Powell: Owners dread day beloved pet gets sick

With tears, hope, and prayers, many of us who consider our pets as family members dread the day that comes all too soon.

Our cat or dog that has been part of the family for years is ill with little chance of recovery. That is when we must come face to face with what we have always known but ignored. They don’t live as long as we do.

That explains the heartache I am facing with Maximilian, my seven-year-old tiger cat.

His illness and loss of five pounds should have been expected. The veterinarian on the first visit after the kitten was rescued warned me that he had feline leukemia and with love and good care could possibly live to be six. At the time, six years was a long time and the good care included eight B-12 shots.

I will never know how the tiny two month old kitten got up on the back porch and onto a pile of ice and snow in January.

The first vet who came to the house confirmed it was not feral, had been handled by humans, and was a female. With the help of Blade readers, my kitten was named Posey. But when he sprouted body parts, what the vet called “late development,” the name was changed to Maximilian, or Max for short, in memory of Chef Max Korl, who not only was one of the best, if not the best chef known in Toledo. Besides, Chef Max was a cat lover who fed many strays from the back porch of his home on Broadway.

Statistics tell us that cats sleep about 14 hours a day. Two months ago, Max began to sleep longer to a point I was happy when he was awake and I could talk to him.

His toilet habits were undoubtedly the worst thing of his demise. Always a tidy cat with two litter boxes at his disposal, he gradually ignored them and had many accidents around the house. Because I knew it was not his fault, we made a trip to Dr. Bill who gave him a steroid shot and antibiotics.

On another visit, Dr. Bill recommended a pheromone collar to help relive his stress. The band mimics the pheromone that a mother cat produces to calm and reassure her kittens. After a month with no change, the collar was removed.

Max turns up his nose at all the canned food prescribed for his illness. I throw out more food than he eats.

When I have been seriously ill I have asked for a second opinion, so why not for my cat? With that decision, I made an appointment with Dr. French, the vet at Cat Tales. He also gave him a steroid shot and a B-12 shot like the other vets. We also left with more canned food. This time it was Hill’s urgent care.

My belief is that our pets deserve a second chance and Max is no exception. Like the many cats and dogs I have loved in my life, he has given me many years of happiness. So far, he is holding his own and I just want more time.