After much thought and discussion we decided not to go the route of the shelter without first talking it over with our vet. Yesterday our vet was going to explore the possibility of increasing the cat’s medicine dosage or seeing if we could switch to a different kind. I was agreeable to that until about 2:35 this morning when I was jolted out of a deep sleep on the couch. A deafening crash erupted just behind my head that surely took about 10 years off my life span. I quickly realized it was the cat who had just fallen over the balcony mid-seizure. She crashed into a glass shelf and bounced onto a crate of portable oxygen tanks before eventually coming to rest on the carpet. I thought for sure she was dead and couldn’t look. Without even thinking I began screaming for William whose heart probably came to a complete stop in that moment. This time he didn’t have the advantage of Nora in his arms to quickly ascertain that it wasn’t her I was screaming about. I didn’t have a second to think things over just having gone from a restful slumber to a state of sheer terror in a matter of 2 seconds. When it was all finally over, the cat seemed fine in that she was walking around and meowing–not limping, or dead. Patches is now sequestered to the basement safe from any drop offs. We’d just gotten finished saying that it’s only a matter of time before she falls off over the balcony or the landing and really gets hurt. Then here we have it less than 12 hours later.
The comments from yesterday suggesting euthanasia over the shelter really made so much sense. Even the kids, when asked, said they’d rather have Patches go to heaven than to a shelter. Obviously our hearts were in the right place – OF COURSE we’d love to find a good home for Patches, but realistically speaking that likelihood wasn’t very probable when there is an overabundance of healthy cats to choose from. This medication seems to have caused Patches to be very sensitive to sound. The slightest wrinkle of a bag or even a cough or a sneeze from one of us is enough to send her over the edge (I guess even literally speaking). A noisy shelter would not be a good environment for her. We feel like we’ve done all that we can within reason and it will break our hearts to say goodbye to her. I had a nice conversation with our vet this afternoon and she agrees that putting Patches to sleep would probably be the best thing to do in light of recent events. There is a 30% chance that any additional medications wouldn’t work either, and they would come with side effects. We are planning on bringing her in tomorrow. 😦 God gave her to us for a little while and with heavy hearts it’s time to lovingly hand her back to Him. We know we’ll see her again someday.
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Yesterday morning bright and early Nora had an appointment with the genetics department at Children’s Hospital. We were interested in pursuing further testing on her cells to determine the possibility of mosaic trisomy 18, meaning that not every cell in her body is affected by the triple chromosome.
She has a couple of characteristics (hair whorls, cafe au lait spot) that suggest mosaicism, in addition to the fact that she seems to be doing so well. Nora had to give a blood sample for the testing by means of a heel prick. Poor, poor baby girl did not appreciate this procedure in the very least and gave us an ear full! Despite her sadness about it, she was back to smiling and cooing 10 minutes later.
Before long we were back home with an urgent baff on order.
Despite the bruising on her sweet heel, she was as happy as can be!
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
(Colossians 1:15-16 NIV)
iwillcarryyou 
I feel compelled to give you some information about genetic testing. Most insurance companies don’t cover the cost of these blood tests because they categorize them as “fertility treatments.” It’s obvious that you’re not testing a 6 month old baby for fertility purposes, but I thought I would warn you in case the doctors didn’t tell you about the potential cost involved. No one told us with Kinsey and we had no idea it wouldn’t be covered or how much it would cost (a total of $6,000!) until after the fact. We spent a year challenging the insurance company over this and still lost. Just thought I would tell you in case you don’t already know. You still probably have time to look into it and cancel the blood analysis if you would have to foot the bill and decide you don’t want to do that. Just FYI.
I love the pictures! Especially of Wm and Nora….That man LOVES his family, and I LOVE that about Wm!
Please kiss Nora’s little foot for me!
So sorry about Patches… I have 2 cats, and they are just furry little people to me, so I understand your anguish. As hard as it would be for me to have to say good-bye to one of “my girls”, if one of them were in Patches’ situation, I believe that I would rather take them to the vet, let him sedate her, hold her lovingly, talk softly into her ear and let him ease her suffering as opposed to taking her to a shelter where I wouldn’t know exactly what was happening to her. You and Greta will be in my prayers… I found this post on Pinterest… 3 birds and all… 🙂
Source: obaz.com via Anilú on Pinterest
I think you are making a very wise decision about Patches. I know it is hard to make that call, but she is obviously doing poorly. The poor thing is probably frightened during seizures and the noise issue can’t be good, not in a house with a baby! I will pray for you that tomorrow is Ok. We had to put a very sweet cat down when he started throwing blood clots out of his heart which resulted in a series of bad symptoms. I cried for a couple of days but it WAS the right decision.
