RobynPrincess
Looking around
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2010
- Messages
- 1,285
I'm afraid this trip doesn't have the best of starts, if you haven't read my highs and lows unfortunately our cat had to be put to sleep the day we left for the airport hotel. He was our baby so as you can imagine we were in bits. So the first day I will warn you now, isn't the happiest of reads. I've been in tears writing it but as it happened and was part of the trip I have included it. Feel free to skip it if you don't want to be on the train to sadville - I wont take offence! It gets happier from then on I promise. But cause of that, hardly any pictures were taken however this is the only day when the pictures were few and far between.
So here we go...
The day before
I'm glad I took notes on this day, or I would have blocked it from memory
This wasn't a good day.
The day started of course with a quick weather check...
Those thunderstorms didn't fill me with hope :-/ oh well, least it was hot! We had about an hour to wait till the vets opened at 9am, we had taken Wilbur in the day before as he was very constipated so needed to get him sorted before we went away. I wasn't really expecting them to keep him in but they did. The call came right as they opened, the vet was worried as he had passed all of the stool but still really not himself (she knows him well) so she had taken bloods and with our permission wanted to send them off. I was worried as I could tell by the vet's voice she thought there was something wrong. We packed up the house and took all of our holiday stuff and the cat things up to my parents as the vets is round the corner. The original plan was to drop Wilbur with our friend who was looking after him for us the night before but as he was in the vets still we took all of his things thinking we would go from there to her house with him. We went straight into the vets to see him and the vet came in to chat with us about what she thought it might be. He was really pleased to see us and she was happy as that was the most animated he had been. While we were there she said she would go check on the bloods to see if the results were in yet, she came back into the room and shut the door, I just knew then he had stage 4 kidney failure. He had stage 2 for a while but each blood test came back managed so this was a real shock. Our lovely vet suggested the kindest thing to do would be to put him out of his misery as he would be feeling very uncomfortable, she said it was like being very hung over all the time. I asked her what she would do if he was her cat and she said she would do the kindest thing. We both had cuddles and Sy held him in his arms while she gave him the injection. After the vet placed him down as if he was sleeping and she gave us both hugs, she was very fond of Mr Wilbs too. We sobbed, the vet cried, we had to make plans what to do with him right then too, we know of a pet crematory nearby who had helped us with our baby Emily so we knew we wanted him to go there. It all felt so rushed, it was just awful trying to deal with our pain but knowing we were on a time limit. The vet told us to go and not worry about the money for now, deal with it once we were back from our holiday which was so nice of her. Outside I called our friend to let her know and she was really upset though she was relieved it happened before we went away, I couldn't have imagined not being there with him. My parents are only round the corner so we were there in no time, I went in and pretty much sobbed before I could get the words out. We then all cried as he was loved by us everyone.
Once I had composed myself as much as possible we loaded my parents car with as much stuff as possible and my dad did the hour drive to the airport hotel with me and my mum, mum had bought stuff for lunch but now no one wanted to eat a thing. Sy was working from home so he had more work to do - Sy's parents would be picking him and my dad up later (once dad was home again) as they have a 7 seater car but there wasn't going to be enough room for all 6 of us, all our cases and 2 scooters so that's why we came up with this plan. The car journey passed in somewhat of a blur, I felt sick most of the way - probably a combination of not eating anything all day and the stress. Unfortunately cause dad was dropping off me and mum we had all gone out and left Sy at home alone, he text me at one point saying he wasn't coping. I called him and he was sobbing Poor Sy I actually wasn't much help to him as I was feeling so sick myself I was concentrating on not throwing up so couldn't have a proper conversation.
Soon we were arriving at the Novotel Heathrow. Dad helped us in with all the stuff before dashing off again. We checked in and made our way to the rooms, 156 & 157. They were nice enough, and very nice for a free room
Long story about that one, I did cover it in my pre trip but in case you haven't read it or forgotten... We booked through holidayextras where their guarantee is find it cheaper we will give you all of your money back along with still honouring the booking. I found it cheaper so we got the room for free 
The original plan had been that we would go for a swim in the hotel's pool however neither me or my mum could face it. I pretty much laid on the bed for a while in their room, crying on and off. Eventually by about 4pm we decided that we were a bit hungry so we ordered some room service, a cheese pizza and drink for £10.99 including delivery charge. It wasn't bad though it did have massive chunks of tomato which neither of us like to I spent ages picking them off. I dozed some more while mum watched some crappy afternoon TV and then everyone else arrived at about 7:15pm.
