The retired man I live with and I fell in love with her. We loved her enough to let her go.
Lucy had a respiratory infection at the shelter, which they had treated with an antibiotic. She coughed some the first night, Wednesday, so we took her to our vet the next morning. Dr. Syska said it was pneumonia and prescribed a much stronger antibiotic. Lucy was pretty droopy all day Thursday but would go outside and pee when we took her. She was no better on Friday and spent most of the day with her head on my lap. She didn’t want to eat or drink any water.
Saturday morning she was worse and struggling to breathe. We took her back to our vet, who was visibly concerned. We decided to take her to the emergency specialty animal hospital to talk about admitting her for IV antibiotics and fluids. We saw her lung x-ray compared to a normal one. Both lungs were almost full of fluid.
We talked with the vet about possible outcomes, looked at each other, and I said “I think it’s time.” Deciding to treat her in the hospital felt like agreeing to torture her, with no assurance that she would ever really be well. The vet told us we were doing an unselfish thing. Doing the right thing sometimes feels awful.
Lucy was lying on a fluffy, soft, blue rug on the exam table. I wrapped my arms around her as the vet started the injection. Her body relaxed, finally, and she was gone. No more gasping for breath. She was at rest.
We loved her, even if it was only 3 1/2 days. We believe she is in heaven, happy, healthy, running and playing. And waiting for us to come play.
Amma Ponders 