We had been expecting and dreading this day since this last rainy Memorial Day weekend in Petersburg when it became pretty apparent that our cat Annie was failing on account of kidney failure. We visited the vet with the expectation that she would be euthanized that day.
Instead, with the encouragement of the veterinarian, Dr Ken Hill, we started a program of subcutaneous infusion of Ringers Lactated Solution for hydration. It made a dramatic improvement in Annie and she ably completed this seasons cruse.
But all along, we knew it was only postponing the inevitable. Her weight continued to drop (our Bainbridge vet thought perhaps lymphoma was in play as well) and she was no longer tolerating the regular 2 to 4 minute subcutaneous infusions we tried to perform.
For any pet owner (or whatever the more current euphemism might be) there comes the time to recognize that additional care is not really increasing the quality of the pet’s life. After 4-1/2 months of care since 
that rainy weekend, we decided that Annie was failing rapidly and the best course was to euthanize her.
We had Annie (short for Annapurna) since she was a kitten over 14 years ago. She accompanied us as one of two ship’s cat (Maggie was the other) on every significant cruise we did on our boats. She was always affectionate, fastidious in her litter habits and had the world’s softest fur. We’ll miss her very much.
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