Posted here March 18, 2022
October 5 and 10 posts included, March 22, 2022
Sunny, now 13 years old, is slowing down and losing quite a bit of weight. Wendi and I are concerned that we may be slowly losing him. I call him my little mmm guy. I will dearly miss him if he passes away. On Sunday, and again on Monday, I found myself in tears at times, thinking about this.
Sunny was looking pretty good a day or two ago, but this morning he was in a bad way again. He was “barking” meows at me, and when I picked him up, he screamed so I would let him down. A few minutes later he was throwing up, and it was mostly water. I’ve seen him do this lately, from time to time. ~ His back was arched as if in pain, and he appears to have already lost what weight he had regained when he was feeling better. I’m afraid we’re slowly losing him, and he appears to be aware of this. ~ Wendi gave him a bit of her bacon at breakfast. Normally we don’t do this, but… simple pleasures while we still can, right?
Sunny, my little Mmm guy #teenagecat
(Posted at 9:13 pm from Instagram)
We took both cats to Janesville Veterinary Clinic (West) this morning at 10:40. Sunny was in our own carrier, and Stormy was in a carrier borrowed from the East clinic. This proved to be a mistake: Stormy was terrified and screamed uncontrollably on the way there; then Sunny proved too much to handle in the office. ~ Stormy weighed in at 10 lbs. 2 oz. which is the highest she has ever been, but she is very solid. Her heart and lungs sounded okay. She received a distemper shot. ~ Sunny weighed in at 9 lbs. 2 oz. which is by far his lowest since he was a kitten, but the weight could have been off a few ounces because he wouldn’t be still on the scale. He wouldn’t let them do any shots or blood work today, because he was so upset. They gave us some pills to calm him down before his next visit (we set it up for Monday). ~ We paid the entire bill today, even for the upcoming rabies shot and blood work.
By October 6, the cat litter was getting fouled up quickly; apparently Sunny’s kidneys were messed up.
I took Sunny back to the vet at 2 pm. They were able to do his rabies shot, but he wouldn’t let them do the blood draw because even with the medicine, he was still too alert and too fussy. They gave me a quote on an injectable sedative ($86-126); the blood work is already paid for and appears as credit on the account. Dr. Nicole said we could do this, or we could just watch him for a while, and maybe try him on some soft food to see if he gains weight. He wouldn’t eat it the last time we tried it, but that was years ago, and things have changed a lot since then.
Wendi suggested that I try Sunny on the soft food; his teeth (or maybe his jaw) don’t seem to tolerate chewing the hard food. Even this morning at breakfast, Wendi gave him a tougher piece of sausage, and he had trouble with it. I bought two cans of Friskies cat food at Woodman’s.
At home, I gave Sunny half of the first can of cat food (Ocean Whitefish & Tuna Dinner) and gave him half of it. He really chowed down!
Sunny has been struggling. He will do fairly well for a few days and then start throwing up and not eating well, so he falls backward in progress. The past two days have been in reverse. I suspect that he may not survive 2016.
That morning, we found Sunny so weak he could barely stand up. His weak meows indicated great pain. He wouldn’t eat or drink. We phoned the vet and got an emergency visit with Dr. Mike Hotchkiss at Janesville Veterinary Clinic East for 11:30 am.
During recent visits to the vet, Sunny wouldn’t let anyone “mess with him” to take blood for tests, even with a sedative. The doctor explained that he was now past the point where they could do anything for him, “and that’s the beauty of euthanasia,” he said. “They don’t have to suffer anymore and can go peacefully.” We agreed, though it hurt badly. The doctor administered the shots; Sunny let out a final whimper, and soon after that, his heart stopped. Our little mmm guy was gone.
This Is SIR Sunny James Petitt he was Born July 22, 2003
and He Passed Away December 2, 2016 he Has Been My Constant Companion
for 13 years now in fact that is how Old was no I take that back 13 1/2
years old. He went OVER RAINBOW BRIDGE He gets to eat all the Cat Treats
He Wants! Please forgive me if I am having a Hard Time Today because I’m
really Sad STORMY MARIE is really UPSET ALSO SHE IS OUR FEMALE CAT SHE IS
12 1/2 years old AND THEY WERE REALLY CLOSE!!
(Posted by Wendi M Petitt, December 2 at 12:12 pm.
Photo taken January 19, 2012)
Our neighbors and close friends, Kayla and Trey, were first to hear the news. It was extra hard for Kayla not only because Sunny had bonded with her, but it was also her 25th birthday. Wendi and I took Kayla and Trey out to lunch at Kobe’s Japanese restaurant in the Janesville Mall (1:16 pm). That evening, I still didn’t feel like cooking, so Wendi and I got dinner from Taco John’s (6:16).