Love & Loss on Valentine’s Day

Many people will wonder why my Valentine’s Day Gift Guide came to a screeching halt. This little one pictured named Andy came to us the day before Christmas Eve. He was amazing. He wrapped his paws around our hearts and immediately we knew that he would be a foster fail. A foster kitty who became an adopted kitty. He made friends with everyone, the other cats loved him and Maggie our Blue Heeler had a BFF.

Things were going great and we were doing our day to day routines when I noticed that he was struggling to walk. He was swaying and walking more like a penguin than a cat. I called our vet but had to wait several days before we could be seen. We live in a pretty rural area and this is typical. I honestly didn’t think it was anything that an emergency vet should see, so we didn’t take him on the hour long drive to be seen.

When the vet came we learned that he had a neurological issue that was affecting his walking skills. We started a lot of meds. My house calendar looked like something had taken over and honestly it had. I was fully 100% committed to taking care of Andy. I gave meds twice a day, nutritional supplements every day, eye drops and fed whatever he would eat whenever he wanted it. Our oldest son slept on the couch with him in case he needed anything.

Several days of medications I started to notice he was not getting better but in fact he was getting worse. I was even more devoted to make his days as good as we could. His walking became worse and yesterday on Valentine’s Day around 8pm we said our goodbyes.

Andy may have only been with us for a short time, but that time to me was precious. It was worth it and most of all I believe that like all animals he left an imprint on our lives. I am not sure where our journey will lead us with pets in the future. I am not sure when my heart will open again.

I appreciate every single person who has supported us throughout this journey. To everyone who called, texted, emailed, etc you are loved and appreciated.