Back in October, we decided to give my cat of 15 years a bath, because she had this weird stuff we assumed was accumulated dust grossness and etc on her stomach that she wasn't cleaning.
It was her first bath ever and I think we broke her, she was terrified and when we took her out she was shaking like a leaf. I kept her warm until she dried by having her lie on top of me and wrapped with a heating pad.
The next day she was stumbling around like she was drunk and wasn't really going to the bathroom or eating. Occasionally she would wake up stumble off my bed to get some water, drink for like 5 minutes, then try to jump back on to my bed.
We kept thinking she would snap out of it so we didn't take her in until the 3rd day of no eating or pooping. My cat wasn't ever big, she never weighed more than about 5 pounds, and when the vet saw her she said that there was nothing they could do for her, and she didn't expect her to make it even another hour. My brother was about an hour away so we called him and told him to book it to the vet, so we could all be there with her. She made it the hour and then some. We had a while to say goodbye, and then they gave her a sedative so she would be asleep when they took her away from us to put her down. But it made her wake up (still don't know why) and she was in and out for another half hour, before she finally started to go. We told them to take her because we didn't want her to suffer anymore. But the way the vet threw the blanket over her head and yanked her out of my mom's arms I will never be able to forget. I understand that she needed to get it done at that second but she could have been more careful and considerate of us. I had that cat for a majority of my life.
It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, to come back home from the vet without her. I still feel like the bath triggered everything but it probably all stemmed from a preexisting kidney condition.
Losing a pet fucking sucks. Waking up and having her not be there with me is still heart wrenching, even though it's been a few months and I have gotten another cat. I would give literally anything to have her back.