Luna was admitted to Corona Animal Emergency Center where she underwent emergency surgery to remove a cat toy that was obstructing her small intestine. At 14.5 years old, a large procedure like this came with risks, but we felt confident Luna would be ok because of her overall amazing health. While in surgery, they successfully removed the toy and also removed her spleen which had many nodules growing on it, and biopsied nodules on her liver. Luna did really well during surgery and there were no known complications. She came out of anesthesia really well, but then things took a turn for the worste. Luna's blood pressure dropped dangerously and I had to rush to go try and get her responsive again after hours of her being near death. She responded to my voice and her BP came back up. Scans discovered that Luna had fluid filling her lungs. The hypothesis was that this was either aspiration pneumonia (she had been vomiting continuously the day before her procedure) or it was an inflammatory response by her body. She was not able to get enough oxygen into her blood so she was put into an oxygen chamber, where her oxygen levels improved and she was much more comfortable.
Luna initially appeared to be getting better. Her vitals were stable and her lungs were clearing up. For an entire day we had SO much hope that she was coming home. She was even able to be off oxygen for almost an entire day, but then everything changed.
Luna suddenly lost oxygen again and they found that her lungs were back to being full of fluid. She was also no longer using her back legs at all, and she was knuckling her front feet when she tried to get up. The new theory was that she potentially had thrown clot, which lodged in her spine and lungs. The other theory was that she may have ARDS, a dangerous inflammatory response that can cause fluids in the lungs. They gave us the option to try steroids for 24 hours to see if her lungs improved, but even if she survived that, she would have weeks of hospitalization ahead of her with a very poor prognosis. The vet said she was suffering, which was evident. She was crying and unable to walk, with no clear cut diagnosis and a long road of potentially being alone in a kennel for many more nights.
Our hearts could not take it any longer and Luna was begging for our help. You could see it in her eyes. She fought so damn hard. I believe she really was fighting so hard she got better for that one day, but whatever happened after that was just too much. Our sweet old girl needed to be freed from her misery. We held her in our arms as she went to be with her brother, Link, who we know was so happy to be with her again.
So we have come home without our girl, and instead we have brought home a financial hardship to go with our grief. We are a single-income family with a 1 year old and other animals that depend on us. If you see it in your heart to contribute financially towards this burden, we would be forever grateful. The initial quote just for diagnostics, surgery, and recovery was $8,837.25. Luna's grand total after factoring in our efforts to save her was $10,878.78.
Some people may read this and wonder why we performed surgery on Luna at 14.5 years old. She was very healthy and the ER vet who first saw her gave us great confidence that she was gunna be just fine. We were told "age is not a disease" and "Lunas bloodwork is great". We went in head first because we love Luna, and she means a lot to many people. She had a toy stuck in her intestines and we knew it had to come out surgically. We didn't look at a price because she was PRICELESS. If money could buy the outcomes your heart desires, we would have doubled it to have her back home with us. We never thought goodbye would come like this, or come this soon.
Luna, our Looney Tune...The Tube...Luna Marie...Luna Sheba Tuna Rue...Looney ballooney...Lu...we miss you so so much honey. We never thought it would be like this for you, and we are so sorry. We don't know why you had to eat that toy, but you always did know how to be super dramatic. Maybe this would have been different if you were 7 instead of 14, but we can't change that now can we? You can always be with us now. No more nights alone. No more pain. No more fear. We love you so incredibly much baby girl. Thank you for all your love and for making so many people smile and laugh. You will forever be mommy's girl. Fly free, our sweet angel. Come say hi whenever you can. We will look for your messages. Until we are together again, beautiful girl.
