Saturday, October 13, 2007

Sad News About Bug the Big Orange Cat


I have some very sad news to report about Bug, the big orange cat. He passed away last night at the VCA Kaneohe animal hospital around 11:30pm. Bug was 18 years old.

Last night, on Hanna's shift she heard him howling. He seemed to be having some trouble with his back legs and was quite listless. I called Jenifer, who used to be a vet tech, to go and check on him. She graciously went to Peggy's to help him. I also called Teddie from Joey's Feline Friends, who called Jack & Cola's vet - they were so caring and wonderful and recommended that we take him right away to VCA Kaneohe. Jen was so kind to take him for us. Hanna and Peggy spent the time waiting for Jen petting Bug and taking photos of him.

I talked with the emergency vet after she had a chance to look at him. She needed to do further testing to see what was going on, so I had her do blood work and x-rays. She called me back around 11pm to let me know that he had a hip fracture, but even more troublesome was that Bug was in kidney failure. They are not exactly sure what happened (aside from his age), but they felt that a cat his age would really not be able to recover well. Any treatment they could have given him would have been quite hard on his body and would have cost thousands of dollars.

We chose to have Bug put to sleep instead of putting him through any trauma. The vet told me that his body seemed to be in a bit of shock and therefore, he didn't seem to be in too much pain. Bug has had a wonderful long cat life of 18 years. We chose to have him cremated and I told Peggy that we would plan a memorial at the house just like we did for "Boo".

Lisa was on shift with Peggy last night when I called her with the news. She is obviously quite upset. Bug will be missed by all of us. Bug got to spend time in Peggy's room earlier in the day yesterday. Lehua brought him in and gave him lots of cuddles. I know he's having a blast in Kitty Heaven with Boo now. They will be smiling down on Peggy and Shelly as they spread their cat propaganda around the state (and the world) on their book tour.

1 comment:

Maria Rose said...

I brought BakLan to VCA Kaneohe when she had a puncture wound. The care was outstanding and I'm glad Bug was treated so well in his final hours.
Watch and see how much he and Boo will look out for Peggy and Shelly from their "home in the sky" and will "meow" as the sales soar.