Day 220: Moishe - the sweet little kitten that broke my heart
August 8, 2009
I didn't take this photo today, but for reasons I will explain I absolutely had to make this my photo of the day. This is Moishe (pronounced MOY-sha). He's about 10-12 weeks old and he is adorable. He stole my heart a couple of weeks ago and my husband and I agreed to adopt him but were unable to take him home at the time (since he was abandoned by his mother, we wanted to make sure he had a clean bill of health before exposing O'Puss and Kramer to him). My best friend had been nursing him for almost 8 weeks. He started out as "clumsy" back then. He'd fall over a lot and would have uncontrollable head movements not unlike a human with Parkinson's disease. I was well informed that he would have special needs but the vet my friend took him to said he was otherwise healthy and not contageous or in pain. I suspect that since I was so attached to him, I heard only what I wanted to hear and filtered out the bad. Bottom line: my friend, the mother of 4 children, could not keep the cat and I was unwilling to let her husband take it to a shelter. After great anticipation I picked him up last night and after a long car ride home discovered he was worse than I wanted to believe. He was not in any pain but had such terrible nerve damage that he had a very difficult time getting around. I was so concerned with the quality of his life- it was extremely painful to watch him even though I knew he wasn't hurting. It was like he had a terrible case of cerebral palsy. I spoke to his original vet's doctor but got a bad vibe immediately with regards to their competence and compassion. I asked them if it would be appropriate to put the cat down but they played dumb a bit and weren't much help. I had a very long and mostly sleepless night. Moishe slept on my belly and was the sweetest little thing I've ever seen. What a wonderful disposition- so affectionate and loving I couldn't help but fall in love. This morning I had to make one of the hardest decisions I've had to make in a very long time and I took him to my regular vet who confirmed what I had suspected: his quality of life is poor regardless of the lack of pain. Much to my disappointment and yet relief, they said that putting him down would absolutely be the best thing for him and they offered that without any hesitation. Every staff member that saw him teared up- not only because he was that cute but because it was that painful to watch him try to move. Moishe was buried in my back yard and I spent the rest of the day crying and sleeping. I thank God for my wonderful husband for helping me through this despite his protesting the adoption. He predicted it would come to this. I have no regrets however and think things happen for a reason. Had I not taken Moishe home, he would still be suffering and a decision would never have been made. I'm extremely heartbroken but have comfort in knowing he is with my other late pets. I will miss his sweet little face. Sorry for the long post, I just had to let it out.
August 8, 2009
I didn't take this photo today, but for reasons I will explain I absolutely had to make this my photo of the day. This is Moishe (pronounced MOY-sha). He's about 10-12 weeks old and he is adorable. He stole my heart a couple of weeks ago and my husband and I agreed to adopt him but were unable to take him home at the time (since he was abandoned by his mother, we wanted to make sure he had a clean bill of health before exposing O'Puss and Kramer to him). My best friend had been nursing him for almost 8 weeks. He started out as "clumsy" back then. He'd fall over a lot and would have uncontrollable head movements not unlike a human with Parkinson's disease. I was well informed that he would have special needs but the vet my friend took him to said he was otherwise healthy and not contageous or in pain. I suspect that since I was so attached to him, I heard only what I wanted to hear and filtered out the bad. Bottom line: my friend, the mother of 4 children, could not keep the cat and I was unwilling to let her husband take it to a shelter. After great anticipation I picked him up last night and after a long car ride home discovered he was worse than I wanted to believe. He was not in any pain but had such terrible nerve damage that he had a very difficult time getting around. I was so concerned with the quality of his life- it was extremely painful to watch him even though I knew he wasn't hurting. It was like he had a terrible case of cerebral palsy. I spoke to his original vet's doctor but got a bad vibe immediately with regards to their competence and compassion. I asked them if it would be appropriate to put the cat down but they played dumb a bit and weren't much help. I had a very long and mostly sleepless night. Moishe slept on my belly and was the sweetest little thing I've ever seen. What a wonderful disposition- so affectionate and loving I couldn't help but fall in love. This morning I had to make one of the hardest decisions I've had to make in a very long time and I took him to my regular vet who confirmed what I had suspected: his quality of life is poor regardless of the lack of pain. Much to my disappointment and yet relief, they said that putting him down would absolutely be the best thing for him and they offered that without any hesitation. Every staff member that saw him teared up- not only because he was that cute but because it was that painful to watch him try to move. Moishe was buried in my back yard and I spent the rest of the day crying and sleeping. I thank God for my wonderful husband for helping me through this despite his protesting the adoption. He predicted it would come to this. I have no regrets however and think things happen for a reason. Had I not taken Moishe home, he would still be suffering and a decision would never have been made. I'm extremely heartbroken but have comfort in knowing he is with my other late pets. I will miss his sweet little face. Sorry for the long post, I just had to let it out.
