I am relatively new, posting for the first time just a week ago. But everything happened so fast. Four years ago my husband and I adopted a beautiful Norwegian Forest cat from the Humane Society. We could not understand why anyone had surrendered such a wonderful animal.
Morbo was quite the character. My husband traveled for work frequently, and Morbo was my constant companion. He would sleep on the couch behind my head and share a pillow with me at night. He loved food, and would purr happily while eating. He was a "carb lover" as our vet said, and would try to steal pretzels when we weren't looking. He drank out of our water glasses if you didn't pay attention. And if he wasn't fed promptly by 5am, he would lick my arm until I got out of bed. Morbo was our "defender of the realm" growling warnings at feral cats that approached our windows, but too much of a scaredy cat to exit the open front door. We have a 2 year old, and he was the most gentle cat with him. I never had to worry about my son around him.
Three weeks ago he began to drool. Excessively. Several visits to the vet, blood work, and a tooth cleaning later, we had no answers. He began to lose weight. He could not chew. His tongue hung out the side of his mouth, and his jaw began to quiver. We fed him food and water with a syringe three times per day and bathed him every other day because the drooling was so bad. We took him to a neurologist, who diagnosed him with a brainstem tumor.
The neurologist said it's so rare that he's only seen a couple. He wanted pictures and videos so others could learn. The location made the tumor inoperable. And chemo was not an option. It would be a rapid decline. He had already lost 5lbs. He was refusing his syringe feeds.
We made the decision to end his suffering. The one thing he really loved in life was to eat. He could not care less about toys, or his bed, or anything else. So I made a nice pile of food in an easy to eat shape. He shoved his whole face in there and tried his best.
Even though I know it was best for him, I still feel horribly guilty. He purred even as they inserted the IV. And I feel like I betrayed him by asking someone to take him. He went peacefully. He is no longer suffering. And I miss him terribly.
Morbo was quite the character. My husband traveled for work frequently, and Morbo was my constant companion. He would sleep on the couch behind my head and share a pillow with me at night. He loved food, and would purr happily while eating. He was a "carb lover" as our vet said, and would try to steal pretzels when we weren't looking. He drank out of our water glasses if you didn't pay attention. And if he wasn't fed promptly by 5am, he would lick my arm until I got out of bed. Morbo was our "defender of the realm" growling warnings at feral cats that approached our windows, but too much of a scaredy cat to exit the open front door. We have a 2 year old, and he was the most gentle cat with him. I never had to worry about my son around him.
Three weeks ago he began to drool. Excessively. Several visits to the vet, blood work, and a tooth cleaning later, we had no answers. He began to lose weight. He could not chew. His tongue hung out the side of his mouth, and his jaw began to quiver. We fed him food and water with a syringe three times per day and bathed him every other day because the drooling was so bad. We took him to a neurologist, who diagnosed him with a brainstem tumor.
The neurologist said it's so rare that he's only seen a couple. He wanted pictures and videos so others could learn. The location made the tumor inoperable. And chemo was not an option. It would be a rapid decline. He had already lost 5lbs. He was refusing his syringe feeds.
We made the decision to end his suffering. The one thing he really loved in life was to eat. He could not care less about toys, or his bed, or anything else. So I made a nice pile of food in an easy to eat shape. He shoved his whole face in there and tried his best.
Even though I know it was best for him, I still feel horribly guilty. He purred even as they inserted the IV. And I feel like I betrayed him by asking someone to take him. He went peacefully. He is no longer suffering. And I miss him terribly.
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