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. ❤