Rest in peace, Pixel

Yes, we had to ease Pixel into the next life tonight. She's been active and spry, so we didn't think anything was wrong with her. In fact, we were planning to get her to the vet for her checkup sometime in the next week or so. However, she had been talking more than normal yesterday and today. The animal emergency clinic ran some bloodwork and found that she was dehydrated and anemic. Just what do you do with these elderly cats to keep them hydrated? Apparently you take them to the vet for subcutaneous fluids several times a week. Needless to say, Scooter is getting a check-up appointment ASAP. Two elderly cats passing in the past month has been very tough. Especially Pixel. We knew that Brownie was failing, but even yesterday Pixel was out patrolling her territory. She didn't come in until late last night when it got chilly. She was stubborn about eating until I relented and gave her baby food meat. I did not expect this. Ok, I figured eventually sometime in the future we would have to make that decision about Pixel. I didn't expect it today. Once again I must tell you how wonderful the vets at the Dekalb Gwinnett Animal Emergency Clinic are. The prognosis for Pixel was not good, and the vet told us that they don't offer elective euthanasia. She said if we wanted to treat Pixel we had to know that her prognosis wasn't good; the treatment would be intensive as well as time consuming and expensive. I must admit that I still had trouble believing Pixel was as bad as the labwork said she was. She sure didn't act ill at all. Not a bit except for lack of grooming which I figured was due to some arthritis. I feel numb, and this will take a while to sink in. I thought I had more time with Pixel. She was a wierd, strange and neurotic cat, and I always figured she was that way because her caretaker (me) was a wierd, strange and neurotic person when we bonded. Well, I'm off to drink some Sleepytime tea and try to ward off this next set of tears. (crying makes my sinuses swell, and they hurt already.)