Pumpernickel was a pregnant cat that came to us as a stray. She was found with a dead newborn. As Pumpernickel lay in her birthing bed, we waited to see more kittens. Many hours passed and all we saw was blood and her straining to give birth to her unborn babies. This is not a good sign. She had come in on a Sunday, when we had no veterinarian at PAWS. So I decided to take her home with me to watch her. We stopped at animal emergency on our way home to get some advice. I was told that she needed a c-section or to be euthanized if the problem persists, but that she was purring and that this was a good sign and I should give her time to deliver (later I learned that purring can also be a sign of pain).

That night, Pumpernickel delivered two kittens that were stuck in her birth canal. Both times I had to gently pull them out, they were already dead. This was the most awful experience of my life. Pumpernickel went into PAWS the next morning to have an emergency c-section. Once she was shaved, we realized that she had a 'spay' scar. Meaning that someone had giving this cat a c-section in a previous pregnancy, but neglected to spay her. Once inside Pumpernickel our vet discovered that her uterus had adhered itself to her bladder (because of the scar tissue from her previous c-section). This meant that her bladder had to be sewn up in many tiny areas so that it would not leak into her abdomen. She was a mess, but we were not about to give up on her and she survived her surgery, two more dead kittens were found inside. One was stuck in her birth canal.

A few days after her emergency surgery, Pumpernickel still hadn't eaten on her own, she had not urinated (which we were concerned about due to the scar tissue). Our veterinarian took x-rays of her abdomen because we noticed that she was looking bigger. Pumpernickel was filled with fluid. There was nothing more we could do for her and she was in pain. Pumpernickel died that day in the arms of our loving clinic staff. She had a good death. Unfortunately she did not have a good life.

After this experience, I laid in bed for two days. I was more than heartbroken. I was disgusted with whoever gave her a c-section and did not pay the extra money to spay her. I was disgusted with the veterinarian that gave her the c-section and did not force the owners to spay her. And I was disgusted with myself for not letting her go to the rainbow bridge at the first sign of trouble. I let her feel that pain.

Everyone says that we live and we learn... this was the biggest and worst learning experience of my life. Pumpernickel taught me that I cannot let my passion for saving animals get in the way of making the right decision for them and their quality of life. I will never let another mother-to-be suffer again. Now I know what to watch for and I have unfortunately come across this since then, but we were able to save the mother-to-be from pain, because of this experience. That's why Pumpernickel came to PAWS, to teach us something new.