Misti's Story

Transferred from my "green" blog upon its closure - one of two posts I saved because it is filled with special memories : )

This morning I was sent a chain email warning pet owners about cocoa mulch and the potential toxicity to animals. I never know how much to believe those emails, but scary nonetheless. Immediately it made me think of my little Misti. How I miss that girl.

Misti entered my life Thanksgiving weekend 1996. She was a tiny little ball of black fur. So nervous, but sweet as can be. She was a year old when I adopted her.

It took a couple weeks of transition, but soon Misti and my older cat, Cody, were the best of friends. They would lay together on the couch, bodies entwined, licking each other's fur - it was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. At the time I was single and lived in an apartment. Those cats were my family.

Our lives changed a lot over the next few years. We moved twice, gained my husband, and welcomed a couple of kids. It wasn't until we moved to our current house in 2002 that the cats started to explore the outdoors sometimes. They loved our wooded lot and all the birds, bugs and chipmunks that came with it. It just felt natural for them to be running around out there.

This story really begins in July of 2005. One sunny afternoon the cats went out to play, but Misti didn't come back. With her nervous tendencies, she was normally the one who hung close to home, so we were immediately worried. We combed the woods and walked the neighborhood calling her name and whistling, but she didn't come.

I went to bed that night feeling sad and lost. I felt like it was my fault for letting her be outside. Then, about midnight my husband woke me to let me know that she had come home. I rushed downstairs to see her, so excited, but right away I knew something was wrong. She didn't seem to respond to me normally and her eyes looked really strange. But it had been extremely hot that day, so we thought maybe she was disoriented because of the heat.

The next morning, Friday, she seemed like herself again. She still wasn't eating normally, but she looked like herself and was reacting to us the way she usually did. We were overjoyed. We resumed our normal patterns.

Saturday, July 15, was our fifth wedding anniversary. We spent the day at a family event and came home late afternoon to get ready for our date night. When I opened the door from the garage to the house, Misti was laying there like she was waiting for us. Her fur was covered with dried blood.

Crying (as I am as I write this), I carried her into the house where I saw trails of bloody vomit everywhere.

The next 24 were spent at the emergency vet where they tried to help her, but one by one her organs were shutting down. It was too late. Misti had been poisoned and the toxins had already spread throughout her body.

The vet suggested it was likely De Con, which someone probably put out to prevent rodents. I didn't even know what De Con was - they had to explain to me. But, I guess we'll never know for sure what happened.

Sunday night I cuddled her and said my goodbyes. I sang her song, "Oh Misti, you're so fine..." My husband held her in his arms when they inserted the needle and she went to sleep.

If we would have brought her in when she came home that first night the story may have had a happier ending. We just truly never even thought of anything like poisoning. It never even occurred to us.

I'm sharing this story in hopes that it could possibly help prevent another family from losing a pet - or worse. Skip the poisons, people. Please!