Pet’s Name – Rodent
Age – 9
Age – 9
Type – Domestic Long Hair
Favorite Toy – Laser Light, her chirping bird, flicky sticks
Favorite Treat – Temptations Crunchy Treats
Favorite Thing to Do – Lounge around in her bed, be loved, eat, play laser, cuddle and love her brothers (Bilbo and Nigel – dachshunds).
Favorite Memory – There are way too many to pick just one but I would have to say some of my favorite times were when I would let her outside and walk with her in the yard for sometimes hours at a time.
Here is also a little “goodbye” I wrote about her if you have the room for her page to copy and paste.
Favorite Thing to Do – Lounge around in her bed, be loved, eat, play laser, cuddle and love her brothers (Bilbo and Nigel – dachshunds).
Favorite Memory – There are way too many to pick just one but I would have to say some of my favorite times were when I would let her outside and walk with her in the yard for sometimes hours at a time.
Here is also a little “goodbye” I wrote about her if you have the room for her page to copy and paste.
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been over two weeks since I had to put down my cat, Rodent.
And as annoying as she could have been at times…sometimes meowing non-stop until she got what she wanted…I would give up almost anything to have her back.
I wanted to take a few short minutes to talk about her and in a way “say goodbye”.
Rodent came into my life when I was a vet tech still in high school. I remember walking in one day for work and she was in one of the cages in the surgery room. (She was brought into the vet to be put to sleep because she was mean). Note, she was not mean; she was one of the sweetest cats I’ve ever known. I fell in love with her that day and so with some convincing…I was able to talk everyone into letting me take her home.
The truth was, she was brought into the vet because the owners didn’t want to care for her. I don’t know the exact reason (some neurological condition) but for some reason Rodent was never really able to use her back legs all that well. I always wanted to take her someplace to get her a set of wheels or to try to figure out why…but being in high school and then a poor college student…I never had the money. Nonetheless, she lived at my mother’s house when I was in undergrad. I remember coming in on the weekends and taking her outside to walk around (she had to be watched due to neighborhood dogs). She was a spoiled cat…with lots of love, catnip, grooming, treats, etc…I think she had everything a cat would want.
When I started PT School and moved into my first apartment, she was the cat I wanted to take to live with me. She was always my girl and I wanted to make sure she was an only cat since she was special. It wasn’t long once she moved in with me that I noticed something was wrong. You see, back home…it was hard to tell because my mother had six cats in total. However, Rodent had a digestion problem and it was easy to tell once I realized she wasn’t using her liter box.
From there I took her to the vet and it was determined that she had a condition called “megacolon”. My guess is that it developed because of her neurological condition. She had a temporary “fix” and I thought at that time it wouldn’t be long before she had to be put down. Luckily, I stumbled upon what I call a miracle food that aided her with digestion…I thought everything was going to be okay…and it was for another 3-4 years.
And so she continued to live with me…during which she got two brothers (Bilbo and Nigel), got to meet Santa, and was the happy (sometimes annoying) cat that I always loved. I always wish I could have done more for her…but I know deep down she was a happy/spoiled cat.
Then a few weeks ago…the same symptoms started to come back. She was having trouble going to the bathroom. Finally it got to the point that I realized something wasn’t right and so I took her to the vet last Tuesday. They took some x-rays and it was shown that her megacolon had progressed (in fact, her colon was almost double what it should have been). They offered a surgery that might have helped her for a few weeks…but it was bound to come back again…and again…and again. The other option was to put her down…which…although was an extremely difficult decision to do…was the right one. I tried to take her home for one more evening…but the vet told me it had progressed to a point that her colon could rip if it was prolonged much more.
Therefore, I had to give her my final loves in the vet office…holding her and reminding her how good of a girl she always was…and letting her know that I would one day see her again (she purred the entire time). I held her and stayed by her side throughout the entire process…and when she took her last breathe…my heart stopped too.
I know one day I will see her again, and like I said last week…I know she is already running around up in heaven with full use of her back legs…chasing water bugs, birds, and frogs.
Rodent was the best cat I could have asked to have had…and I am going to miss her. She will never be replaced.
For those of you running our Winter Series, be sure to check the back of the Series Medal once you receive it…as I am going to dedicate the series this year to Rodent.
July 27, 2008 – December 12 2017
RIP Rodent
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