Hi friends,
It was a rough night and morning. Our darling kitty Sylvia started struggling last evening and couldn't get a full breath. She was diagnosed with heart failure last Tuesday and the specialist gave us medication to give her to buy some time but it was too late. We debated taking her to an all-night urgent care vet but my daughter wanted to try to make it to 7:30am, when our own vet clinic opens. She called her BF over and they stayed up most of the night with Sylvia, keeping an eye on her and monitoring her breathing.

In the morning, it was obvious that she was not going to get any better without having the fluid that was filling her chest drained, and she already had it done 3 times. Her heart was giving out and it was so sad because she was only 5 years old and healthy and beautiful otherwise. There is no cure for a cat with heart failure and they don't do heart transplants on cats, we checked.

So at 7:30am we took her to our vet and after consulting with her, we all agreed that there was nothing more we could do and she was becoming so uncomfortable. The people at our clinic were just wonderful with all of us, explaining the process, giving us enough time to say goodbye, and treating her with the most gentle care. She was always elegant and graceful, even at the end. After it was over, we took her home wrapped in a pink towel and buried her under the bench in our rose garden, where she loved to sit and watch butterflies.

I'm sure the mouse population around our house are rejoicing, because she was an expert mouser and at times, caught a mouse nearly every day for a week or two in the summer when she discovered a good mouse hole. She was a special kitty, and will be missed dearly by all of us, and especially by her best friend and admirer, Piggles the bunny. We were blessed to have her in our lives for even a short time.
Rest in peace, sweet Sylvia. We'll always love you.