Farewell to Misty
Sadly on Thursday May the 4th 2006 one of our cats Misty, passed away.
Misty suffered Kidney failure in one of her kidneys early last year and since then she had been on borrowed time. We did everything we could for her. We gave her fluids at increasing intervals via a drip, fed her only kidney diet food and made sure she was always well hydrated. As time went on she went through patches of doing well, and patches of doing not so well. At one point we had to make the decision to have almost all of her teeth removed because they were all rotten and the germs were making her remaining kidney even worse, not to mention she couldn't eat.
After her dental work she once again perked up. A short time later her health started declining again. This time we found out that she was very anemic. The vet gave her a shot and we fed her the only food she would eat, tuna. Tuna of course isn't good for a failing kidney but that's all she would eat.
On Wednesday night we noticed that she wasn't eating or drinking at all and she was very weak. We were worried. The next morning we found her hiding under a piece of furniture which is a sign that a cat has found a place to die. She was really struggling to breath (not a blocked airway but the body trying to get enough oxygen into her blood).
Karen took her to the vet immediately and they told her that it would only get worse from then onwards. Her other kidney was now also shrivelled up and she was very dehydrated and anemic. We had to make the very difficult decision to euthanise her. It was really for her benefit because she was now really suffering. Up until that point she was never in pain, but now she was.
We think Misty was 15 years old but the vet said that it was more like 18 (126 cat years).
We got Misty from the ASPCA in 1995 and at the time they said she was 5 years old. She was probably 8 years old but because people almost never adopt older animals in favor of the cute kittens, they bend the truth a little. That day we adopted 2 cats. Misty and Sheba. We were living in Concord, California and Sheba was a stray while Misty was a cat that had been severely abused by her previous owners and brought to the ASPCA because the husband told the wife that she wasn't paying him enough attention so the cat had to go. One can also imagine that the husband was beating up the cat too.
We didn't name Misty, her previous owners did and we kept her name.
Misty had one eye that had a damaged cornea, possibly from a cat fight, but possibly from human abuse. She could see out of it but it was probably a bit blurry.
When we got Misty home, she was a very terrified cat. She cowered away when you went to stroke her. She literally ran up a wall to get away from us many times in pure terror because she was expecting the abusive treatment of her previous owners.
Eventually after many months, probably years, she came to trust us completely. She understood that not all humans are cruel to animals and we were there to love her and take care of her.
Misty had such a wonderful personality and character. She was definitely the head of our little cat colony and the others wouldn't cross her. She was full of spunk and life and turned out to be a very loving companion.
When we drove from Concord, California to New Jersey with the cats in the car, Misty had no fear. She sat on the dash board and watch the world zip by. She also sat on the center arm rest and enjoyed the blast from the air conditioner.
Misty's life may have started out with those disgusting humans among us who abuse animals, but we rescued her in 1995 and she enjoyed the last 11 years of her life in our loving care and we feel honored to have shared it with her.
Misty, we already miss you.
