Spotts took a piece of my heart too

Posted on jan 21, 2018 in Events | 0 comments

Exactly one year ago this weekend was filled to the brim with drama. The inauguration of Donald Trump may have added to it, but for me the worst of the drama was way more personal. But fair enough it started on Friday with the happenings in Washington DC and the various reactions to it across the nation which I followed closely for the KPFT Local News at 4 PM. It was also the day my husband would return from a business trip to the Netherlands. Although business trip doesn’t describe it accurately, it was more an extended commute.

I did notice that one of my cats Spotts was a bit off, not so eager to eat and not so eager to join us on the coach. And later she didn’t come to sleep next to my pillow, but I didn’t notice that before the next morning. By then it was clear she was not well. I had planned to go to the Houston Women’s March and before that we would go on a training ride on our bikes. But with Spotts refusing to eat, refusing to even leave her spot at the dining table, she definitely needed some attention first. I picked her up and her body went completely stiff. Was she in pain? Maybe a lack of fluids?

We drove out to the emergency veterinarian hospital, we had been there before with one of our other cats Pebbles who had some known food allergy issues. Along the way I was still thinking I probably overreacted, that it was nothing, maybe she needed some fluid and then we would be off again. Going home, still a family with three cats.

At the vet we had to wait a bit, then a doctor appeared and a tech assistance and a battery of testing began. At some point they told us it was better to go home. They would call us in a couple of hours with news. I was concerned and afraid and tried to push away my deepest fear. Returning home I took my bike to downtown. I went to join the Houston Women’s March which I had promised my editor to cover for Monday’s newscast. It was a great turnout for Houston, I did some interviews, recorded some background noise for my wrap. And met lots of friends. It seemed a good day. When I walked back to my bike my phone rang.

It was the hospital. No good news. The ultrasound showed that one of Spott’s kidneys had shrunk, maybe it always had been the case, and her other kidney was blocked by a stone. There were e few options but the doctor cautioned me, it did not look good. I rode home and I am still surprised I didn’t get into a crash that day, I don’t think I saw anything or anyone on the road. We both drove to the hospital where the vet explained what was going on. They had her on fluids and were hoping the stone would be pushed through her kidney that way. Otherwise they might do an operation. But the outcome was very uncertain.

We went home, talking about it. Together, and with our youngest son and the next morning we also called our eldest son in the Netherlands. We decided not to operate. It was questionable she would survive the surgery and even more uncertain she would recover from the proceeding. We didn’t want to put her through a lot of pain and stress for nothing. We went back to the hospital, sat with her in our laps, cried and said a final goodbye. I can still feel her soft fur. Spotts 4ever. Like Texas she took a piece of my heart.

I still have two lovely cats: Pebbles, who is Spotts’ sister and her son Jackson. Last November Jackson was diagnosed with some sort of kidney failure. I was so afraid I would lose him too in 2017. But he has made some recovery. He eats well again, he is alert, quarrels a bit with Pebbles, eyes the birds in the yard and doesn’t seem to experience any discomfort besides the times I try to give him some fluid under the skin. He made it into 2018. Hopefully it won’t bring us another drama weekend.

-to be continued.