This week I wrote a post about my son W and his obsession with my cat Bailey. Bailey is 17 years old and had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure over five years ago. When he was first diagnosed, our vet explained that for most cats heart failure is a rapid deterioration and she thought we could only keep him comfortable for about six months. Every month we took him for his check-ups and he was getting better not worse. Our vet was astounded.
We've been very lucky over the years. There were many times that we thought we would lose him and the inevitable happened this week. While we were on vacation, Bailey stopped eating. We took him in to the vet and she discovered a mass in his stomach. We decided that with his age, history of heart failure, and overall poor health that we would not pursue treatment options. Even though we've known that Bailey wasn't in the best health and he was getting older, it was still unexpected.
I know that we were lucky to have an extra five years with our furbaby - and that is exactly what Bailey was - a furbaby. I know its a dog's world but my cat was as loyal and loving as any dog could be. I got Bailey when I was in college so he and I had been through a lot over the years. I went from being a carefree college student, to a young professional moving to the big city of Atlanta, to wife and now a mother. I'm fortunate that Bailey lived long enough to meet my son. Even though, W won't remember Bailey, I will remember how sweet it was to see the two of them together.
So on this Friday, I am grateful for the 17 years I had with my cat, Bailey. He was the best cat a girl could have asked for.
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