Zippy’s Long ‘Road to Success’ or ‘Living’
Friday the 13th , I should have known it. No,just a coinidence…
Zippy is/was 15 or 16. We had an appt already scheduled to treat anemia but they diacovered his heart had filled with fluids . .. can’t give Zippy heart diuretics as it conflicts with his kidney failure so, sadly we will put him down shortly before th I ngs get worse..
Sadly I’m sorry to have to report that Zippy will be joining Orange Julius, Lisa MARIE AND MANY OTHERS over the Rainbow Bridge . He had three pretty good years with us despite three maladies – better than living outdoors in RedBluff, CA, where we ‘rescued- him from, but with new heart and kidney and giant cyst issues it’s pro b ably time to release him from all that before it gets worse. He’s been doing pretty well to now with no high drama, his own room, Catio , run of the house, and decent , varied food choices for a cat these illnesses , though his eating has slowed noticeably the last few days. Yet no signs of pain . Still running around. Cares and prayers for Zippy. Thanks for sharing this with us. Burt for Zippy, zack and Pinky while remembering Orange Julius who passed just one year ago
From Cold Streets of Red Bluff tonearm Confines of Kaufman Katery
Zippy had certainly come a long ways from living on the ‘cold streets’ of Red Bluff, CA to a nice warm , friendly home his last years and we were equally appreciative of Zippys presence and positive vibes he brought with him. Actually , zippy was looked after pretty well IN Red Bluff by EK and family where he mostly lived in a box or igloo under their house after he showed up one day what appeared to be an almost newborn from a litter , perhaps. He became fast friends with first ,Chrissy, then Emma and Star but was pretty shy around people. Zippy would timidly come in the house on cold nights but ‘bark’ to be let out at 4 am.
Of course he was given food when he showed up.
1 -13- 23 , 10 am….as I sit in vets ofc waiting for friend to help me say goodbye to Zippy with these thoughts of him running thru my head:
Zippy always had been a shy, semi-tame cat we were told but one could tell he wanted to get closer to get petted but not too close
He was a real talker , sounding much like a smoke alarm, which worked to his advan tage as he got my attention . I always responded to his loud call so he got petted and or food ss he desired. We never did figure out why Zippy made these very distinctive
noises at unusual times like when drinking water. Some said it was the diabetes (which is one thing zippy DIDNT have. Anyway, inalways assumed he was calling me and tended to his distinctive call. Another thing that made Zippy special.
I inherited Zippy, along with Pinky, from said friends In Red Bluff three years ago when she had to move after her Dad and fellow cat caretaker passed. It was hard otherwise to find a home for these older cats So I volunteerd with just enough house space left for both Zippy and Pinky, after losing Weepy and April, also inherited from Red Bluff friends.
Zippy survived mostly outdoors under a house in Red Bluff for about 13 of his 16 years which probably con trubuted to his somewhatv’early’ demise
(Most outdoor cats live an average 4 years so Zippy did pretty well making it to 16 )
1 -14 -23
I frankly expected zippy to be around longer, even though he had already made it to a ripe cat age.
But, i felt bad he had to limp a bit with that Giant cyst they couldnt do anything about as well as the heart and kidney issue, that didn t go very well together
But zippy had just recovered from a broken back leg (we never could underetand) and was good to go what with a new, healthy food he liked. (See below ) and now he had four food s to choose from (Even though he was eating less the last few days there was still at least one of the foods he would eat.)
Now we’re down to two, ‘ newcomer ‘ Pinky, 15, and my beloved Zack, 16, who’s been with me some 10-12 years having himself barely survived the cold, cruel streets of winter as a foreclosed on cat . ( See his story)
….And dealing well with his three maladies -I never travel anymore- haven’t for over 10 years (beyond the Bay Area) and try to savor every day. Fortunately, shall we say, zack never got too close to Zippy or vice versa but you could tell they liked each other and both cats now are showing some signs of missing Zippy even though he was in his room a lot.
The ironic twist with Zippy -much like OJ – is he was finally well enough to get his teeth cleaned before his sudden demise plus Zippy had just recently recovered from thst broken leg(!) Perhaps that added stress on the heart exascerbated the heart issues. Who knows?…
EVERYTHING WAS JUST COMING TOGETHER
Like with Orange Julius last year, everything had just come together, having finally b found several healthy foods for their seeming stabalized medical conditons that they would eat ,
After momths of hunting down low phosphorus and low protein foods we had finally found four different ones zippy would tolerate or even enjoy Including newly discovered kibble vet diet Royal Canin ‘A’ just last week ,which was a big hit with Zack, too. Tod ay, just got a new shipment of two of these foods, one I can give Zack but I need to stop now the Chewy auto ship or, who knows, both remaining cats may eventually need and want them.
Zippy was a trouper all the way, almost seeming to enjoy his rides to and from the vet- and there were many.
Earlier Friday 13th
Going thru some diffucult cat moments-Zippy at vet with possible heart and kidney failure. Taking $1400 of tests now at vet. Will know shortly… (update)and now we know (see top)
well, the vet initially came back with ‘good news’thdt they cleared the fluid buoldup on his heart but then a few minutes later thst they couldn’t continue with diuretics due to zippys Kidney failure.
Mindy, whose dog the same vet nearly put down prematurely three years ago, has just come in to be with us during the next difficult moments
Zippy seemed in good spirits considering.… The decision didn’t come easy after hours sittimg in the vet office and consulting with friends like Ellen and Mindy. And I’ll never be sure I made the right decision. But, at least I’m pretty sure Zippy hadn’t reached the real pain or suffering stage-and wouldn’t. That much I was pretty sure of and gave me some solace
3 pm Friday the 13th, after about 6 hours at the vets lffice, 9 am- 3pm, we said our final goodbyes to Zippy. I only knew Zippy fairly well for three years but there was always that happy, confident yet shy way about him thst endeared me to him from the time infest met him years a g o on Red Bluff. zippy is gr a tly missed. Can’t even hardly go into his room yet to clean.
Dealing with Zippy’s loss thru writings like this blog, spending quality time with Zack and Pinky , as well as Snowy horse, and getting out a bit to things like under- radar uplifting movie -‘Living’- plus listening to fave music like gene Pitney 10 year tri bute
Personal Concern
If I may share with you, I’m a little upset i didn’t keep Zippy cat around a little longer. This same cardiac specialist who i knew well said i ‘C OULD’ elect to NOT put him down and bring zippy back home ‘ but’ ….(as if he didn’t recommend that) …
Zippy wasnt showing any distress at this point and if he had i would have taken him right back.
When We had ‘Hershey ‘ dog, also with heart issues a few years ago the same vet told us we should put down but we didnt as he was still full of energy and he ended up living almost another year(!) wi t h the right meds (vitC and B shots plus) and a lot of TLC…
I think zippy could have lived at least days if not weeks or months and I don’t t hink it’s fair to deprive a pet or anyone of life. Yes, it would probably have meant extra work on my part giving him specisl heart and anemia therapy which i was planning anyway to do and meds but I was more than happy to do.it.
As a friend told me, most people would rather not deal with It or spend the money but i don’t think that way .and doctors are used to people feeling that way i guess and thereb y often suggest euthanasia perhaps prematurely , in my/ our opinion.
So, I’m not going to let this ruin my life but it is a concern Weighing on my psyche right now , especially with past history of this doctor and ‘miracle’ Hershey dog. (One thing that did steer me towards the ‘early’ euthanasia was the inoperable ‘giant cyst’ which affected zippy’s gait if not quality of life, yet he was being given adequan and A brand new cat drug, ‘mira c le’ sorencia for pain and arthritis.)
