Its 2 months since Suzie was pts and I've only just been able to write her story, her it is:
SUZIE 24th July 1993 - 9th July 2007My Suzie came to live with me in 2003. She was 10yrs old and her owner’s new partner was allergic to her, so she couldn’t keep her. (I’d have got rid of the new partner LOL!) Suzie was bred by my very good friend Audrey – and although I’ve known Audrey for about 10yrs, I never knew Suzie as a kitten.
I very nearly didn’t have her. I’d just been through a terrible time with my bluepoint Persian Ben; he’d needed emergency treatment and the day after I bought him home from the vet, Audrey phoned me to tell me about Suzie having to be rehomed, and would I be interested. I so nearly said no, but something about the way Audrey described her, just touched me, and I agreed to talk to Suzie’s owner. Well, only the following week I went to pick her up, and as soon as I saw her I loved her! She was curled up on the back of the settee, and she immediately came to greet me, purring.
Suzie was less than impressed with her new surroundings – and that was before she’d met the rest of the gang! She was quite depressed, and understandably so, having left a loving home of 10 years and going to live in a strange place. I felt she would be better introducing her to the others sooner rather than later – and there were no problems with hissing or anything either from her or the others. However, she still took a long time to really settle, she would eat her food with the rest quite happily, then immediately take herself off out to the garage, up into the rafters (where there are lots of fleecy beds etc!) and stay there the rest of the day, until food time again. If I wanted to see her I would have to get my stepladders out and climb up to have a little chat and a stroke! This was just her way of dealing with the new situation.
This went on for some time, and I was beginning to think she would never come and live in the house properly – but one day, something must have just clicked, and from that day on she never spent any time in the garage – until she was nearing the end of her life.
Suzie was like a little mother hen! (She’d had a litter of kittens before she came to live with me) and was always washing the others whether they liked it or not LOL! Very early on, I discovered her mischievous side – the first time it happened was a bit of a shock, but I soon learned to look behind me anytime I had to bend over to do something! I think the first time was when I was bending over to clean the litter trays and suddenly she launched herself at my back. Once I’d got over the initial shock, she showed no signs of wanting to get off, so many a time I wandered about the house like the Hunchback of Notre Dame - she was no lightweight!
I also found out that she loved the hairdryer. I sit on the landing in front of a large mirror to dry my hair. Suzie would come and sit with me every time. It didn’t matter if she was asleep downstairs, or wherever, as soon as she heard that dryer she would appear next to me. The first time I dried my hair after she’d gone I sat there with tears streaming down my face.
When she wanted to sit on my lap, she would come to one side of the chair and stare at me – with her wobbly eyes (she had nystagmus) and I’d encourage her up, but she would walk round the other side, and do exactly the same – and then end up back round the side she started at before she finally jumped up! Once there she would lean back on my arm turning her face to me and utter a croaky little meow, then gently touch my face with her paw. When I was preparing food, she had this annoying habit of squeezing between my legs and the cupboard and I’d have to move her out the way – I’d give anything for her to still be here doing that.
She enjoyed good health until I noticed she was drinking a lot of water and alarm bells started to ring. She was diagnosed with renal failure due to polycystic kidney disease (PKD) an inherited condition, in November 2006. I’d already got a lot of info from the felinecrf website and joined the discussion group linked to it. I was keen to start Suzie on fluids at home, but my vet didn’t seem to think she needed fluids yet. She did very well right up until June 2007 – one day she was eating fine, the next day she wouldn’t eat a thing. I took her to the vet the following day and she was immediately put on a drip because she was very dehydrated. She was on the drip for 3 days and she responded well, so this time I wanted to keep her hydrated by administering fluids at home. My vet showed me how to do it and Suzie was a very good patient, despite my first fumbling attempts to get the needle in!
She was like a new cat, her appetite was great – and she even practised her old trick of leaping onto my back when I was least expecting it! I was so happy and I believed that she would stay well indefinitely with the hydrating fluids – but it wasn’t to be. She was extremely well for a whole month, and then on the Thursday she wouldn’t eat. I took her to the vet on the Friday and she was given antibiotic, steroid and vitamin B12 injections. In retrospect I wouldn’t have agreed to those – I believe it was too much of an assault on her now frail, sick body, but at the time I was convinced this was going to be the kickstart she needed to get her stable and eating again.
In fact when I got her home she went and hid herself away in the garage and she showed no signs of improving. When she did come in she kept making awful yowling sound (I later discovered that steroids can cause this) – I’ll never forget that sound. On Saturday I hoped things would be better – they weren’t, and by Sunday evening, after I’d retrieved her yet again from the garage (I was so scared she would die on her own in there – and I couldn’t bear that), I knew that I was going to have to let her go. When I went to bed she was settled on a piece of vetbed on the worktop in the kitchen, but at around 4 am I woke up and went to check on her, only to find she wasn’t there. I found her in the garage, curled up in one of the beds out there, so I picked her up, bed and all, took her inside and put her on my bed. I cleared all the other cats out of the bedroom, shut the door – and she stayed there the rest of the night, not moving. I woke up several more times to check on her.
First thing in the morning I called my vet, and she came to the house. I still thought there might be a glimmer of hope as Suzie had just sat out on the patio, taking a long drink from the bowl out there – I thought it was a sign that she wanted to keep going. I told my vet this, and she said she’d be happy to put Suzie back on a drip at the surgery and see how she went on. My heart leapt momentarily at the thought – but then sank again quickly when I saw that it would be a temporary fix and she would go downhill again and I just couldn’t bear for her to go through it again. So I made the decision and Suzie went to sleep very quickly and peacefully in my arms.
I only had the lovely girl for 4 years and my heart was broken. I had a special bond with her right from the start and she has a very special place in my heart. I miss her so much, my 'Champagne Suzie'
My Blue Eyed Girl
She looks grumpy here - but she was never grumpy!
Doing her Flat Cat impression!
One of the last photos of her - only a few months before she died
