way she was back to the state she had been in all day, sitting in a loaf position not caring about things, and then was peacefully helped on her way.
While I'll never know for sure, i'm fairly certain she had some type of stoke or fit Tuesday afternoon or evening. Her unresponsive state, the way she moved, I noticed thinking back that when she was out she was always leaning to the right, always turning right, on the vets table she was almost pirouetting, her back legs were wobblier than ever which might have contributed to that, but I also noticed her head seemed to have developed a permanent tilt to the right as well, not much but noticeable.
I know I can over think things and I'm looking for answers I'll never get. She was old and we knew her days were numbered for quite a long time, and that number was finally up. I have no worry that we should have looked at further treatment option, she was already on 3 types of medication, none vital that she had every dose, but just trying to get them into her when we could with out stressing her, I really didn't want to add another couple to that list. Wednesday daytime, she was alive but not living, so we did the kindest thing helping her on her way, but I will always wonder just what did happen Tuesday evening.
As for the future, i know some people are better waiting, needing to get over the loss, for me it is the opposite, while i know I want to give Freyja some time to get used to Tiggy not being around, I'm already 'window shopping, with a Ragdoll kitten high on the list of options, but willing to see if anything else shows up. I'm over 50 now, and my family has a history of not getting much beyond 70, so if i'm going to get a Ragdoll kitten it has to be this time, if I wait until one of the juniors time is up, then the kitten will likely outlive me, and that is not what I want to happen if I can help it. Part of me has a bit of a guilt feeling with considering buying a Ragdoll (or other really fluffy kitten) rather than another rescue, but while I'll happily take on a rescue ball of fluff if a suitable one shows up in the next few months, I do know the probability is against it, so the money saved on not having to replace the computer, may be getting spent on something rather fluffier.
Its been one of those weeks, my computer had been playing up for a bit, and over the weekend it took me several attempts to get Chrome loaded as the computer kept shutting down. i'd already got a monitor program loaded so I started watching that a bit, and the CPU, the main brains of the computer, were overheating, at about £1200 to replace it with something of a similar standard, i decided to see if I could get it repaired, I know some basics of computers, but when it comes to that type of thing it is time to go to the experts. So it was collected Monday, and I didn't get it back until yesterday evening, fortunately it seems to have done the trick, for quite a bit less than replacing it would have cost, but that is why it has taken me till now to say what i want to say.
Tuesday morning Tiggy was a bit subdued, but pretty much her normal self. By teatime, she was sat out n the back step enjoying some afternoon sun, I have no idea whether she actually came in for some food or not, she was always a bit of a grazer, so we had left her to it, she did however manage to get in the cat flap by herself. Then 8.00 rolls round and it is time to clean the litter trays and lock the cat flap for the night, while the other cats aren't coming as frequently now, we have kept to keeping the flap blocked at night, Saturn and Freyja seem to have got used to it, so there doesn't seem any reason to start letting them out at night until they start to insist they want to. Anyway, I go downstairs to find Tiggy on the bottom stair sitting in a neat loaf position, but she is totally unresponsive. I pick her up carry her upstairs and sit her on my knee on the bed (with no pc, I've been watching a lot of stuff on my IPad while sat on the bed). She just sits where she is put, i can just about make out shallow breathing which is the only sign she is still alive. Even rubbing her ears evokes no response, normally that risks a back paw shredding the hand rubbing the ears, it was just a very strong reflex with her. I heard her lick her lips once during the 2 hours we sat together and that was the sum total of her movement. We got her into a cat bed for the night really believing she wouldn't be with us come morning, she was warm and comfy, and if she went to sleep not to wake up, then there are worse ways to go.
Much to our surprise, she was still with us in the morning, and had actually turned around in the bed during the night, I don't think she had done more than just circle a little, but it was more than I had expected. So I got her up, and she was responsive, she wasn't good, but far better than she had been the previous evening, I put her by the water bowl and she had a few laps at it, but it was more an automatic response, her nose was by water, so she drank, rather than she was drinking because she felt thirsty. She then turned, the bowl was close to her Igloo bed and she just went in there and curled up. That is then where she stayed all day, In the 24 hours, I don't think she used the litter tray, had more than a few licks at the water, and nothing to eat, she just wasn't interested in anything except sleeping. So that night she went to the vets.
I think we both knew she wasn't coming back, but she did seem to pick up a bit while at the vets, walking in circles on the table, not herself, but more life than we had seen in 24 hours. The vet then started talking about tests, they could do a blood test while we waited and they would have the results Wednesday morning, the bloods would then show if there was any treatment that would help her and we both started to waver. In the end we both decided that it would just be prolonging it for her and us, and the improvement we were seeing was likely just to be due to the adrenaline from being taken to the vets. So we said to call it a day.
They took her to put the catheter in and when they brought her back i think the adrenaline had worn off (they might have given her a sedative), either way she was back to the state she had been in all day, sitting in a loaf position not caring about things, and then was peacefully helped on her way.
While I'll never know for sure, i'm fairly certain she had some type of stoke or fit Tuesday afternoon or evening. Her unresponsive state, the way she moved, I noticed thinking back that when she was out she was always leaning to the right, always turning right, on the vets table she was almost pirouetting, her back legs were wobblier than ever which might have contributed to that, but I also noticed her head seemed to have developed a permanent tilt to the right as well, not much but noticeable.
I know I can over think things and I'm looking for answers I'll never get. She was old and we knew her days were numbered for quite a long time, and that number was finally up. I have no worry that we should have looked at further treatment option, she was already on 3 types of medication, none vital that she had every dose, but just trying to get them into her when we could with out stressing her, I really didn't want to add another couple to that list. Wednesday daytime, she was alive but not living, so we did the kindest thing helping her on her way, but I will always wonder just what did happen Tuesday evening.
As for the future, i know some people are better waiting, needing to get over the loss, for me it is the opposite, while i know I want to give Freyja some time to get used to Tiggy not being around, I'm already 'window shopping, with a Ragdoll kitten high on the list of options, but willing to see if anything else shows up. I'm over 50 now, and my family has a history of not getting much beyond 70, so if i'm going to get a Ragdoll kitten it has to be this time, if I wait until one of the juniors time is up, then the kitten will likely outlive me, and that is not what I want to happen if I can help it. Part of me has a bit of a guilt feeling with considering buying a Ragdoll (or other really fluffy kitten) rather than another rescue, but while I'll happily take on a rescue ball of fluff if a suitable one shows up in the next few months, I do know the probability is against it, so the money saved on not having to replace the computer, may be getting spent on something rather fluffier.