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Thursday, April 29, 2004 |
| I woke Wednesday with the news that one of my cats, Cocoa, had passed away at the vet the night before. Honestly, that sucked. We got Cocoa and his sister Maggie when I was in high school, and they'd spent 2 years living with me in my apartment in Athens. About a year ago, Cocoa was diagnosed with Feline Diabetes. The vet told me that he would have to have an insulin shot every twelve hours for the rest of his life. Let me tell you, that's not an easy thing for a busy college student to hear...but somehow things worked out. It didn't take long for him to get used to the shots, and there were even mornings where he would wake me up if I didn't give it to him at the normal time. After a few months, I took him back to the vet for a checkup, and she told me that his blood sugar seemed to be back to normal, and that he didn't need the shots anymore. He'd gotten healthy enough that all he needed was the Diabetes Management food. I still remember the first morning that he didn't need his shot anymore, he woke me up and ran into the kitchen like he was wondering why I'd forgotten. That was last July. In December, I moved the kitties back to Newnan to live with the parents until I got done with my trip. I strongly considered bringing them with me, because everybody says that cats are really good on boats, but I just didn't think they'd be too happy with it. Not to mention they weren't in shape...last I checked, Cocoa was at 18lbs, and Maggie was 17. (I don't have any pictures with me...I'll have to wait until I get back up to Newnan to find some for you.) Anyway, when I moved the cats back home, I briefed everybody on the symptoms that Cocoa was having blood-sugar problems, because it isn't hard for it to get really bad without anybody noticing. (When I noticed the first time, Cocoa was down to 8 lbs.) Apparently, Mom noticed on Sunday or Monday that he didn't really have any energy, so she took him to the vet on Tuesday, and for whatever reason, it snuck up so quick that there was nothing that could be done. Apply whatever stereotypes you'd like when it comes to me & my cats, but I'm certainly not afraid to say that I loved him a lot, and will really miss him. I guess it's better to love & lose than never love at all, though, right? I'm strongly considering bringing Maggie on the trip with me now, but I'm not really sure that it'd be best for her. I just don't know what kind of conditions I'd have to put her through when we get to the keys, because I imagine that it'll get pretty hot. Anyway... |
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