The end is near.

Pika's behavior has changed in the last few days. He is sleeping much more than usual and when we look for him he tends to be in closets or other secluded spots.  To me, this says that he's in pain.  He also doesn't appear interested in food anymore, and for him that is huge.  I scooped him up last night so I could get a weight and wasn't happy with the result, he has dropped from 13.5 lbs down to 11.5 lbs.  I'm afraid the end is near.  After work this afternoon I'm going to swing by the vet's office and pick up some buprenorphine, an opiate analgesic.  We hope to give him a happy, pain-free long weekend but I'm going to make an appointment to take him in on Tuesday to release him from his pain.  It will be a very sad day, I wish I could have done more.