Dearest Belinda,
I'm so very sorry your sweet Bailey has gone on, we're all mourning his
loss. You have always been there for each other and you will be still.
He has transitioned to a place of joy where he can watch over you in
peace and comfort, you will be transitioning too. It's something that
we rarely think about when we're in the midst of our constant
caregiving... the day when we turn over their care and nurturing to the
source of our being... Please be gentle on yourself when you wake with
him in your thoughts and for a brief instant your mind fills with all
the rituals of caring for him that are no longer necessary. I'll be
thinking of you when it's finally time to put away all the things that
have aided in his care. It's so hard to do, you've held on so tight,
for so long, now comes the time to transition to a different way to hold
him, no longer in your arms, but always in your heart. You belong to
each other for eternity, you always have, before you knew of his sweet
presence you were there for each other waiting without knowing, now you
wait in knowing. He lives on, I'm sure he'll let you know, I'm sure,
when you're ready to receive it, he'll find his own special way to help
you know just how close you still are to his sweet presence. I'm so
grateful to my Angel Jazz for doing just that for me. It was the first,
and so far, the last time that I've had any audible contact from the
other side. One of our sweetest rituals has remained... I don't know
if you remember me telling the group how very difficult it was for me to
drink tea after Jazz passed. We shared these little moments of joy when
she would read my mind and come out of nowhere when I was thinking of
brewing myself a cup of tea. She'd trill in anticipation and look up
expectantly as I took the tea bag from it's cover, knowing that soon our
game of bat the balled up bag would begin. I found myself the other day
absentmindedly balling up that little bag, it was a moment of
bittersweet remembrance when I gazed smiling at it in my hand and knew
my little girl was still with me. Look for those moments, and I hope
very soon, you'll find yourself smiling, knowing the world is a better
place for the gift of your darling Bailey and your love for him.
Thank you sweet Bailey and thank you Belinda. My tears, prayers and
thoughts are with you,
Nina
Belinda wrote:
Bailey left us at 6:20 this evening. He took a bad turn for
the worse late last night and when I took him in this morning for his
surgery it was evident he wasn't in good enough shape. We gave him
fluids for a couple hours because he was dehydrated, his blood
pressure was 60 and his temperature went from 103 yesterday to 98
today, his blood work was normal except his platelet count was low so
he wasn't clotting and suregery was out of the question unless we
could get his platelet count up. After two hours of fluids and a
blood transfusion his platelets came up but his temperature was now
94, 96 puts kitties at risk for heart failure and she couldn't even
get a blood pressure.
My vet said we have 3 options, we could continue the fluids and
support and see if things changed and if they did he could have the
surgery tomorrow.
Go ahead with the surgery and get in and out as quickly as possible or
she could euthanise him.
I asked her what she honestly thought of his condition, she said she
though he was leaving on his own, I agreed. We talked, I asked her
what to expect if he was going to die and she told me what the likely
scenarios would be, she gave me a syringe of pain meds incase it got
really bad for him, it would basically knock him out so he wouldn't
suffer and pass on his own, she had a dinner engagement but told me to
call if she was needed. I had told Bailey it was his decision to stay
or go, and told him to do what was best for him. I brought him home
on the fluids to keep supporting him and if he did turn for the better
we would consider the surgery later. His breathing got worse just
taking him to the car so I knew in my heart we didn't have long.
We had about an hour, he was home with us and we were with him when he
left. He is whole now and FeLV free for the first time. We were so
lucky to have him for 11 years, his birthday was Monday. I will miss
his bouncy, happy personality. He was so special and I learned so
much thanks to him. He was our only positive and the one that was
responsible for my learning everything I have about FeLV+, he has
helped me save many positives and for that I thank him. I miss my
little Baidely boys so much already ... take care all. Give your
special guys and extra special hug for Bailey.