Sy's parents checked in while I went to get the last of our things from Sy and took them to our room (there wasn't much). Sy's parents were being dropped off by Sy's sister's boyfriend who was insured to drive their car so he was waiting outside with the car as he was dropping up at an Indian restaurant a mile or 2 down the road. We used to live near the airport so we knew the place quite well and this is a favourite restaurant of ours that we don't get to visit very often anymore living an hour away, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to pay a visit. Dad had booked the table for 7:30pm and by the time Anne and Cliff were checked in and ready it was almost time. Simon dropped us off outside (Simon is also the name of sister's boyfriend, not confusing at all!) and we headed inside. Sadly the owner wasn't there as we wanted to see him but we still had a fabulous meal. I didn't eat much as I still wasn't really in the mood so I got a chicken tikka starter and tried a bit of my mum's and Sy's mains.
Some pics of dinner.
Once we were full to the brim we paid up and asked the restaurant to call us a taxi back to the hotel. The taxi was uber cheap at £6 as it was only down the road but it was too far to walk. We decided to have a drink in the hotel bar £19 for 6 drinks wasn't too bad for a hotel bar.
We only stayed for one drink before heading up to our rooms, we had to be up and moving in the morning and today had been a stressful day for us all so we were shattered.
I took a lying in bed selfie which I was promptly told was way inappropriate haha
We couldn't sleep for a while, we spent a lot of time talking about Wilbs, watching videos and looking at pictures of him, more tears were shed. We decided that we were going to put the pain on the back burner, we had planned for this trip for so long so we would make the most of it as much as we could, crying and being so upset wasn't going to bring him back after all
It was about 12:30am by the time we were drifting off to sleep, half feeling distressed still and half excited for our trip. It wasn't a nice feeling at all actually.
A tribute to my wonderful boy Wilbur, you may have only been with us 18 months but I loved you for a lifetime. Sleep well my boy.
So here we go...
The day before
I'm glad I took notes on this day, or I would have blocked it from memory
This wasn't a good day. The day started of course with a quick weather check...
Those thunderstorms didn't fill me with hope :-/ oh well, least it was hot! We had about an hour to wait till the vets opened at 9am, we had taken Wilbur in the day before as he was very constipated so needed to get him sorted before we went away. I wasn't really expecting them to keep him in but they did. The call came right as they opened, the vet was worried as he had passed all of the stool but still really not himself (she knows him well) so she had taken bloods and with our permission wanted to send them off. I was worried as I could tell by the vet's voice she thought there was something wrong. We packed up the house and took all of our holiday stuff and the cat things up to my parents as the vets is round the corner. The original plan was to drop Wilbur with our friend who was looking after him for us the night before but as he was in the vets still we took all of his things thinking we would go from there to her house with him. We went straight into the vets to see him and the vet came in to chat with us about what she thought it might be. He was really pleased to see us and she was happy as that was the most animated he had been. While we were there she said she would go check on the bloods to see if the results were in yet, she came back into the room and shut the door, I just knew then
he had stage 4 kidney failure. He had stage 2 for a while but each blood test came back managed so this was a real shock. Our lovely vet suggested the kindest thing to do would be to put him out of his misery as he would be feeling very uncomfortable, she said it was like being very hung over all the time. I asked her what she would do if he was her cat and she said she would do the kindest thing. We both had cuddles and Sy held him in his arms while she gave him the injection. After the vet placed him down as if he was sleeping and she gave us both hugs, she was very fond of Mr Wilbs too. We sobbed, the vet cried, we had to make plans what to do with him right then too, we know of a pet crematory nearby who had helped us with our baby Emily so we knew we wanted him to go there. It all felt so rushed, it was just awful trying to deal with our pain but knowing we were on a time limit. The vet told us to go and not worry about the money for now, deal with it once we were back from our