Friday, September 28, 2012

Not a Typical Day In Cat Rescue

I no sooner pushed the "Publish" button on yesterday's blog post when the phone rang.  I was already stress with my sweet "soulmate cat" Newman in surgery, but I wasn't expecting complete chaos on the other end of the phone when I answered.  All I could hear was a man screaming.

It was the voice of my son.

The second voice I heard was his girlfriend's voice:  "Mrs. Turner,  I've called an ambulance for Patrick, he's in agonizing pain in his head and can't walk.  Can you come to the hospital?"

What you don't know is when Patrick was a teenager, he fell 45 feet (approximately 4 storeys)  onto the cement when a carnival ride collapsed.  He had recovered from a massive brain injury, but we always had the caveat that he could be predisposed to an aneurysm per his neuro-surgeon. 

I won't go into all the details, but after a CT scan, spinal tap and 8 hours in the emergency, they didn't know what was wrong. 

I would periodically leave the emergency room to check on Newman's surgery at the vets and ask one of our volunteers to take over the rescue's phone lines and emails.  I thought I had everything covered and even remembered there was a house showing at our other house for sale that needed to be cancelled!  I took a deep breath.

The cell phone rang in my hand as I sat outside of the hospital for a few moments in the sunshine.  It was the vet at another affiliated vet clinic.  One of our foster kittens was there and he wanted authorization to do an x-ray.  He suspected FIP.

I went back into the emergency room to be with my son and waited for another opportunity to walk outside to check on my own cat and the sick foster cat.  Another two hours went by and the doctor came in to do the spinal tap. 

With coffee in hand, I called the rescue's vet.  The kitten was dying.  It was FIP and he asked for permission to euthanize.  My heart sank.  It was just too much.  Newman, my son and a dying kitten?  I had a moment of complete selfish anguish.  Why can't I have just ONE DAY to deal with matters of my own life?  I put my hands into fists and closed my eyes.

Then I realized...Rescue IS my life, and sadly authorized the euthanisia of "Oz". 

My son and my Newman are both recovering.  I, on the other hand, spent today trying to recover from a Thursday I won't soon forget.

Kiss your loved ones....human and furry...tonight. 



13 comments:

Random Felines said...

oh honey - I am SO very sorry..... we hope that Newman and your son get better soon with good reports. and know that there isn't anything you can do for Oz - but show him the love to let him go.....

hmacross said...

Beth,
sending you and your son 'virtual' hugs from across the country.

Robyn said...

Oh Beth, I'm so sorry to hear this. Here's to a speedy recovery for your son and Newman. RIP little Oz. Hang in there!

Fuzzy Tales said...

(((Hugs))) and purrs from us too, we hope both Patrick and Newman will recover quickly.

We're so sorry that Oz is (was) not meant to be here for long. Poor sweetie, maybe his energy will be reborn into a better life.

Anonymous said...

Beth, I am so glad to hear that Newman came through the surgery OK.. and that.hopefully your Son is going to be fine ..and I am so sorry to hear about darling little Oz. He was such a sweet little boy. NOW I know why he hadn't been adopted yet ! Thank you for not letting him suffer...Love Gail

Connie - Tails from the Foster Kittens said...

Oh Beth, I am so very very sorry to hear about all this going on. I hope that both your son and Newman recover quickly.

So sorry to hear about Oz. FIP stinks. It was a blessing he wasn't out in the cold when he got sick.

JLi said...

Awww...what a day!! Hugs to you and I HOPE your son is ok. How scary!!! xoxo

The Lady said...

Oh no!! So glad your son is doing ok.




I know you will get a ton of ideas and suggestions form people. But if the doctors don't have another diagnosis, a friend of mine's son has migraines that cause these types of symptoms. e collapsed completely paralyzed the first time.

Huge hugs!

shannon said...

oh dear god. Glad his gf was there to help. hope he gets better soon

Debbie said...

Life throws you some terrible things sometimes
Glad your son is doing better and I hope they figure out what the problem is soon
And hope Newman is on the mend
Today needs to be a Beth and David day!!

Anonymous said...

So sorry about the crummy day. Glad your son and kitty are doing ok. They have a very good neuro department at Toronto Western Hospital.

Hope you are watching your blood pressure.

Sending virtual hugs!!

Harpurr and Lily's Mom

Caroline said...

Wow, what a Thursday you had! I hope things have calmed down and tell your son that all us blog readers are thinking of him, and Newman!

Sry to read about Oz.

Anonymous said...

And for a little cheer - cat saves family from carbon monoxide poisoning!

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2012/09/25/mount-gilead-cat-saves-owners-from-carbon-monoxide.html