$439 dollars later and we still don't know what is wrong. By no fault of the vet, there just may not be an answer. What we do know is that Sophie lost 2 pounds in five months. That is a lot of weight to lose when one starts at 8 pounds. We know that her breathing is very labored and there is something on her X-ray that doesn't belong there. We know that Sophie is twelve years old and has lived the life of a queen.
So now we wait to see if the steroid shot and antibiotics work. If they don't work, then we make a decision. But that is when it gets tricky. Sophie is Hayley's cat. Danny and I pay the bills, buy the food, hound Hayley to clean the litter box. But Sophie is Hayley's cat. Yesterday when I wanted to explain to Hayley what was going on, I could not get a straight answer from her.
Hayley leaves for Canada in three days and I have no idea what I am supposed to do with her cat if her cat is struggling to breathe.
I am not keen on the idea of ending Sophie's life. I don't want to make the decision ever again. I definitely don't want to make that decision while Hayley is in Canada. But if Hayley is not in Canada, then she will probably be somewhere other than home and the decision will be left to Danny and myself.
So until then, we keep this little girl comfortable. We ply her with canned cat food to fatten her up. Ashlyn wrestles her daily to get the medicine down. And we watch her breathe. We wait to see the rapidness decrease, but know that it may increase. It may increase to the point where Sophie cannot catch a breath.
Why do we bother with pets? Why do we open our hearts up so widely for someone that will only be around for a decade or so? It is easy really, there is a love there that is so pure, so easy that one would be crazy to pass that up. I could have bought a car with the money spent at the vet over the past twenty years. But my heart would be less for it.
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