Leo

Updated:

If anyone is reading this please send prayers up for our cat, Leo. He belongs to our two children still at home. It has been and down and up day. We took him into the emergency clinic in the city yesterday. He was in pretty tough shape - kidney failure. He was fairly dehydrated. They kept him in over night and gave him fluids. He did start eating as well, which he hasn't really done for a few weeks. They told us this morning that he was doing better but then phoned and told us he desparately needed a transfusion. We rushed in after the service and the news was not good. We decided to bring him home for one last night and take him to our own vet tomorrow to have him euthanized. It was a tough decision.

The vet went to get things set up for us to take Leo home. She and her assistant came back and told us that when they got to him, he looked better so they took another blood sample. His red count was up a fair bit - still a concern but not dangerously low as it had been in the morning. We decided to bring Leo home for the night and take him to a vet friend of our son's in the morning. Please pray that things improve. Leo is only 4 years old - pretty young to have kidney failure and we have been trying to figure out what he may have accidently eaten or drank to bring this on.

He's an amazing cat - can't decide if he's cat, dog, or human and shows traits of all three. He loves old boots. He's got personnality plus and has given us many laughs with his antics. My own cat, Max, is lost without him as he has never known a time separate from him. When I brought Max home as a kitten, Leo mothered him, which was good because Max's mom had basically rejected him.

Updated: Monday afternoon.

By 9:00 last night we figured that Leo would not make it til morning. He surprised us and did so. He was more energetic and drinking water. He ate a breakfast of ground buffalo - his favourite. We went into the vet with our hopes up, knowing that this vet did not like euthanizing animals. Unfortunately, the news was not good. Leo's condition had probably been there from his birth. As the vet talked we could see signs that he had been going downhill for a while now. Any measures we could take were for comfort only. We made the tough decision to have Leo euthanized. It's been hard to come home without him and still see traces of him all over the house. My youngest is taking this hard but believes we made the right decision (he had a voice in that decision as well - he didn't want to see Leo suffer anymore).

We give thanks for Leo's presence in our lives these last 4 years. He brought us a lot of joy and laughter. We give thanks to God that we did have that last night with him, to say good-bye and let go.

Love and Prayers,
Ann Marie