My cat sister is very sick. I just found out Sunday when I over-heard Mom and Dad talking about it and it made me very sad. Of the two cats in our family, Rune or Runie, as we call her, is my favorite. She is very chatty and, despite that time when she hijacked my column, she is very easy to get along with. She has the most beautiful coat, it is a rich brown, and you can do anything to her. My parents have taken her into schools because she will let you open her mouth and pet her tongue. Which, for kids and admittedly some adults, is a very cool thing. She lays on the table at lunch upstairs in the Hospital break room and talks to the staff or she curls up in their laps as if to say, “Since you’re just sitting here, you should pet me”.
Anyway, I over-heard my dad saying that she was in kidney failure and that her numbers are not getting better. She has been in the Hospital for 6 days with an IV catheter in-place and on numerous medications and fluids. She is not getting better. Unfortunately for Rune, she was born with a congenital defect. One of her kidneys is huge and the other is non-functioning and about 1/6th of the size of a normal kidney. Basically it is as if she really only has one right now doing the work for two and it is struggling. Rune will be nine years-old in a couple of days and this was not the birthday present my parents were hoping for. She had been very sick a few years ago and my dad was able to save her and her body started to manage itself again but this time is different. I was at work on Saturday and she just looked so sad I didn’t know then what was wrong. Her brother Jenner is missing her and my little human brother “the bug” is very, very sad. She is his cat and while, in this line of work, all of my family has had to see other people’s animals sick, it is much different when they are your own.
Knowing what the outcome will be makes it even harder to think about.
I heard my mom talking to “The Bug” about it last night. I heard her tell him Daddy was doing everything he could to make her better. As he choked back tears, I licked his hand and Mom said, “we will do everything we can, okay buddy?” He said, “no, it was not okay.” You see, this was the first pet “The Bug” ever had. My mom brought them home (Rune and Jenner) when their eyes were still shut and hand fed them and raised them. Rune was his and being only two years old when he got her, he has had her as long as he can remember. He used to carry her all over the house and stuff her in his backpack and lay for hours with her in his lap. She used to lie in his bed every night until two years ago when she came to live at the Hospital when she got sick. She was in the Hospital for several months last time, with medications and repeat blood work. “The Bug” would come see her after school and on weekends.
He loves her more than anything. Mom and Dad didn’t even tell him right away, hoping she would get better, but the reality of it is, she is not going to ever really get better.
I know that “The Bug” prefers cats, but I am going to try my best to be a good friend to him through this and maybe with a little luck and the best medicine available, we can get her well enough to see at least one more birthday. Until we know for sure how long she has with us, we are going to do our very best to make sure she has everything she needs- lots of love and hugs from our family and staff. We will be sending her happy thoughts. RUFF!!!
