Several weeks ago, we noticed that Kimba wasn’t finishing her food as she usually did. A couple of weeks ago, we were concerned enough to make an appointment for her to see a vet, but we couldn’t get her in until this last Monday. By then, she had stopped eating altogether and she was having difficulty breathing.

When we took her to the vet Monday morning, he said that the last time she had been weighed, she weighed 20 lbs. This time, she weighed 8 lbs. He did blood work and took a couple of x-rays and told us that she had congestive heart failure most likely brought on by a tumor. He gave her a shot of Lasix to flush out the fluids so she could breathe easier but said that she probably wouldn’t last much longer. He gave us instructions on how to get a little food into her and some packets that were supposed to give her an appetite, but she fought us every time we tried to feed her.

This morning, she greeted me when I came out of the bathroom, so I put her on our bed until Mark got up. Then she jumped down and followed him out. He has been making liquid food for her out of some appetite enhancer that the vet gave us and some baby food with water added. He put a little in a bowl and set it in front of her. He says she stood and looked at it for a minute and then went into a seizure and died. He stayed with her for a few minutes and then came in to wake me up and tell me that she was gone.

We are going to have her cremated. I want to take her home and bury her next to her old friend, Dobby. I’m sad, but I’m also glad that she’s not in pain anymore. I’m glad she died at home with Mark there to pet her.

I will tell her life story later. I’m going in to work and this was all I had time for right now, but I want to do her justice.