A Sad Day - 9/19/2006

I woke up at exactly 8am. Earlier than usual. The puppy had barked in his crate…which he never does. Then I heard it, a painful cry from my cat. Chai was in the back of my closet, lying flat out with his head cocked to the side. He was drooling and he yowled again. I got him out of the closet, his eyes were dilated and he was totally limp. I carried him to the living room and placed him in a sunny spot on the carpet. All the while saying “Chai, no, Chai, sweetie…” I went to grab his carrier and realized I didn’t need it. Grabbed a towel and wrapped him in it. His little body jerked a few times; his tongue stuck out; he went completely limp. I think I knew then.

It took four minutes to get to the vet. By the time we arrived I was pretty sure he was gone. After they rushed him into back and confirmed that there was nothing they could do, they brought him out to me. I got to say goodbye to my sweet boy as he lay curled up in his towel. His gorgeous face sticking out.

The vet thinks something went wrong with Chai’s heart since this came on so suddenly. I’m having them do a necropsy to check the diagnosis, I need to know if it was environmental.

Goodbye Chai-Chai, the dude of life. You were my heart. You were so loving and giving and solid and calm. You were beautiful. I will always miss you and love you.
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Necropsy results for Chai. The good news is that Chai didn’t have anything that would be a threat to me or Buzz or the neighborhood kitties (not that he was ever outside with them).

Chai had pyothorax, an infection in the space between his lungs and the chest wall. Basically, a build up of pus prevented him from being able to expand his lungs enough to pull in enough air. The vet says that Chai was probably breathing shallowly the day before, though it may not have been noticeable on account of his size and his double-coat. I didn’t notice anything when I said goodnight to Chai last night—which included giving his chin a scrub since he’s had a little kitty acne. He purred away at the chin scrub like always.
The info here is very similar to what my vet told me:
http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/pyothorax.html

There was no obvious source of the infection for Chai—no trauma or visible foreign body. The vet said it can be caused by something as small as a splinter.

I am very upset about this whole thing. The puppy seems confused.

Weeks 13 through 16

The drive back to Ann Arbor went smoothly, especially considering I had my cat in his carrier on the passenger seat and a puppy in his carrier in the backseat! Both rode calmly and quietly the entire 11 hours. The trip took longer than usual as we stopped in to see Grandma on our way out. Mary and Elli drove up to Grandma’s for lunch and said hello to Chai and Buzz.

During weeks 13 through 16, Buzz proved himself to be a smarty—learning sit and down quickly and reliably coming when called within a few days. He made great progress on housetraining, peeing in the house perhaps once every 10 days. Buzz started sleeping up to 9 hours a night…wonderful.

Early on Buzz was a bit shy of going for walks, but as he got a little bit older his hesitancy dissipated, and we started being able to burn his energy in more appropriate ways than attacking the futon. Walking though the neighborhood earned Buzz quite a fan base among the young kids. It isn’t unusual to be walking along with him and have little kids come streaming out of their houses saying, “Buzz! Buzz!” Maybe Buzz is the pied piper, reincarnated; it feels that way at times. Buzz is very good with kids…seems to understand what they are and how much fun they can be.

Chai/Buzz relations were fairly uneventful at this time. Buzz stayed mostly in the living room and kitchen, which were gated off. Chai stayed mostly in the bedroom. The two could see each other and sometimes Chai would jump the gate to visit the dog. Biggest hurdle to them getting along peacefully was Buzz’s eagerness to play with Chai—which was of course signaled by bouncing around and barking at the cat…ugh.

Once he had enough vaccinations, I started taking Buzz hiking in the woods. Boy, did he love it! I quickly discovered that he could be trusted off leash, so once we’re in the park, Buzz is let loose to chase squirrels and greet other dogs. He always stays within 100 yards or so, comes when called, and “checks in” with me as we hike along, What a good boy!