An Unexpected Death

I took my cat Bonnie Raitt out for a walk on a Friday afternoon on her leash (it’s the only way they go outside). She was fine, happily going into the backyard munching grass. She was fine. I had noticed though, she’d lost a little bit of weight, but I wasn’t too concerned. I didn’t see much of her on Saturday, I had no idea where she been-somewhere inside the house, particularly in the basement. I eventually found her behind a wall, she must have pulled it away to get in there.

At any rate, I went to be Sunday night. I woke to the sound of a cat crying after a thump. I turned on the light to see Bonnie lying on the floor next to the bed with the pillow beside her meowing. I immediately go up and proceeded to take her to the local emergency room. I had forgotten however, that the emergency room had been closed overnights. My only options at that point was to drive an hour away to an emergency room in a larger city.

I briefly contemplated what to do, as this was midnight on a Sunday and I had to work early Monday morning. I decided to wait until Monday morning so I could call my vet.

I called my vet only to discover that they were full for the day. I next called a local veterinary emergency clinic only to discover that they were full for the day. The provided me with local numbers to call other places to take my cat. I called a place and they said they could take my cat. I rushed home to pick up Bonnie and rushed her to the Urgent Care center I had called. It turned out I took her to the wrong place! They said though that they could see me in the early afternoon,

I went back to work, which was right around the corner, spoke to my manager explaining the situation, that I’d had my cat with me and I ended up going to the wrong place, but I had an appointment a couple of hours later. I asked him if I could bring my cat in and he said yes. So I worked for a couple of hours, with my cat nearby. She really couldn’t be alone at that point.

At the urgent care center, I found out that her Leukemia had kicked in and she was not in good shape. I was heartbroken. I called the vet on Tuesday and said I needed to put my cat down today, The accommodated me and I could bring my cat in that afternoon.

I ended up laying on the couch, holding Bonnie for the day until it was time to go to the vet. They had the room prepared for me when we arrived. They all were very kind, but it was still hard to say goodbye to Bonnie, who was only 4 years old.

I look forward to seeing her at some point in the future. She taught me that special needs kitties deserve a good loving home too, which I think I provided, as she was dumped off the side of the road with her sibling. Her sibling was hit by a car, but Bonnie was found by a good person and ended up with me.

RIP Bonnie Raitt.