Day 220: Moishe - the sweet little kitten that broke my heart
August 8, 2009
I didn't take this photo today, but for reasons I will explain I absolutely had to make this my photo of the day. This is Moishe (pronounced MOY-sha). He's about 10-12 weeks old and he is adorable. He stole my heart a couple of weeks ago and my husband and I agreed to adopt him but were unable to take him home at the time (since he was abandoned by his mother, we wanted to make sure he had a clean bill of health before exposing O'Puss and Kramer to him). My best friend had been nursing him for almost 8 weeks. He started out as "clumsy" back then. He'd fall over a lot and would have uncontrollable head movements not unlike a human with Parkinson's disease. I was well informed that he would have special needs but the vet my friend took him to said he was otherwise healthy and not contageous or in pain. I suspect that since I was so attached to him, I heard only what I wanted to hear and filtered out the bad. Bottom line: my friend, the mother of 4 children, could not keep the cat and I was unwilling to let her husband take it to a shelter. After great anticipation I picked him up last night and after a long car ride home discovered he was worse than I wanted to believe. He was not in any pain but had such terrible nerve damage that he had a very difficult time getting around. I was so concerned with the quality of his life- it was extremely painful to watch him even though I knew he wasn't hurting. It was like he had a terrible case of cerebral palsy. I spoke to his original vet's doctor but got a bad vibe immediately with regards to their competence and compassion. I asked them if it would be appropriate to put the cat down but they played dumb a bit and weren't much help. I had a very long and mostly sleepless night. Moishe slept on my belly and was the sweetest little thing I've ever seen. What a wonderful disposition- so affectionate and loving I couldn't help but fall in love. This morning I had to make one of the hardest decisions I've had to make in a very long time and I took him to my regular vet who confirmed what I had suspected: his quality of life is poor regardless of the lack of pain. Much to my disappointment and yet relief, they said that putting him down would absolutely be the best thing for him and they offered that without any hesitation. Every staff member that saw him teared up- not only because he was that cute but because it was that painful to watch him try to move. Moishe was buried in my back yard and I spent the rest of the day crying and sleeping. I thank God for my wonderful husband for helping me through this despite his protesting the adoption. He predicted it would come to this. I have no regrets however and think things happen for a reason. Had I not taken Moishe home, he would still be suffering and a decision would never have been made. I'm extremely heartbroken but have comfort in knowing he is with my other late pets. I will miss his sweet little face. Sorry for the long post, I just had to let it out.
August 8, 2009
I didn't take this photo today, but for reasons I will explain I absolutely had to make this my photo of the day. This is Moishe (pronounced MOY-sha). He's about 10-12 weeks old and he is adorable. He stole my heart a couple of weeks ago and my husband and I agreed to adopt him but were unable to take him home at the time (since he was abandoned by his mother, we wanted to make sure he had a clean bill of health before exposing O'Puss and Kramer to him). My best friend had been nursing him for almost 8 weeks. He started out as "clumsy" back then. He'd fall over a lot and would have uncontrollable head movements not unlike a human with Parkinson's disease. I was well informed that he would have special needs but the vet my friend took him to said he was otherwise healthy and not contageous or in pain. I suspect that since I was so attached to him, I heard only what I wanted to hear and filtered out the bad. Bottom line: my friend, the mother of 4 children, could not keep the cat and I was unwilling to let her husband take it to a shelter. After great anticipation I picked him up last night and after a long car ride home discovered he was worse than I wanted to believe. He was not in any pain but had such terrible nerve damage that he had a very difficult time getting around. I was so concerned with the quality of his life- it was extremely painful to watch him even though I knew he wasn't hurting. It was like he had a terrible case of cerebral palsy. I spoke to his original vet's doctor but got a bad vibe immediately with regards to their competence and compassion. I asked them if it would be appropriate to put the cat down but they played dumb a bit and weren't much help. I had a very long and mostly sleepless night. Moishe slept on my belly and was the sweetest little thing I've ever seen. What a wonderful disposition- so affectionate and loving I couldn't help but fall in love. This morning I had to make one of the hardest decisions I've had to make in a very long time and I took him to my regular vet who confirmed what I had suspected: his quality of life is poor regardless of the lack of pain. Much to my disappointment and yet relief, they said that putting him down would absolutely be the best thing for him and they offered that without any hesitation. Every staff member that saw him teared up- not only because he was that cute but because it was that painful to watch him try to move. Moishe was buried in my back yard and I spent the rest of the day crying and sleeping. I thank God for my wonderful husband for helping me through this despite his protesting the adoption. He predicted it would come to this. I have no regrets however and think things happen for a reason. Had I not taken Moishe home, he would still be suffering and a decision would never have been made. I'm extremely heartbroken but have comfort in knowing he is with my other late pets. I will miss his sweet little face. Sorry for the long post, I just had to let it out.
See photo in original gallery.
