Beezus (aka Bea)

August 2003 - August 25, 2015

Nicknames: Beezus Mary Margaret, Bea Ann, Bean, Beanie Jean, Little Miss Tortie Pants

Bea will always be a kitten in my heart.  I was fostering for Animal Friends the summer I met her, in late August.  I saw my contact from the shelter at Bark in the Park.  She told me then that she had 3 kittens for me to foster.  They were 3 weeks old.  When I met the kittens, they were all so dear.  I still remember them so clearly.  There was a orange and white boy, a calico girl, and Little Miss Tortie Pants, Beezus.  Her official name was Beezus, but we always called her Bea.  

Four months old

For some reason, I fell in love with Bea pretty quickly and started taking her from our foster room out into the rest of the house and introducing her to my cats.  One day, I took her into the bathroom with me when I showered.  When I stepped out of the shower, she popped up from her meatloaf position on the rug and meowed at me, as if she was delighted to see me.  I was hooked.  

Several years ago, our vet palpated Bea's kidneys and observed that they felt unusual.  He did an ultrasound and diagnosed her with Polycystic Kidney Disease.  Since then, we have been monitoring her kidney values through periodic bloodwork and doing our best to help out her kidneys with a prescription kidney diet and daily subcutaneous fluids.

Earlier this year, the vet noted that her kidney values were climbing.  That lead to more frequent bloodwork.  At her previous visit, the vet told me that her BUN number had not gone up, indicating that she was probably still feeling well.  But her Creatinine level indicated that she was in end-stage kidney disease.  He warned us that she would have only weeks to one or two months left.

Up until Sunday, she had been feeling fine and then -- BOOM -- on Monday morning she started vomiting and went into hiding.  It was pretty obvious that she was feeling miserable.  We had her euthanized Tuesday afternoon.  She was always a fighter and would always struggle when being examined, but she didn't even fight when the vet was giving her the injection.  

"Don't you just hate this wallpaper, Mom?"

This one was the death that we had the longest to prepare for, but it has been the hardest to bear.  I guess it is the cumulative effect of losing 4 cats in such a short time.  It is hard to believe that we went from 7 cats in January to 3 cats today.  

Eric and I were laughing the other night about how it used to be -- sitting in the bathroom and realizing that there were no less than 5 cats in there with me! Now, the max we can have in one room is two, since Tuck and Clara don't get along.  

I spent Tuesday evening cleaning and doing pet laundry.  I got rid of an extra litter box and cleaned the entire room.  It was very therapeutic.  That, combined with the change of weather, I feel like it is the end of an era.  I'm thinking about vacations with Eric (something we have not done in a LONG time) and getting work done on the house.  In other words, I'm thinking about changes.  Not sure what, but I feel the need for them.