Dr. Steve just called and said that the future for Phantom looks quite bleak. Her mouth is a mess, she has broken canines, heavy gingivitis/stomatitis, her throat is swollen and inflamed. She is covered in flea dirt, anemic, worms coming out of every orifice, tail caked in poop, run down- not fighting anyone, and there is a mass near her kidneys. The smell he said is probably her stomatitis and her kidneys sounding off.

We talked a bit, IF she were to be saved, it would be stressful and a long road to recovery. She would be sedated to do the blood work and the testing to check most of all her kidney level. She would have to be on steriods and heavy-duty antibiotics to calm the massive infections in her mouth, then she would have to go in and have all her teeth pulled. After that it is a battle to get control of the stomatitis. I cried, I prayed but I told him to let her go.It’s time for her life to begin anew, where she doesn’t have to run to hide, where she can play and be happy again and be the cat she is supposed to be. One thing he said to me stood out. “Mary Anne, she makes Shell look fat.”

She was euthanized without me in attendance because they were closing for the day. I told him, I hope someone will hug her on the way out. He said he would see to it that she knew someone cared about her. I don’t know how come the first couple of times we did trap her, how she escaped but it made her so leery of us. I guess in the end, she came to me because it was time. I wanted so much for her to live, she apparently had other plans.

Here is the last photo taken of her before her departure