Friday, January 18, 2008

Sammie

Today we lost our Sammie at the sanctuary, Tabby's Place.



Last night Sammie was not doing so well. He was very picky when we were feeding him, which of course is always a concern since he's diabetic - we needed to make sure he ate before he got his insulin. We ended up giving him beef baby food which he licked at.

Today apparently he was having trouble breathing and was taken to the emergency vet hospital we use. Tests were still being done there when I had my break between shifts, but apparently he was doing very poorly - suffering from either congestive heart failure or/AND some form of quick forming cancer mass in his chest, I believe. Angela referred to Sammie as the "come back kid", but it seems he met his match today. Jon and Ginny went to the hospital to be with him when the decision was made.

I'd refer you to his page, but I'm not sure how much longer it will be up on the site. He's been with us about three years and I'll put a few words up about how Sammie came to us:

Since Sammie is diabetic, his health depends on careful monitoring of his eating and behavior, as well as administration of insulin. Unfortunately, Sammie was owned by an elderly woman whose health was fading. She was not giving Sammie the attention and care he needed and his health (and, in fact, his life) was in jeopardy.

To make matters worse, the owner's daughter was strongly suggesting that Sammie be put down, since her mother was not able to care for him properly. Fortunately, a kind neighbor intervened on Sammie’s behalf. While she couldn't take Sammie, herself, she called us and pleaded Sammie's case. As usual, we had a long waiting list, but the woman said she would be happy to visit Sammie regularly, to keep an eye on him and administer his insulin, for as long as it would take for his spot to open up. We were very happy when Sammie was able to finally join us at Tabby's Place.

Sammie
1993 - January 18th, 2008

Forever Loved, bud

Ah, geez, I had to just go back and put everything about Sammie in past tense ...

On a good note, though, Candice is cancer-free! The mass we removed was apparently inflammation, some form of extreme tonsillitis, which Dr. C was amazed to find out - good news, but amazing since it was so awful looking. Candice is on antibiotics now and will have the teeth she needs pulled out on Monday.

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