Madeline

Our Story

Madeline was a beautiful Balinese cat. In fact, she was so beautiful that she was quickly adopted—again and again, until four homes later she found herself in Siamese Cat Rescue of Virginia. What was the problem? Unfortunately, she had irritable bowel syndrome and would have accidents, as well as vomit a lot. I was a volunteer for the rescue and saw her sweet face and read about her sad story on the rescue website. I immediately decided to adopt her and truly be her forever home.

Her estimated age was about five or so. Other than the IBD, she seemed healthy enough. She loved wand toys, and would jump and spin like a dolphin in the air to swat at the soft fish toy at the end of the string. She loved our dog Sprite, and they developed a strong bond. She slept on our bed and finally enjoyed the stability and loving home all pets deserve.
Seven years went by, and Madeline was very happy. She was friendly to anyone who came to the house, even service workers. Life seemed good until in her eighth year her blood test came back with the beginnings of kidney failure, a very common problem in older cats. Madeline started on a kidney diet, and we weren’t too concerned. We had previous cats who lived years with kidney issues.

However, just three months later, a repeat blood test revealed that the kidney disease had progressed rapidly. The vet was perplexed at the speed, and asked us to consider an ultrasound. A specialist came in to do it and discovered that one kidney had shrunk and the other was full of stones. In addition, Madeline had severe arthritis and the IBD had progressed to the point where she needed enemas to get the backup out. It is hard to assess quality of life, but even harder to know if a beloved pet still wants to hang on and be with you in spite of all.

One day Madeline was having a very bad day. She could no longer get in her litter box and was dragging her back legs behind her to get on the puppy pad I put out for her.
We took her into the vet who advised us to euthanize then and there. We weren’t sure, and we wanted our regular vet to do the deed if it was necessary.

The weekend vet gave Madeline an enema to clean her out and we went home. Madeline then had a relatively peaceful day and a half before she deteriorated again. We took her to our regular vet who gently said, “it’s not too soon to let her go, you know.”. I held her in my arms and the vet gave the injection. The vet told us she had passed, and we went home with an empty carrier.
We still miss her every day, and will always love her, our dear sweet Madeline who loved nothing more than to be carried around and held, safe in someone’s arms who wasn’t going to dump her back in a rescue.

Andy & Sheri