Run free, sweet boy. Your pain is no more. Your body is restored.
4/19/2013 - 6/18/2021
Nipper, you brought me so much love in a cold world. I love you baby boy.
I adopted Nipper from the animal shelter in March 2018. He was on the code
red list to be put down because no one wanted him. According to the
shelter, he was found abandoned in a Best Buy parking lot. There were four
other cats with him. All of them were microchipped. But the shelter could
not get a hold of the owner(s). He had multiple ear infections during his
time at the shelter.
When I brought him home, I did not know he was sick. It wasn't until a
week or two later I noticed something was very wrong with him. He would
vomit constantly and have diarrhea. Thinking it was a bug he picked up at
the shelter, I called the vet. The vet gave him a steroid and antibiotic
shot. He seemed to be okay after that for a while.
In 2019 when I moved into my first apartment, his health started to
decline further. He started hiding and drinking lots of water from the
sink. He would jump into the bathtub and cry until I turned the faucet on
for him. I didn't think much of it at the time, just that he was a funny
cat. Unfortunately, these were the beginning signs of kidney failure in
cats.
In spite of this, he behaved like an overall healthy cat. He ate and went
to the litter box regularly, and he played with Teddy often. When I
brought up his excessive drinking habit to the vet, he didn't seem too
concerned. I figured it must just be one of those things.
In mid 2020, Nipper started to vomit again. His diarrhea came back and got
much worse, and he was drinking more than ever. I posted in one of my
Facebook cat groups asking people what it could be. Someone mentioned
kidney failure. When I looked up the symptoms of cat kidney failure for
myself, I cried. It all sounded just like what sweet Nipper was going
through! I made a vet appointment immediately.
The vet came to my apartment and did a blood test. He put Nipper under a
mild anesthesia so he could take the blood sample. Nipper's body was so
frail the vet could not find a good vein, so he had to rub his little arm
for several minutes until he found one. I will never forget the helpless
feeling watching my baby Nipper so weak and limp. When the test was done I
carried his near lifeless body to the couch.
A week before Christmas, the blood test results came back.
Kidney failure.
I knew the back of my head it was kidney failure. Before that dreaded
phone call from the vet I kept telling myself maybe it was just diabetes
and I will just need to learn how to administer insulin for the rest of
Nipper's life. Something non-life theateneing and easy to manage. There
was no way my baby had a terminal illness. He was only 8 years old!
The night I came home from work after receiving the news, Nipper threw up
on the carpet. I broke down and fell the the kitchen floor crying. This
beautiful creature God allowed to grace my world was slowly being taken
away from me. It didn't feel fair. I didn't understand. But I knew I had
to be strong for Nipper, and Teddy. I learned everything I could about
managing kidney failure in cats and I bought specialized food just for
Nipper. I tried to keep him away from the canned Friskies Teddy would
feast on because I knew it was high in phosphate, which was not good for
kidney failure.
I got to share my world with Nipper for 6 more months after he was
diagnosed. I took lots of photos and videos on my phone. I loved on him
and gave him lots of kisses and snuggles. He would always sleep next to me
on my bed on a soft sherpa throw I got at Wal-Mart that he made his. To
this day I still keep that sherpa throw in the exact same place where he
always slept.
I miss Nipper greatly and think of him everyday. I wonder who he would be
today. I often pray and ask God to tell Nipper that I love him. I believe
he hears me. ❤