Tragic and Senseless Loss - Dexter Two :(

I can't even type this out so I am going to copy and paste the e-mail I sent to Dexter Two's previous owner. :o(

It is with sincere grief and disbelief that I have to tell you that Mr. Kitty / Dexter had to be put to sleep today. He became suddenly ill yesterday and we took him to our vet this morning. I had given him subcue fluids at home and forced Nutri-Cal and water on him to hopefully get him through the night. By the time my vet examined him today his ears, gums and eyes were yellow from liver failure. My vet did a blood panel on him and his red blood cells were almost completely dead. He wouldn't likely have made it through another night. The diagnosis was Cytauxzoonosis ... which is caused by ticks. I showed my vet his previous vet records and we saw where he had had lots of problems with ticks. One single dose of a flea / tick preventive is not sufficient if the cat stays outdoors all of the time. It has to be given every month. I flea-treated him and all of my cats as soon as I got him home because I knew he had been outdoors. Apparently he was already infected when I got him from you. It broke my heart to watch him suffer and be put to sleep ..... all because of ticks. :o( I only had one week with him, but I loved him already and at least I know he had one week in an air-conditioned home.


A special thank you to ML and KC for the lovely graphic for dear Dexter Two! Thank you to everyone who has posted such kind words of condolence. We are still in shock and expecting to see him waiting for his love and pets.