A really horrible day.

So.....
Monday - Tuesday was the worst 24 hours I've had in years.

We went on vacation last week. It was nice. It was our 5th anniversary on Saturday, and this was to be the honeymoon we never got to take.

We were going to have someone come into the house to watch the cats. Bogey has been sick and had chronic diarrhea. We decided to board the cats at the vet so that Bogey would be watched and could get IV fluids if he dehydrated.

We got home on Sunday afternoon, and picked up Bogey and Tater first thing Monday morning. When we got there we asked how they did in boarding. The vets office said that they did well. We asked if he had been given fluids, and they said that there was nothing noted on his chart so he must not have needed any. They brought the cats out in the carriers and we took them home. When we got them out, Bogey was half dead. He was totally dehydrated. He was skinny beyond belief, and he couldn't walk. His back legs just dragged behind him. He tried to go up the stairs and I helped him. He just lay and drank water for a long time. He couldn't even stand.

Brian and I both had to go to work. We called the vet and questioned them, and they said the cats did well. Brian wanted to know input and output for Bogey; they said the vet would call back. The vet didn't call. Finally I called the vet. They were very defensive and said that Bogey did fine and that his disease was manifesting itself and that I could bring him in to discuss end of life options. I asked why he wasn't given fluids and why his decline wasn't noted on his file, and they said that they watched him and didn't see any problems. They also said he didn't have diahrrea, which means that they lied or that Bogey never had a bowel movement all week.

Brian came home and worked from home in the afternoon, and Bogey was not doing well. Brian laid down, and Bogey just laid next to him. His back legs didn't work at all anymore. Brian called a different vet and they gave us an appt for 8:30 Tuesday morning.

We stayed up with Bogey all night. He had no strength at all. I had to touch him to check if he were still breathing. He cried out a few times when he got uncomfortable, but there wasn't anything we could do.

We took him to the vet in the morning. We were both crying. He was totally dehydrated. His temp was dangerously low and his weight was down to just 4.8 pounds. He lost close to 2 pounds in the week he was in boarding. They didn't even notice. The new vet said we could put him to sleep or we could immediately give him fluids and then run all kinds of blood work to see if there was something we could do to help.

Brian and I decided he was too sick to go through more tests, and we put him to sleep. It was horrible. This is the 3rd cat that I've had to put down and the 5th pet that I've lost, and it was unbearable. He was neglected at the first vet and he suffered unnecessarily because they didn't care enough to look at him. He was almost 16, and he had a long good life, but he died terribly. We felt so helpless. We're so angry and so sad. It's just unconscionable that a veterinary office could neglect an animal so badly.

When it was over, we had to go to work. We both felt like crap after being up all night and crying so hard.

I got to work and then was told that I was being let go. I lost my cat and my job in a two hour span. It really was a bad day.