If you follow my Instagram you will now that Gatsby passed away at the beginning of the month.
I wanted to explain his death, because he was alright for so long and we never saw this coming.
On Sunday November 27th I brought Gastby home from my parent’s house. I did a health check and he was just fine. He had lost a little bit of weight, so I began watching for any sign of illness.
On Monday November 28th Gatsby was sneezing and I decided that it was time to take him to the vet. His breathing was loud and a little heavier, and I simply thought that it was an upper respiratory infection of some sort, so I prepared to give him antibiotics that week but knew that I needed to get him into the vet in the morning.
Gatsby watching TV while he goes to the bathroom before cuddle time (summer 2015)
On Tuesday November 29th Gatbsy’s vet appointment went well and we decided to watch to see if it got any worse before having him take antibiotics. He was so on the fence and I knew what to watch for, so I felt confident that everything would be alright.
This is where I do actually want to note that Gatsby had a similar problem last fall/spring where we decided not to give him antibiotics and it cleared up on his own. I’ve actually had Gatsby to the vet for similar issues two or three times during the time that he’s been in my care and every time the vet said that he was fine and sent me on my way.
Wednesday November 30th I got Gatsby up and he was not interested in anything. During the day he was up more and halfway through the day I found that he had actually used the bathroom in his igloo. Although I was concerned his breathing didn’t seem as labored and it was quieter, so I knew to watch it. I attempted to get him to use the bathroom so I put him in a sick full of warm water, but he just laid down in it and called it good.
Gatsby in his fort
I immediately took him out and called the vet, and found that the nearest vet that could see him was an hour away. Without even checking how much gas I had I headed off to the vet. My mom met me halfway and drove me into the vet with Gatsby, and we started our very long night.
About an hour or two later my mom and I were walking out of the pet hospital with a bad feeling, and headed home. By the time I got back to school it was very early in the morning so I started to work on the paper that I had yet to do. I don’t think that I had been working for 20 minutes before I got a call from the vet.
In the x-rays that they took of Gatsby they found that he had a lot of fluid in his lungs. As they prepared to take some blood samples the blood/fluid that was in his lungs started to leak out of Gatsby’s nose and mouth.
At this point Gatsby was in so much pain and there was no way that we were able to help him. So, I agreed to put him down so that he would no longer be in any pain.
I didn’t sleep that night, I just cried and cried and cried.
The next day my mom went down to the hospital to take care of the bill and collect the snuggle sack as well as decide what to do with his remains and try to figure out what happened. The vet said that it was a heart condition that he was pry fighting for a long time that caused the fluid to build up in his lungs.
After talking to the vet some more they reassured me that no vet would have been able to diagnose the heart condition while he was alive, and if the previous vet visits were due to the heart condition they were impressed that I was so quick to take him in. At the end of the day there wasn’t anything we could do to save Gatsby, but we feel good knowing that he is no longer in pain and no longer fighting the endless battle that he had been fighting.
So what now? We decided to cremate Gatsby and pick out an urn for his ashes to be in. I also plan on making a shadow box with some of his favorite toys and a photo book that I can keep on my book shelf. We will make a memorial for him in multiple places until the time that I have a house and will be able to make a true memorial area for him. Kurt and I plan on getting a shelf to put the shadow box and urn on in our future house, and this will pry be what will happen with our future pets.
happysmiles 
I am so sorry for your loss.
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