Unfortunately, a few days before Christmas, Percy’s belly swelled up. At first we thought he just ate too much, but it didn’t go away. After numerous vet visits, they thought it might be FIP, which is an incurable, fatal disease. Even though some of his test results came back negative, Percy’s belly stayed big. Tests were ran on his heart, lungs, x-rays were taken. No stone was left unturned. The doctors confirmed all tests came back negative, but he had classic signs of “wet” FIP with the big belly. The best we could do was make his time left special.

The photo on the left is after we got back from the cat emergency room visit only a day or two before Christmas, where Zac and I thought it was going to be our last night with him. Fortunately, the lethargy Percy seemed to experience that night went away, and the vet said that as an animal lover, she didn’t find it necessary to keep him hooked up to machines. She said to take him home and monitor him closely. We were so, so happy, because Percy appeared to recover very quickly, and we were able to spend Christmas with him. His belly stayed big, but he acted as normal as he could, given the circumstances.

Zac started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for Percy’s medical bills, which ended up totaling about $2,000. Our friends and family donated over $800 which was a massive help to us, and made me feel so amazingly grateful that we had a support network. The vets even commented that they had never seen anyone try so much to make sure every possible option was on the table to help their pet get better.

The photo on the right is, I believe, the last photo I took of Percy. It’s a couple of days after Christmas, and, as you can see, he looks fine. He still had the big belly, but I think Zac and I secretly believed things would work out. However, at around 10pm on January 14, 2014, after Zac and I had been home from work for a few hours, we noticed Percy had extremely shallow breathing, and was twitching. He had been fine the last we saw him, only a half hour or so prior. We rushed back to the vet emergency hospital, and Percy’s twitches became more severe, to the point where they were seizures. We discussed all possible options with the vet, and agreed that we didn’t want him to suffer. The vet brought Percy back in, and we were able to hold him for his last few moments. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to experience.

The staff at Crossroads Animal Emergency in Huntington Beach were all wonderful, caring people. And I am so grateful that they were there when we needed them, at early hours of the morning. They truly understood how heartbroken Zac and I were, and gave us hugs and condolences, which, while not easing the pain, was still an extremely comforting gesture. There are good people out there.

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