little peo

our sweet little kitty Peo went up to heaven today.
what a horrible day.
she was the best cat.

we had noticed that she had been getting skinnier and skinnier. she always sheds a few pounds after winter-lucky girl. but, she kept losing to the point that we could see her hip bones. she was not eating well at all, and seemed very tired.

i took her to the vet on monday. after our poor kitty went through the gammet of tests, blood and urine, we found that she had leukemia. she was severely anemic. her hematocrit was only 14%, normal is around 40%. she had ulcers all over in her tiny mouth, a kidney infection, horrible dehydration, severe weight loss, and her fur was looking like a cat triple her age.
point being, she was sick-sick-sick. her vet gave her less than 2 months to live, that is if we did aggressive treatment (ie fluids 2-3x a week, antibiotics, syringe force fed).

after a horrible decision process, i think we all aged from anxiety, we decided to let our little peo go peacefully. we did not want her to succumb to more misery and discomfort.

jed and i sobbed when we dropped her off at the animal shelter, my eyes are still welling up. it was the hardest decision, we almost turned back around. but we knew that this was the best choice so that she would be comfortable.

peo was a mere 4 yrs old. up until the last month, she had been a little package of energy. she loved following us around the yard, walking with us to get the mail, taking walks (she was like a little puppy), playing with the kids, catching mice, greeting company, laying in sawdust as jed widdled in the garage, getting in our faces when we did yard work, chasing ropes with bayli, sleeping on the tractor, and her ears rubbed.she will be deeply missed. there is no other cat like her...irreplaceable.
our little family has lost a big piece.

we held a celebration of life in peo's honor this afternoon. bayli drew pictures, we wrote down funny memories, and jed added pieces of her favorite things. we placed these memories in a tiny box in the yard, we wish that we could have placed peo there too.

we love you peo, you will be deeply missed.