Turtle
March?1990- May 31, 2006

Well the saga of Turtle ended badly. I paid a visit on Tuesday afternoon to see her and she was looking better. I got her to pee and eat and purr and sit up wobbily and I had hopes that she was on her way to coming home. I knew she wouldn't have more than a month or so at most but at least she would be home and I could spend time with her. When I returned with Emily in the evening, she was noticeably worse. The vet didn't even want to take her IV out for the visit so we went into the treatment room where she was on heat and a drip. I had brought cantaloupe thinking she would be up to her favorite food but she didn't really respond. That from a cat that used to dive into a tall garbage can for the melon rinds once upon a time. I knew when I put my ear to her chest that it would likely be the last time I heard her incredible motor, muted now. When I got no call during the night from the animal hopsital I had hopes that she was on the mend, but on the way to work Wednesday I found out she had been siezuring during the night and her prognosis was very poor. I went straight there and allowed the vet to put her down. No more purr. My heart just breaks. Especially in hindsight. I probably should have let her go at home right when we found her on Monday, but in my selfishness I wanted her to know I hadn't abandoned her when she fell ill. I didn't want her to die wondering where I was. Instead she got to get poked and probed and bled for a day and a half, miles away from her home. Now she is buried with a piece of cantaloupe at the side of our yard. Next to Hopper and Pongo's stone. Wow, this is pretty depressing and has absolutely nothing to do with hang gliding so I apologize. It really sucks to love something so much. I try to console myself with the fact that she had 16+ years and never had anything bad happen to her- truly a lucky cat by statistics. 'Nuff said.