Rest In Peace, Mike

The last couple of weeks have been rough. Mike started showing signs of labored breathing on the 11th. (We had been on vacation a week earlier, so I felt very fortunate that this didn’t happen while we were gone!)

Our regular vet wasn’t in the office the day that Mike got sick, but we were able to get him in to see another vet in town. She did an ultrasound, because she suspected that we may not have gotten all of his scent gland tumor back in April. She thought maybe it had spread to his lungs.

The good news is that the ultrasound showed no masses in his lungs or anywhere else. The cancer was gone. Dr. Katie did a great job with his surgery in April.

The bad news is that Mike’s heart looked slightly enlarged, and his lungs didn’t look 100 percent clear. We treated him with antibiotics just in case he had a respiratory infection, but we knew there was a good chance he was suffering from heart failure.

Mike didn’t get any worse for more than a week. In fact, he seemed to have some really good days. He continued to sleep in the nest with his brother Toby, and they groomed each other. Mike also continued to do some normal, gerbilly things, like digging under the bedding.

I have to say that one of the things that really helped him was Oxbow Critical Care Fine Grind. You can only get this from a vet. It’s a formula you mix up that small animals who are ill will often eat. It provides a lot of the nutrients that they can lose when they’re so ill. There were a few days when Mike didn’t feel like eating much, but when I offered him some Critical Care on a spoon or in a needle-less syringe, he leapt at it and wouldn’t let go, even after he’d finished his meal. I have no doubt that this wonder formula kept him strong and relatively healthy for as long as possible.

Last Thursday, a week and a half after his diagnosis, Mike started to go downhill. Late Thursday night, he lost interest in food, even the Critical Care. By Friday morning, he still wouldn’t eat anything, and he wasn’t sleeping with his brother anymore. His breathing had gotten worse, too. I made sad decision to have him put to sleep, because it was obvious that he was suffering.

Late last Friday morning, I took Mike to Dr. Katie, who was so good and so gentle with Mike. I was with him, and his brother Toby was in his Critter Keeper nearby.

It was a very difficult thing to do, but afterwards, I knew it was the right thing for Mike. He looked so miserable and uncomfortable when I took him to the vet that day. Afterwards, he looked very much at peace. Like he was having a very nice dream. He wasn’t in pain anymore.

Mike’s burial was on Saturday morning. The weather was as perfect as you could ask for. It wasn’t at all warm, and it wasn’t at all cool. The sun was out, and it was just a lovely day. Mike is buried near where Nellie and Liza are buried, and there is an open plot next to him, reserved for his brother so that someday, they can be together again.