April 3,2022
When I think of the term soul mate, I think of someone who knows the ins and outs of you. Someone who knows you, at times, better than you know yourself. A soul mate loves you unconditionally.
Thinking back, I was 10000% a dog person. Every cat I had ever met was very aloof and grouchy. I remember thinking … like what do you do with a cat besides pay for its food and pick up its shit?
Fast forward. I met Tybalt. Tom says at first, I was scared of him. That makes me chuckle. We brought him in, and I don’t remember anything about him coming home with us other than how fast we connected. I instantly found the error in my previous opinions of cats.
Tyb is the sun, moon, and stars to me. I am so used to our routine of snuggling together in bed on the weekend. Until he wanted food, and then it was game over. Ha-ha. I’m used to trying to close the door quickly so he can’t escape into the garage. He would inevitably go under the car, and it would take me forever to get him out. I’m used to coming back into the kitchen from the mudroom when I’m about to leave 38193245xs and picking him up and kissing him; before I left. I hated saying goodbye to & leaving him. I’m used to him sitting on the kitchen table while I eat, trying to take my food and then giving in… because how could you say no to his face? (His favorite was McDonald’s Oreo McFlurrys). I’m used to him running to the door to see me when I get home. One of the hardest things is not to be in our routine anymore.
It all started when Tyb kept pooping weirdly. And then he kept puking. I want to say it was about 7/8 months ago. (Sorry if it’s too much information) as a worried mama, I insisted we take him to the vet. We started at one vet, and they ran all the tests on him and gave us a very mixed answer, which wasn’t an answer. “It could be this, but it could be this. We can try testing for this, but if it’s not this, then it will affect this, and it won’t work if it’s that”
I wasn’t playing; Tyb is my baby; I needed a straight answer. I took him to another vet for a second opinion. This vet told us Tyb either had Lymphoma or IBS. They have the same symptoms. We were given the options of a biopsy and chemo; we were also given a choice to put him on special food and give him a steroid orally to treat IBS. We chose the least evasive route. For a minute, that seemed to be our solution! We were so thankful, and Tyb seemed to be on the mend. A couple of months passed; we saw the same symptoms again. We took him back to the vet. The vet said he probably has lymphoma. “We can open him up and do a biopsy, to be sure. He’ll be fine until he isn’t, and that when he isn’t OK, he will decline very quickly.”
We decided we didn’t want to go through with the biopsy because we knew the prognosis.
We just spent time with Tyb and carried on with life as best we could. I was so dedicated to giving him the best life I could.
On March 8th Tyb started to eat and drink intermittently, and when he did, it wasn’t a significant amount. He became very lethargic. I was apprehensive and was out at the market at 11 pm looking for Pedialyte and kittens’ milk to give him. I walked up and down aisles 20 thousand times, trying to find all the things and a feeding syringe to give to him. I couldn’t find the syringe, but I found baby cat bottles. I came home and gave it to Tyb. He seemed a bit better a little after. It gave him a little hop in his step; things started to be looking up. I stayed by his side all night.
Tyb wasn’t consuming much after a day or two, so we took him to MedVet for another opinion. He was in inpatient care here for two days, from March 10th-11th. Those two days were awful. I missed him so much. I called the clinic to check on him while I was at work and asked many questions. How was he doing? Did he sleep well? Is he eating? Has he pooped? Does he seem scared? When the day came to get him, the clock at work moved like molasses. When I finally got home and saw him, I was as happy as a kid going to Disney World.
Tom took Tyb to a follow-up appointment with his primary physician a few days after coming home. Tyb was given an IV bag of saline if he became dehydrated again and a refill of prednisone.
Tuesday night, March 22, 2022, Tyb started breathing heavily. It scared me a lot. I waited through the night to see if he got better.
Wednesday, March 23, 2022, at 6 am, we were in the ER with Tyb because his breathing hadn’t improved. They kept him for the day to run tests on him. After a long day of tests, the Dr said they ran x-rays on his lungs, and they believed a mass was on his lungs but needed to do a CT scan to confirm. We decided to take Tyb home; he had been through enough that day.
When he came home, I did everything to keep him comfortable. I made food and water very easily accessible to him; made him a nice bed. I kept giving him his medication around the clock. Tyb was very lethargic and wouldn’t move much. I didn’t want to leave him, so I slept next to him on the kitchen floor that night.
The following day I went to work, and when I came home, not much had changed. We were feeding him through a syringe, he wasn’t moving, wasn’t acting himself, and honestly, I was checking to see if he was breathing. The worst part of this experience was hearing these pitiful meows from him.
Thursday, March 24,Tyb wasn’t here anymore. He was not acting himself, and he seemed miserable. He wouldn’t eat or drink. Tom and I discussed putting Tyb to rest a few times. Putting an animal to sleep makes me sick to my stomach. Why is it right for me to play “God” and make decisions like this? However with how much he had declined, it seemed like it was the best thing we could do for him. It was about 11:30pm when we made it down to MedVet. We were greeted by the worst receptionist ever. We asked to speak to a doctor about putting Tyb to sleep. And she VERY rudely said, “So that’s what you’re here for?? To put your cat to sleep? Is that what you want to do?” We explained once again that we wanted to talk to a doctor first to see if that would be the best option.
The vet came over to the waiting room and listened to his heart. She said his heart rate was really low, and he wasn’t doing well. She said she could tell by looking at him. We went back and had a conversation with her. The doctor said she looked at his record, and we did everything we could’ve done for him. That there wasn’t anything else, she would’ve done differently. She said that at this point, he wouldn’t make it another 24 hours and that putting him to sleep was the kindest, most loving thing we could do for him.
Tybalt Edward Agnew got his wings around 2 AM on Friday, March 25, 2022.
Life has been different without Tybalt. I am confident that we did the most selfless thing we could’ve done for our boy. I know he’s always with me as much as I miss him. I have never loved anyone as much as I loved him. He will forever be my soulmate.
Cherish your loved ones each day. Love full-heartedly, unconditionally, and selflessly. Know that the love you give will change lives and is deeply felt by those you love, even if they’re not the same species.
Xo
