Diana's Vet Bills

TW: PET LOSS

Hello,

For those who do not know me, my name is Amanda. My boyfriend Chris and I adopted a cat on March 29th, something we had been looking forward to for a long time.

We found a beautiful young girl from a local rescue, and fell in love with her. It had been my dream for a while to have a white cat and to name her Diana, after Princess Diana.

Diana was indeed a princess, and she stole our hearts. When we adopted Diana, she had an upper-respiratory infection, similar to a cold. This is quite common for cats in the adoption system. Much like people, being around many other cats can breed illness. We felt well-equipped and assured that this was a passing illness and that she would do better with rest, care, and medicine. We were more than willing to give her plenty of all of that.

We learned a lot about Diana in her short time with us. She was so cuddly, loved being in your lap, or as close to you as she could get. She loved the sink and liked to play in the water or curl up in there. She was talkative, and she made us laugh.

Unfortunately, on the morning of April 4th, Diana’s condition changed drastically overnight. Common nasal mucus from the cold became red and bloody; she was lethargic and breathing heavily.

We rushed her to the emergency vet, who informed us that her body temperature was 90 degrees, so low that they almost could not read it, and she had a white blood cell count of 0. It was clear that something was incredibly wrong. If Diana had been sick, she should have had plenty of white blood cells. This complete lack of them indicated to the vet that she may have feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), bone marrow disease, or feline leukemia. Between being surrendered, spayed, sick, and adopted, something along the line may have triggered something dormant in her system.

Additionally, Diana’s infection was progressing rapidly. She was incredibly pale, anemic, and bruising at the lightest touch. Her blood pressure was likewise dangerously low, and there were concerns that she may be suffering from sepsis.

Chris and I did everything we could, within our power and the vets', to give her a fighting chance. She was only 4 and had so much love left to give and receive. Diana fought bravely for 2 days in the hospital. After everything we had tried, Diana’s body was not strong enough to fight its way back to a stable condition, and she was not showing any signs of improvement.

It is a decision that goes against every instinct as a pet owner, but one that so many of us have had to or will make. We decided to let her go and keep her from suffering.

Chris and I are still in shock. We don’t believe that anyone could have predicted this. We sincerely thank the team at Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center for their thoughtful and careful work with Diana, and for calling us day and night, no matter the time, to make sure we were as much a part of the process as we could be. They made her last moments more comfortable and allowed us so much time to grieve her.

This is completely unexpected. We had money saved for emergencies, but the vet bills quickly surpassed what we had anticipated. Between the cost of her supplies, adoption, vet fees, and cremation services, we humbly ask our community for their support.

Everyone’s prayers, well wishes, and kind words have been a beacon. If you have anything you can spare, your continued support would mean the world to us.

Rest in Peace, our sweet Diana, the people’s princess. I know Puck got you over the rainbow bridge safe and sound. We will see you again, some sunny day.