Down in Ruidoso

Seeping Springs CG, Ruidoso Downs, NM – June 28 to July 1, 2016

EJ’s research turned up this campground that gave a 50% discount to Escapees because there were trying to attract the older, longer stay crowd. But more about that in the next post.

Mocha had been a little “off” for the last day or two. Initially we weren’t worried too much because she has a “down” day every couple of weeks or so. When this happens she won’t eat much and goes into hiding. But then the next day she’s back to her normal self, demanding food and attention.

When her “off” day turned into two days we began to get concerned. for the last several years she’s had problems with her kidneys but with liberal applications of veterinary care she managed to recover each time the problem flared up. Then about 6 months ago she was diagnosed with thyroid problems. Medication seemed to keep that under control, although with the occasional “off” day.

During her second non-normal day, EJ began researching local veterinary clinics. and found one that was “cat friendly”. But they couldn’t get us in for a day. So we called a couple of other vets and didn’t like what we heard. When Mocha didn’t get any as the morning went on, we called the first vet back convinced them to let us come in right now.

The vet did a sub-coetaneous fluid injection with a saline solution which in the past has worked wonders. We took her back to the RV with instructions to come back in the morning for blood tests. Overnight saw no improvement.

The next morning after the blood test results were in, the vet explained to us our options. Mocha’s outlook was not good, and even with extraordinary measures she would probably only last a couple more weeks. Her kidneys were failing and her red blood cell count was too low. Rather than have her suffer any more, we had to make the hard decision to let her go to kitty heaven.

This is the second time in two years we have had to do this. Taz was with us for 17 years and Mocha for 19 years and 3 months. Going through it was hard and writing about it is hard all over again. After coming back from the vet, we went into a frenzy and cleaned and put away everything cat related. It was as though if we hid all of Mocha’s stuff, we wouldn’t be constantly reminded of her.

It wasn’t successful, we still expect her to cry for breakfast at 6:30 am, or to come out from behind the loveseat when she hears us. Only time will make the sadness go away.

Goodbye little buddy….