My cat

It may seem like a strange thing, to ask for prayers for a cat, but our cat, Padre, is sick. All of a sudden her belly is very swollen and she is having "accidents" throughout the house. Her behavior is also very peculiar. She's just not herself.

She's been part of this family for 16 years. She was born right in this house, and I was there to see her come into this world. The kids have never known a time when she wasn't there. She's such a great cat. Very tolerant of kids, which is a good thing, because not only did she have Devin and Kelsey around, but I also did babysitting for other kids in my home. Still to this day, she never minds being carried around by the kids. I'm hoping whatever is wrong is something a little medicine and TLC can cure, but I also know that she is getting up there and it could be something more serious.

So, I'm calling the vet tomorrow to make an appointment for her.

Oh, poor Padre! I don't think that's a strange prayer request at all, Pam. Our "pets" really become short, rather hairy members of the family. Padre is in my prayers, Pam - and please keep us posted.

{{{Padre & Pam}}}

Thank you so much, Savannah. This morning was really rough. It's her habit to jump up on the bathroom sink every morning, and take a drink right out of the faucet. She's done that forever and ever.

This morning when I got up, she was just laying on the bathroom rug. I turned on the faucet and she lifted her head like she wanted to get up, and she was struggling to move, but she didn't even have the strength to get up. I picked her up and lifted her to the sink so that she could drink, and she just laid on the sink and took a drink. It was so sad to see her like that. After that she was just laying on the bathroom rug, unmoving. Kelsey and I were just sitting with her and crying until we could call the vet.

She did get a little perkier and was walking around a bit. The vet said that it may be kidney stones, which I guess is pretty common with older pets. He said she appears to be a bit dehydrated too, which surprises me because she is always drinking. Although she has not had as much to drink since she started acting sick. So, they're running tests and giving her IV fluids, doing x-rays, and keeping her until Saturday. They are supposed to call later today to let us know what's going on. Ugh! I'm supposed to go to school for a couple of hours, but I don't know if I'll even be able to concentrate! Tim is going to stay with the kids until they call to let us know what's going on. He came home from work when he heard how bad she was this morning.

This is the first time she has ever even been sick!

Wow, the first time she's ever been sick in 16 years?! That's a healthy cat right there! She sounds like a really tough cookie...I hope she pulls through this ok, Pam. That's not a strange thing at all, to ask for prayers for a cat. As Savannah said, our pets are 'family'! I will pray for her. Take care, Pam, and please keep us posted on how Padre is doing! (LOL, love that name! ).

Pam,
I'm so sorry to hear about your cat, Padre. Pets are such important members of our family. I will say a prayer for her. Keep us updated on how she is doing.

I Hope your cat will be ok I'll pray for her

Thanks for the prayers, Amy, Teresa, and Jacob.

I still don't know anything except that her x-rays are clear. She's getting IV fluids and she got a couple of injections, and they said she is pretty weak. My heart is broken. It's just too quiet around here. I'm used to her jumping on the sink every time I go into the bathroom, getting under my feet in the kitchen meowing to let me know, "Hey woman! Feed me!", or just curling up next to me on the couch. But we are so lucky that she has been so healthy up until now.

So now we are just waiting to hear the results of the blood test and urinalysis. I'll update when I know more.

Oh I do hope she's ok

{{{Pam}}} I'm still praying, too. Poor sweetie. And I know how hard this is on you and your family, as well.

Pam, your Padre looks SO MUCH like my first cat!! They could be twins! I don't have any digital pictures of him, but they look amazingly alike. Give Padre a hug from me, and let her know that she has lots of people praying for her.

Praying hard for Padre, Pam. :alright:

I'll be praying for Padre, Pam. I'm very sorry, for I know what you are going through. My cat Benito , died when he was 14 years old, and I loved him so much that I was distroyed and very anguished when he finally died after some days of an unknown illness.

I suppose that your cat is suffering from being old. Old people is only ill of oldness...and maybe this is what was happening to your dear one. Sadly, we , animals or human beings are not here for ever. God disposses that we must come here and then, go.

However, I hope that your cat could be improving in no time and that she could live much more time along with you.

Love.

Vanesa.

Thanks everyone. I still don't know what's wrong with her. At least if I knew, we could deal with it. This is so frustrating!!!

Well, I have an update, but it's not very good. They did find an infection when they did the urinalysis, so they have her on medicine for that. But, her blood work shows problems with her kidneys, liver, and pancreas. Being that she is an older cat, coupled with all of these problems, her prognosis isn't very good.

They are going to let us take her home tomorrow; they're still giving her IV fluids right now. He said she needs to continue taking the meds for 15 days, then they'd like to see her again in 15 days. So, we are going to bring her home tomorrow and see how she is. I don't want her to suffer, so if she appears to be having problems, we will probably have to put her to sleep.

I think some of this has been going on for some time, but we just haven't seen the signs. Like her appetite increasing, but it seemed like she started to lose some weight. Then she seems thirsty all the time. But she has still been very active, and hasn't acted any differently otherwise.

This is so hard, especially with the kids. I just can't wait to see her tomorrow and just be able to hold her.

Thanks again, everyone.

That is neat that you had a cat who looked like Padre, Savannah. I love black and white cats. Actually, I love all cats!

Is that your daughter and your cat in your avatar? Cool! I'm keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. It is hard when pets go thru this, even though they are animals. I've grown very attached to mine, and with Sheba's death, I know how hard it can be.

Yes, that's Kelsey and Padre. I love that picture. That's how Padre is though, always snuggling up with someone.

Yes, I get attached too. That's the hard part, you know eventually it's going to happen, but letting go isn't easy. But I do know that we've been very fortunate to have her as long as we have and that she's been healthy.

Thank you!!

Thanks. I'll let everyone know how she is doing when I finally get to see her tomorrow. She's within walking distance, just a few blocks away. I've driven by there about a half dozen times, lol. That cat has no idea how much she is missed.

Well, I never did get to see her today. Padre died this afternoon.

Tim had picked her up from the vet's office this afternoon after he had gotten off of work. The kids and I were at my parents house, and I was doing their weekly cleaning for them.

Tim did go and pick Padre up. But she was very sick. We were going to have to give her IV fluids at home. Tim got her, the instructions for her medicine and everything, and went home. He made a little bed for her and was in the kitchen making a warm water bottle for her (she had gotten so thin that the dr. recommended a warm water bottle to help keep her warm), he said she was looking at him one minute, then the next thing he knew, it looked like she was asleep. He picked her up, and he wasn't sure if she lost consiousness or what, because she wasn't responding, so he took her back to the vet's office, but she was gone.

I wouldn't have wanted her to live being constantly poked and prodded, on different medications, so I was glad she went peacefully. I guess while she was on medication, while she was at the vet's office, she seemed okay. She was eating well and everything. But she was so sick, once she was off the meds to be taken home, she was gone just that quick.

It's just amazing how fast things changed. A week ago she seemed fine.

We were so very lucky to have had her for 16 years, and never to have had her sick.

She will be missed!!

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Pam, I'm so sorry to hear about Padre.

Here's something for all of us who have loved and lost pets...

The Rainbow Bridge

My prayers are with you and your family! {{Pam & her family}} :alright: