Pewter left us - early morning 1st June 2022

 This morning before 9am, the vet called to say that Pewter passed.  He had a blockage, which didn't incapacitate him until it did.  He was always the more vocal and when his meow was different, I took him to the vet.  The vet confirmed that he was having a blockage - which apparently is common in male cats.  Now, having done a lot of rescue work years ago, this wasn't really a 'common' thing, yet 4 years later, I find myself losing another male cat to this.

We brought him home with meds - I hydrated him, he took his meds but he refused to eat.  The Vet was closed Mondays, but prognosis was not good already.  Monday evening, Pewter was running around, as if nothing bothered him.  Tuesday morning, I brought him to the Vet for the appointment.  They were going to try to insert a catheter and flush the bladder.  They got me down that afternoon, prognosis got worse.

I know, they have 3 days max once this happens - Pringles passed just as quickly.  He was meowing loudly when I got there - but once he heard my voice, he kept quiet.  His eyes were clear, he was not dehydrated at all.  Vet decided to try to go in to clear the bladder again and if that failed, they will do a PU surgery.  Which to me, is fine as long as he won't be in pain anymore.

I guess that wasn't what he wanted.  He passed just before his surgery day.

I dont' know how his brother is going to manage without him.  Pewter is the dumber one who takes cues from his brother.  He grooms his brother.  Now he's gone.

I wasn't even this affected when Pringles passed, perhaps because he had a long life after being rescued.  Pewter only had 4 years - there wasn't time.   I was busy working and hardly spent time with him daily.

That's my guilt.  The bill is large, but that's the least of my problem.  I don't know if I gave him enough.  Sure, he was unwanted, returned twice by adopters.  I always suspected it's because they adopted him w/o his brother.  Well, now he's gone and Chestnut is alone.

I don't know how to make his grief manageable.  

RIGHT PIC

Silly Pewter as a kitten, trying to grab clothes from the washing machine. 

LEFT PIC

Recent picture of the boys. Pewter is always the more anxious one. But now that he passed, I'm not sure how Chestnut will manage.  They stabilise each other.  I did not want to adopt 2 kittens then, but I did not have the heart to separate them after hearing how both came back from separate adopters.   I don't have much to say except, the quality of pet food must have degraded over the decades.  Vet tells me, gotta feed them canned food, Urinary Tract food.  My question is, how come we never encountered all these issues 30 years ago?  I already bought new food for Chestnut and I have been reading up posts from the community anywhere and everywhere I can find about this.  I will not lose another cat to this silent killer disease.  Why rescue a cat only to kill him 4 years later just because he's on a kibble diet.  I have no one else to blame.  I did not measure his water intake, or whatever.  I assumed he drank enough.  I was wrong.  

LEFT PIC

When they were a little older, this was their past time.  Sharing a basket.  

This morning, I found Chestnut in there alone.  He's miserable and I'm miserable.