Patches
The Impending Passing of an Era

by Pat Wong
4/17/03

To day, I took Patches to see Dr. Skaife. Shortly after we came back from visiting Michael in Washington D.C. to enjoy the cherry blossoms, we notice that she is breathing with difficulty -- squeezing her rib cage deliberately. The doctor said she is at her last leg of life at the advanced age of fifteen. 

She has no temperature which means no respiratory infection. The reason she is breathing hard is that she is very anemic as indicated by her pale white gum. He heart beats so rapidly that the next beat starts before the heart compresses fully, trying to compensate for her diminishing oxygen carrying capacity. Her eyes and nictitating membranes are dry, showing some degree of dehydration. Although she gained some weight back lately, she still only weighs 7.2 lbs. which is a far cry from her hay days of 12 lbs. He further said that she may only have a few more days to live. When she has to breathe with her mouth open to grasp for air, that is probably the time to help her out -- his euphemism for euthanasia.

She still walks around but mostly just lies down. She hardly eats and drinks anymore; usually, that is a sign of giving up.

Aside from Michael's being too far away, Peter and Jonathan may want to come home this Easter weekend to visit her and say good-bye. The last few days we had some precipitation to soften the ground a bit. 

May be it is an omen.