Shasta was taken to the Town Lake Animal Center, Austin's city run shelter, when she was
12 years old. She was to be killed without going up for adoption because she was too old.
I fostered her for Siamese Rescue
so that she would have a chance at finding a home.
Shasta was adopted in March and was scheduled to go to her new loving home on April 2nd, 2000. But a couple of days before, she had stopped eating and was looking ill. I brought her to South Branch Pet and Bird clinic where they told me that she might have liver damage and was kept overnight for tests. The next day I was told that she had been eating and drinking normally and that she was fine. No blood work was done.
When I took her home, she still was not eating and she looked terrible. I took her to the Brodie Animal Hospital where they immediately diagnosed her with liver damage and kept her to determine the cause. They estimated the cost of the entire treatment would run about $1000. Siamese Rescue agreed to pay the bill without a second thought. As it turned out, results of an ultrasound and biopsy revealed that Shasta had pancreatic cancer which was interfering with her liver. She also had heart disease, an independent condition. There was nothing that could be done to make her feel better and she was clearly suffering.
Shasta was euthanized at approximately 2:30pm, April 4th, 2000. I spent a few minutes with her at the end. I scratched her and pet her until she purred, which took all of about two seconds. She was very weak but still alert and loving. She could barely hold her head up off the table. But she purred and purred until the very end. The vet came in and gave her the injection which worked almost immediately. At the last second she picked her head up and looked straight at me with her bright blue eyes.
I would like to mention how kind and competent the people at Brodie Animal Hospital are.
They always took the time to explain everything to me and it was obvious that they
all made sure that the animals in their care were as comfortable as possible. My experiences
at South Branch, on the other hand, have always been negative. They are cold and I don't
think they have any idea of what they are doing. I regret that ever I took Shasta there in the first place.
Shasta was a 12 year old Siamese cat with only three teeth. But otherwise seemed to be a very healthy cat
until a few days before she was euthanized.
She mostly liked to rest and she loved attention. I wish I had given her more. I was
so excited that she was going to a new home because I knew then that she would be the
center of someone's world.