TL;DR: My first close animal friend, had a stroke, had to put him down, devastated.
This is Mac. 5 years ago my wife brought him and Stewie into the relationship. She had them since they were kittens. When I met him he was a skiddish cat because Stewie picked on him before they were friends. Sometimes even tried to kill him.This was because he was the second cat brought home and he was smaller. I immediately started working with him to make him confident and willing to approach people. I learned that he responded well if you said his name playfully. It earned his trust quickly. I made sure every time I came into the same room as him I practiced this. Sure enough, caught on and became a very friendly cat to strangers.
Last Monday around 1am, this is the night we brought my newborn daughter home from the hospital. I was changing baby Wrens diaper. I walked into my room and both cats were sitting together, but Mac looked slightly stressed in a weird sitting position, paws spread wide open and slow rolling the upper half of his body backwards. I didn't know it, but he was having a stroke. He is only 5 years old. I quickly moved my wife with the baby, to the baby's room and closed the door assuming he was having a seizure and could possibly have a psycho fit. I went back into the room where he was laying. His body was fully locked out and stretched, his eyes were all over the place, he had labored breathing, and meowing every couple minutes with a very troubled meow. I wrapped him in blankets and rushed him across town to the emergency vet. He had shit and drooled himself in this time. I left him there over night and returned the next morning. He hadn't returned to normal like I'd hoped...had it been a seizure. He was fully paralyzed other than one leg, his neck, and his head. The doctor described his state, most likely being like a heavy groggy headache and unlimited attempts to get his body and motor functions working. His temperature had been falling to since the previous night. I sat there like a baby and cried for about 45 minutes and then decided to put him down after the doctor reassured me he would never have a normal life again even through rehab. He said this was a pretty bad case over all he'd seen.
Anyway...this was like my first animal, and first unconditional friend/family member. That meant a lot especially since I grew up in a life without a solid family and growing up in 7-8 different family households. I've had friends die in the military and after, family members, etc. For some reason this death really upset me.
Anyway, Rest in Paradise furry friend. You'll always be missed Mac.
