Flick’s Final Update
Hi there, my friends… I’ve gone ahead and marked this post as NSFW to accommodate those who are sensitive to tough subjects.
This is not, at all, the update I wanted to give everyone.
Today, Flick and I went to the vet for a follow-up check, since as you know, he’d been getting treatments for his URI. While I was hoping for some good news, after another examination, our vet said that we’d likely have to continue on another whole month of treatment, as he was still bubbly and wheezy.
He’d lost more weight since his last visit - as he hadn’t had an appetite - and despite the daily sauna treatments, and boosted overall heat and humidity, my poor baby was still showing signs of dehydration. Obviously, this perplexed us. It’s likely he wasn’t drinking from his water bowl at all, just staying hunkered down in one of his hides. We opted to give him another tube feeding for nutrients and an IV drip with fluids to counter the dehydration. We also agreed to do a blood panel to test his organ functions.
After they took him back to the treatment area, things started to turn for the worst. After the tube feeding, Flick started to turn blue. They immediately put him on Oxygen until he was stable, and when they updated me on his status, they said that his behavior was very abnormal. His reflexes were not responding as they should.
When the vet returned with him, we had a very hard conversation… With how many issues he’d already had, the lack of appetite, and this sudden issue with treatments, we were beginning to think that things were likely not going to improve. My two options were to bring him home and continue giving him medicine, with tube feedings every week, possible IV drips if he isn’t maintaining water in his system… Or, we could euthanize him.
As painful as it was, euthanasia is, and my vet agreed, the kindest option for him. The blood panel results showed that his Red Blood Cell counts were pretty low, and of course the White Blood Cell counts were high due to the infection. Still, we had no idea what was causing this. They couldn’t even get the amount of blood they needed to do a full panel like they wanted, so they settled with what they could.
Flick seemed… Very, very depressed. And I can’t blame him - the stress must have been unimaginable. If I were to have taken him home, he would have still been suffering. Living a life of constant handling, and poking and prodding, and tubes down your throat… It’s no way to live. And there’s no guarantee the supportive care would’ve allowed him to grow up healthy.
My vet walked me through the process of the euthanasia, and we didn’t even make it to the second step. The sleeping agent she injected was enough to send him off peacefully. I was with him the entire time, and he slowly lowered his head down to rest for the last time. Believe me, I told him that he was a good boy and that he didn’t have to fight anymore. That he could rest. Honestly, I think he was ready for it.
Words cannot describe the heartache I’m feeling in this moment. Every part of me feels like I failed him.
Our vet has been extremely generous enough to offer a necropsy for free, as she’s also curious and wants to put all of our minds at ease about what might have been wrong on the inside. Because she feels that there was something going on that we couldn’t see.
I’m so sorry that I couldn’t do more for you, my little baby. I hope you felt peace in your last moments. I’ll always love you.
Hi there, my friends… I’ve gone ahead and marked this post as NSFW to accommodate those who are sensitive to tough subjects.
This is not, at all, the update I wanted to give everyone.
Today, Flick and I went to the vet for a follow-up check, since as you know, he’d been getting treatments for his URI. While I was hoping for some good news, after another examination, our vet said that we’d likely have to continue on another whole month of treatment, as he was still bubbly and wheezy.
He’d lost more weight since his last visit - as he hadn’t had an appetite - and despite the daily sauna treatments, and boosted overall heat and humidity, my poor baby was still showing signs of dehydration. Obviously, this perplexed us. It’s likely he wasn’t drinking from his water bowl at all, just staying hunkered down in one of his hides. We opted to give him another tube feeding for nutrients and an IV drip with fluids to counter the dehydration. We also agreed to do a blood panel to test his organ functions.
After they took him back to the treatment area, things started to turn for the worst. After the tube feeding, Flick started to turn blue. They immediately put him on Oxygen until he was stable, and when they updated me on his status, they said that his behavior was very abnormal. His reflexes were not responding as they should.
When the vet returned with him, we had a very hard conversation… With how many issues he’d already had, the lack of appetite, and this sudden issue with treatments, we were beginning to think that things were likely not going to improve. My two options were to bring him home and continue giving him medicine, with tube feedings every week, possible IV drips if he isn’t maintaining water in his system… Or, we could euthanize him.
As painful as it was, euthanasia is, and my vet agreed, the kindest option for him. The blood panel results showed that his Red Blood Cell counts were pretty low, and of course the White Blood Cell counts were high due to the infection. Still, we had no idea what was causing this. They couldn’t even get the amount of blood they needed to do a full panel like they wanted, so they settled with what they could.
Flick seemed… Very, very depressed. And I can’t blame him - the stress must have been unimaginable. If I were to have taken him home, he would have still been suffering. Living a life of constant handling, and poking and prodding, and tubes down your throat… It’s no way to live. And there’s no guarantee the supportive care would’ve allowed him to grow up healthy.
My vet walked me through the process of the euthanasia, and we didn’t even make it to the second step. The sleeping agent she injected was enough to send him off peacefully. I was with him the entire time, and he slowly lowered his head down to rest for the last time. Believe me, I told him that he was a good boy and that he didn’t have to fight anymore. That he could rest. Honestly, I think he was ready for it.
Words cannot describe the heartache I’m feeling in this moment. Every part of me feels like I failed him.
Our vet has been extremely generous enough to offer a necropsy for free, as she’s also curious and wants to put all of our minds at ease about what might have been wrong on the inside. Because she feels that there was something going on that we couldn’t see.
I’m so sorry that I couldn’t do more for you, my little baby. I hope you felt peace in your last moments. I’ll always love you.