A Sorrowful Goodbye…

Today we thought Tibee would be coming home from the vet, but when Pookey went to pick him up just before noon Dr Hanks had to tell him that he couldn’t come home because she suspected that he had developed Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). Having just gotten over Panleukopenia (Feline Distemper) his immune system was extremely weak, so he basically had no chance to survive this new disease.

Yesterday afternoon when I went to visit him I could tell that something was off, especially when he cried out in pain, and became weak, when he had a bowel movement, and urinated. Today when I visited him, after Pookey came home with the bad news, I could feel, at the very bottom of my soul, that we were going to lose him. Looking at him in my arms before I left I had a strong desire to tell Dr Hanks to euthanize him right then, and there, but I just could not let go of the last shred of hope I had that he would survive this new illness like he had survived the original one. That’s my one regret. I could have let him die in my arms, but I selfishly denied him that simply because I could not accept the fact that the FIP was going to kill him. The only salve to this heartache is that his death was most likely peaceful, as the people at Dr Hanks practice had seen him resting comfortably before they discovered he had passed away a short time later.

Tonight, after we had finished dinner we received a call with the news we knew was coming, but didn’t want to hear. My beloved cat Tibee had gone on to the Summerlands to be with all my other loved ones that have passed over. My heart aches, but I know we did all we could to save his life, sparing nothing in our attempt. His life force had been thoroughly depleted by the Panleukopenia, and he just did not have it in him to win another fight. He’ll be cremated, and we’ll be getting his ashes back sometime next week.

Goodbye my sweet boy, Tibee… I will always love you, and I’ll miss you until we meet again.

The Tibee Saga: Part 1, Part 2…