Nora’s pictures are so sweet. She is a precious gift. I hope you will share more about mosaic Trisomy sometime. It must be that when they did the amnio, they were only able to tell you that it was Trisomy 18 but couldn’t tell you whether it was mosaic or not? Seems like such an IMPORTANT thing since you are saying mosaic is not as serious.
I have to say that I at first thought that Nora possibly had mosaicism —it has been suggested that one of my son’s has mosaic T21, so I had been researching/reading about it and mosaicism in general. We still need to get the test done, apparently they only tested for full out chromosome disorders and nothing showed up on my son–he is now 5 and we still do not have a full diagnosis.
Nora is a doll! You are making the right decision about patches.
Thinking of you and your sweet family~
❤ ❤ ❤
Much love and prayers to your family and your poor Patches.
My prayers for tomorrow, such a hard decision, but I agree it sounds like the best option.
Also, little Nora isn’t looking so little anymore, she’s growing and has some adorable little chubby cheeks!
God bless you all!
ohhh….so sorry to hear about Patches but I believe you’re doing what is right…you’ve discussed it with the vet and looked at options….all I can offer is *HUGS*…it’s hard losing a family member…even of the furry variety. Nora is super adorable. Thanks for posting…I find your blog so encouraging.
Oh my goodness! Just look at that heel! I was thinking, “Oh just a little prick, not too bad but still unpleasant for little babies…” then I saw that picture! My GOODNESS! I think I’d cry too!
But isn’t it amazing how kids can get over things so quick? 🙂 Love that trait!
I’m so glad to hear that your kids are understanding about Patches. I remember when I was about their age, we had to put my first cat down (cancer throughout her body). It was very very hard, and I cried a lot on my momma’s shoulder, but I too knew it was the right thing to do and I was able to take solace in that. They are good kids 🙂
FIRST OF ALL, I ALSO WANT TO SAY I THINK YOU ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR PATCHES. IT IS A HARD DECISION, BUT WE HAVE TO THINK WHAT THEY ARE GOING THROUGH, AND PUT THEM BEFORE OUR FEELINGS. I AM SURE THERE WILL BE TEARS, AND I WILL SEND AN EXTRA PRAYER FOR YOUR FAMILY. I WAS BROUGHT TO TEARS WHEN I SAW THE PICTURE OF WILLIAM AND NORA ROSE. I FELT THE LOVE HE HAS FOR HER JUST BY LOOKING AT THE PICTURE. HE CERTAINLY IS ONE FANTASTIC DADDY, WHO LOVES HIS FAMILY WITH ALL HIS HEART. I WILL BE PRAYING FOR YOUR FAMILY AND THE OUTCOME OF NORA’S TESTS SHE HAD DONE TODAY. HER POOR LITTLE HEEL LOOKS VERY PAINFUL, NO WONDER SHE CRIED. THANK GOODNESS SHE FORGOT ABOUT IT REALLY FAST, AND HAD THAT BIG SMILE BACK. SHE IS SUCH A SWEET LITTLE GIRL. I LOVE HER LITTLE CHUBBY FEET. TWO OF MY THREE GRANDCHILDREN ARE SPENDING THE NIGHT SAT. I CANNOT PICK THEM UP UNTIL 5 P.M., BECAUSE LAUREN HAS TO CHEER AT THE FOOTBALL GAME, BUT I WILL BE AT THEIR HOUSE WHEN SHE GETS HOME. GUESS I BETTER GET TO BED. LOVE YOU ALL. GOOD NIGHT AND GOD BLESS.
I think you are absolutely doing the right thing about Patches. As hard as it is, I think it’s the right choice. About Nora’s heel, I can’t believe they bruised her like that. I think the tech doing the poking didn’t do a very good job, because the heel should never be bruised like that. 😦 I hope it heels quickly. I hope you get definitive results from the genetic testing too. Prayers for you all for the cat and the baby!