Rest in Peace, Buster Grey

Before we girls came home from Grand Lake on Tuesday, Dave had been worried sick because he couldn't find Allison's cat, Buster. He looked and looked, and even made "lost cat" posters--in the event our inside cat had found his way outside.

Allison was unaware of the missing Buster situation. As soon as she walked in the door Tuesday afternoon, she called her distinct "Buster Grey!" call. And Buster dragged himself down the stairs to see her. His entire hind end was paralyzed. Even though Dave hadn't been able to find him anywhere, and he didn't respond to Dave at all, he pititfully pulled himself all the way down the stairs to see Allison.

Allison and I immediately took him to the vet. They did some x-rays and ruled out injury. An absence of femoral pulses in Buster's legs caused the doctor to think he had a blood clot where his "main" aorta met his "leg" aortas. The veterinary gave him heparin and fluids, but indicated it was unlikely he would pull through.

Allison visited Buster twice a day all week. Amazingly, he did get better. Yesterday, he stood up. Today, he walked. As soon as Allison came near his cage at the clinic, he would start purring and kneading his paws. As she rubbed him, they "head butted" one another over and over.

Unfortunately, the typical cause for these kind of blood clots is very serious heart disease. A feline cardiologist came today and did an echocardiogram. (Yes, there is such a thing as a feline cardiologist. And yes, when your precious daughter's cat soul mate is involved, you pay for the test.) The test confirmed that Buster had very advanced heart disease, a genetic condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy...even though he was not even two years old! He might have lived for a short time, but the risk of a terrible death was extremely high.

So Dave and Allison and I just returned from telling Buster good-bye. It was heartbreaking to see how healthy he looked, and how intensely he responded to Allison. We are very proud of Allison's courage. I truly don't think a girl has ever loved a cat as much as Allison loved Buster Grey. She is still a girl, and he was merely a cat....but her heart ache is almost more than can be borne.

Please pray for our Allison.