simon

it is with great sadness and an extremely heavy heart that i must tell my pals my simon may very well have to be put to sleep within a matter of days.

he has had trouble breathing since we effected our *capture* of him saturday night. last night, he was in visible distress, but instead of rushing him to the emergency vet, we thought we'd wait until this morning, only to find out our vet isn't in today, but will be in tomorrow. they suggested the emergency vet. of course they did.

i thought he had a cold. no, not my cat. he has pulmonary effusion, which is fluid in his chest cavity. he couldn't breathe because his lung capacity has been diminished by the amount of fluid in his chest. he also has swelling of the liver and a potential mass in his chest; they couldn't tell from the x-ray because of the amount of fluid.

pay $785 to *try* and find out what is wrong with him, no guarantees; pay $1297 to treat him aggressively, still no guarantees. he doesn't have feline leukemia or feline aids, he may have feline infectious peritonitis, or a mass in his chest or heart disease. this condition doesn't *happen* for no reason and it doesn't normally happen overnight.

i sat with my wide-eyed kitty on my lap today, crying. we are not a family of big financial means. we have debt. we are lower-middle-class. we always said if we hit the $500 mark with any pet for one visit, we are kidding ourselves. i paid $438 today. i know i may have some readers that feel differently, and that's cool. but quality of life issues for my children or quality of life issues for my cat ... there really is no contest.

i had a decision to make. i said to tap his chest to relieve the pressure and she did, also gave him lasix and an antibiotic to make him comfortable. i brought him home to say good-bye. and what does he do, his first opportunity?

runs out the back door.

*sigh*

he's on borrowed time. i am now wondering if he had escaped to die initially. now all we can do is try to coax him home because my husband wanted to say good-bye and max will want to, as well. molly was home sick today so she got to hang with him for a bit.

he is the coolest. i snapped the above picture just seconds before his escape; the one with molly when he first came home. this is his favorite chair.

this so totally sucks.