OC

When my grandmother, Mom-Mom, died at the end of July this summer, I took in her cat OC (Outside Cat when she lived with my father, Olivia Camille when she lived with Mom-Mom). During a moment of pain and weakness, Mom-Mom had said we should euthanize OC when Mom-Mom died and I said "No!" with the understanding that I'm the cat lady of the family and would figure out a way to keep her happy.

The best laid plans...

Shortly after we moved OC here and Mom-Mom passed, Veronica was born.  For obvious reasons I didn't now have time to spend 30 minutes or more a day in the guest room trying to coax OC out for cuddles.  And OC hates the other cats.  When my in-laws came after the baby was born, they required that OC be moved out of the guest room while they used it.  She didn't eat for three days, just hid under the sideboard in the dining room.

When I started scooping the litter boxes again, I noticed that OC urinates a very large amount.  And I saw that she was drinking almost two cups of water a day.  These are signs of kidney failure.  In the three and a half months that she has been here, she has lost at least a pound and appears dehydrated.  She will not come out of the room because she wants nothing to do with the other animals and most of the time she runs from anyone who goes into the room to be with her.  She cries all the time and appears to be painful in her back end.

I have a veterinarian friend coming over this evening to humanely euthanize OC.  Last night I gave her a lot of pain medication because it doesn't matter if it causes organ damage.  She was comfortable and purring and willing to be cuddled.  I fed her treats and catnip and pet her for a very long time.  As much as I know this is the right thing to do, it just breaks my heart.