Max's Last Day

On Wednesday, July 25, 2012, we had no idea that it would be Max's last full day at home with us. Charlotte and I had to get up and get going bc we had to tour the hospital in Columbus for when the baby is due to come. So we left the house by 8:30 and got back home around 11:30. Whenever I get home from anywhere, I always see where Max is. I have ALWAYS had the fear/the feeling that he would get out of the screened in porch while I am away from the house. He wasn't on the porch or anywhere in the house so I went outside and inspected the screen. Sure enough, he had figure out a way to push through the screen. My heart sunk.

I went outside in the 105 degree heat and started yelling for him. Being 9 months pregnant with a toddler, I knew I could go out in the woods looking for him. So I just kept going outside and yelling for him for a few minutes at time. By a little after noon I saw him walk into the backyard. He was panting like crazy!!! I have always said that I think he has a cardiac or pulmonary issue bc when he runs too much or he is out in the heat, he pants like a dog. I saw him walk up so I let him back onto the porch and barracaded the hole he had made with a foot stool so he couldn't get out again. He came inside and hung out on the cool cement floor of the garage. He finally found enough energy to get a drink of water and a snack. Then back out to the porch for his afternoon nap he went. Charlotte and I were on the porch with him in the afternoon while she played with her water table. He was being such a good boy...so sweet. He was even letting her come near him.

After I put Charlotte to bed, I went out on the porch and played with him and petted him for awhile. I kept the screened in porch lights and the outside backyard lights on in case he found a way or was trying to find a way out. Once Alex got home and I got distracted, he found his way out of the porch again. My barracade had failed. So I called Alex outside. Max was sniffing around in the backyard. It was about 10 pm at this point. Since Max had gotten out twice in one day and it was 10 at night, we finally realized its just pointless to keep him caged up. So, I cut the cord and let Max do his thing. He even came in about 30 minutes later, got a snack, and went back outside (he was getting on and off of the porch through the hole he had made earlier in the day.) 

I had been sleeping on the couch for the past few weeks so it was a normal thing for me to do that night. I also knew I needed to sleep on the couch so I could hear if Max came in his cat door. At 3 am, Charlotte woke up fussing (typical for her these days). I comforted her, got her back to sleep, and came back out to the couch and started catching up on my Real Housewives. At 4 am, I heard the neighbor dogs barking. My heart sank and my stomach jumped into my throat. I ran outside into the backyard like a crazy lady and started yelling for Max. The dogs kept barking. The neighbor's yard is up on a hill and has a 6 ft wooden privacy fence. I couldn't see anything but could tell that the noise was coming from there. I kept yelling and I was yelling, the dogs stopped barking for a second and I heard a cat screech. I yelled for Max again and then I heard one faint little "meow" and then silence. The dogs were gone. No cat noise. Nothing. At this point, Alex came outside. I continued to yell for Max thinking maybe he had gotten scared off and ran up a tree or further into the woods behind our house. Alex got a flashlight and started up the hill behind our house but it was 4 am, pitch black, and we were for sure if there were wild dogs running around. We came back inside. Alex went to bed, I stayed on the couch. I was physically sick. I knew it was Max that had gotten attacked. I knew that was his sad meow...his cry for help. I just had no idea for sure where to find him. Charlotte woke up again so she ended up in bed with Alex. I was awake until 6:30 then I finally fell asleep.

At 7:30, Alex woke up and went to the back door. I woke up on the couch and begged him to go to the top of the hill. I told him I knew he would find Max up there... most likely dead. He had me go into our room to make sure Charlotte didn't fall out of bed. I knew while I laid down by her that I would hear him screaming my name any minute. Sure enough, he started yelling for me. I ran outside screaming, "Is he dead?" Max's limp body was in Alex's arms. He was panting, couldn't meow, and the back part of his body had very ruffled, urine smelling fur. He just laid there on the ground where Alex put him. Just staring. He couldn't move. Alex called work to tell them he couldn't come in. I called the first vet hospital I found on google. We loaded Charlotte in the car and I drove while Alex held Max on his lap. Max started to meow and move around a bit in the car. It was so sad.

Once we got to the vet hospital, Alex went in and I got Charlotte presentable and out of her jammies and wet diaper. By the time I got into the exam room, the doctor had already examined him and diagnosed him. He said he had a diaphragmatic hernia that would need surgical repair as well as mostly likely more injuries. He said he could tell that Max had been attacked by a dog. We agreed to have the surgery but to call us with all of the results from the Xrays and labs so we could make any changes in our decision. It was discovered that Max had a broken sternum, vertebrae, broken ribs, diaphragmatic hernia, and some sort of tear in his genitourinary tract. Max's bladder wasn't filling and all of the toxins were leaking into his body. His potassium level was at a very critical level and bc of that they were unable to operate. 

Alex and I made the decision at about 5 pm that it wasn't fair to Max to leave him a place with people he didn't know and it wasn't fair to make him suffer in pain. We decided that we would put him to sleep. I loaded Charlotte up in the car and we met Alex at the vet hospital. They stayed open late for us to be able to be with Max while he went for his final cat nap. They brought Max in to us on his little towel. He was so happy to see us. You could tell. He settled down right away when he saw me and heard my voice. He was so sick though. He looked much worse than he had earlier in the day. I knew we had made the right decision. Alex and I both said our goodbyes to Max. I was petting him and kiss his head when the doctor gave him his medicine to put him to sleep. Within a few seconds, Max had passed away. Max died on Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 6:20 pm. 

It devastating day for our family. We lost our best friend. Max had been with us through an apartment, 3 houses, 2 states, 2 pregnancies, and one child. Our world was us three, the new baby, and Max. Max was really one of my best friends. He was always there. No matter where I slept at night, Max would come check in with me frequently. He would want to play in the room that I would be sleeping in. He loved our naps.. many of them naps that Charlotte, Max and I would take together. Every time I showered, Max would come want me to pet him. He always knew that if I was showering, I was generally going somewhere. If I was in a room with the door closed, he'd sit outside of the room until I opened the door to let him in. If I was asleep but other people in the house were awake to give him a treat, he would still come wake me up if he wanted something. I was his mom. I loved him so much. Our house is empty without him. We are all clueless as to what to do without him here. He was such a cool cat and so very smart. He is missed. He will always be missed.

I know that many people have lost pets. I have lost pets as well. I have put 2 of my cats to sleep in the past... one when he was 15 (maybe 17) and one when he was 7. However, this is different than deciding to put your animal to sleep after many years and many diagnoses of old age, cancer, etc. To have my less than 3 yr old cat mauled by a dog and for me to be standing in my backyard in the black of night and know he was being injured and not know how to get him and fix him. To hear his cries for me and not know that it was for sure him and be able to get him and bring him home was terrible. For Alex to find his almost dead body at the top of the hill and have to carry him home not knowing what the outcome was going to be was just plain heartbreaking. It was terrible situation. I am having trouble sleeping bc of it. I can't open the blinds in the back part of our house bc I look up at the spot that Alex said he found him all day long. I hate being in my backyard bc all I do is picture what happened to him...and glance up to where it happened. I hate hearing the neighbor dogs bark. It makes me physically ill. It's different than choosing to help your animal find peace when he/she is ill or in pain. I've made that decision before and I'd rather have to make that decision than to have had to go through this.

Rest in peace Maximillion Pujols Jackson. I'd give anything to go back and to trap you in the house and never let you out. I'm so sorry for what those dogs did to you. I will never forgive them. We love and miss you more than you know.