It should be noted that by the time I came into Oliver’s life he was dealing with several health issues: Dementia, blindness, arthritis, dental issues, what seemed to be a broken jaw from the mattress incident, and likely other maladies we weren’t aware of because he hadn’t been to the vet but once in his life.
You see, Oliver wasn’t adopted. His life began as a feral kitten who had been roaming the fields outside Rick’s house, when one day he plopped himself down on his back porch. Rick’s oldest daughter begged to keep the tiny blue-eyed fur ball staring up at her, and though Rick was against the idea, her tears eventually wore him down. Thus, Oliver was taken to the vet for a checkup and to rid himself of a nasty ear mite infestation, and from that point on, he became the latest addition to the family. But as the years rolled past, and as tends to happen, other pets would come along, another baby was born, and Oliver’s presence would eventually fade into the background.
Without question, by the time we finally crossed paths, we were exactly what the other needed!
Admittedly, there are times where I still carry guilt for not insisting Oliver go to the vet immediately- although it’s rather convoluted. Rick had spent most of his marriage in survival mode. Plus he didn’t really like Oliver for the first several years of his life, and to make matters worse, he was also allergic to him. Additionally, Rick and Oliver got off on the wrong foot (to say the least), because shortly after taking him in, Oliver got spooked one time and dug all four paws into Rick’s back- needless to say, it was a rocky beginning! By the time I was introduced to my little buddy, I was forced to accept the fact that he was old and that he would likely require thousands of dollars in dental work alone, so I made the choice to give him all the love I could during the remainder of whatever time he had left.
Now back to the tail saga: One day I noticed that Oliver was bleeding from the cyst on his tail and I had now begun biting it. I immediately pleaded with Rick to schedule a vet appointment because an infection would be imminent, and no way in hell was I going to allow that to be his demise! That very night we took him to Petco, where they injected Oliver with an antibiotic, sent us home with liquid gabapentin for pain, and put a cone on him, which he absolutely despised. The vet said if this didn’t work, we’d have to get bloodwork done to see if Oliver would qualify for a partial tail amputation (the only way to get rid of the cyst). If he did qualify, and much to our horror, there was no way they could guarantee he would survive the surgery.
Basically, if this didn’t work, we would be forced to put Oliver down. After I got to my house that night, I called Rick in tears and he told me “Don’t count him out yet. He’s overcome a lot.” I tried to remain optimistic- after all, he had a valid point.
After about ten days the cone came off and Oliver’s wound had healed. Unfortunately, he went straight for the lump on his tail. Rick sprung to action and wrapped it with gauze and bandaging and covered it with a sour apple spray, hoping it would deter him from messing with it. The following day I came over to check on Oliver, and sadly, not only had he managed to pull the bandage off, but his wound looked worse than ever. That was when I realized what had to be done; every other option would merely be prolonging the inevitable. I held my buddy super tight and the floodgates poured open. Then I proceeded to call Rick.
I expected that he wasn’t going to want to hear my update. I even expected that he’d need some time to process the terrible news. However, because we had discussed beforehand what the latest turn of events would mean, I wasn’t expecting his response, “I’m not gonna put him down. There’s nothing wrong with him.” We began to argue about what was necessary and what was in Oliver’s best interest, leading Rick to say “If he’s gotta be put down, then I’ll take him to the vet, but I’m not gonna watch it.” “Fine, but if you won’t be there, I sure as hell will be. I’m not leaving him alone!” I cried. He proceeded to inform me he didn’t appreciate the guilt trip I was providing.
So much of my time lately had been spent breaking down over Oliver. Now I couldn’t help but wonder- was I headed for a breakup as well?