holiday which was so nice of her. Outside I called our friend to let her know and she was really upset though she was relieved it happened before we went away, I couldn't have imagined not being there with him. My parents are only round the corner so we were there in no time, I went in and pretty much sobbed before I could get the words out. We then all cried as he was loved by us everyone. Once I had composed myself as much as possible we loaded my parents car with as much stuff as possible and my dad did the hour drive to the airport hotel with me and my mum, mum had bought stuff for lunch but now no one wanted to eat a thing. Sy was working from home so he had more work to do - Sy's parents would be picking him and my dad up later (once dad was home again) as they have a 7 seater car but there wasn't going to be enough room for all 6 of us, all our cases and 2 scooters so that's why we came up with this plan. The car journey passed in somewhat of a blur, I felt sick most of the way - probably a combination of not eating anything all day and the stress. Unfortunately cause dad was dropping off me and mum we had all gone out and left Sy at home alone, he text me at one point saying he wasn't coping. I called him and he was sobbing
Poor Sy I actually wasn't much help to him as I was feeling so sick myself I was concentrating on not throwing up so couldn't have a proper conversation. Soon we were arriving at the Novotel Heathrow. Dad helped us in with all the stuff before dashing off again. We checked in and made our way to the rooms, 156 & 157. They were nice enough, and very nice for a free room
Long story about that one, I did cover it in my pre trip but in case you haven't read it or forgotten... We booked through holidayextras where their guarantee is find it cheaper we will give you all of your money back along with still honouring the booking. I found it cheaper so we got the room for free The original plan had been that we would go for a swim in the hotel's pool however neither me or my mum could face it. I pretty much laid on the bed for a while in their room, crying on and off. Eventually by about 4pm we decided that we were a bit hungry so we ordered some room service, a cheese pizza and drink for £10.99 including delivery charge. It wasn't bad though it did have massive chunks of tomato which neither of us like to I spent ages picking them off. I dozed some more while mum watched some crappy afternoon TV and then everyone else arrived at about 7:15pm.
Sy's parents checked in while I went to get the last of our things from Sy and took them to our room (there wasn't much). Sy's parents were being dropped off by Sy's sister's boyfriend who was insured to drive their car so he was waiting outside with the car as he was dropping up at an Indian restaurant a mile or 2 down the road. We used to live near the airport so we knew the place quite well and this is a favourite restaurant of ours that we don't get to visit very often anymore living an hour away, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to pay a visit. Dad had booked the table for 7:30pm and by the time Anne and Cliff were checked in and ready it was almost time. Simon dropped us off outside (Simon is also the name of sister's boyfriend, not confusing at all!) and we headed inside. Sadly the owner wasn't there as we wanted to see him but we still had a fabulous meal. I didn't eat much as I still wasn't really in the mood so I got a chicken tikka starter and tried a bit of my mum's and Sy's mains.
Some pics of dinner.
Once we were full to the brim we paid up and asked the restaurant to call us a taxi back to the hotel. The taxi was uber cheap at £6 as it was only down the road but it was too far to walk. We decided to have a drink in the hotel bar £19 for 6 drinks wasn't too bad for a hotel bar.
We only stayed for one drink before heading up to our rooms, we had to be up and moving in the morning and today had been a stressful day for us all so we were shattered.
I took a lying in bed selfie which I was promptly told was way inappropriate haha
We couldn't sleep for a while, we spent a lot of time talking about Wilbs, watching videos and looking at pictures of him, more tears were shed. We decided that we were going to put the pain on the back burner, we had planned for this trip for so long so we would make the most of it as much as we could, crying and being so upset wasn't going to bring him back after all
It was about 12:30am by the time we were drifting off to sleep, half feeling distressed still and half excited for our trip. It wasn't a nice feeling at all actually.
A tribute to my wonderful boy Wilbur, you may have only been with us 18 months but I loved you for a lifetime. Sleep well my boy.
x
