Friday, September 30
Well, sadly, we had to put our one male cat, Bob, to sleep this morning.
He was also the oldest of our three cats. We knew he was terminally ill. He had a tumor under his tongue, first discovered during the late spring. Over the last few months, his tongue has been swelling, getting disfigured (and starting to visibly peek out of the side of his mouth), but also its been, basically, starting to deteriorate and necrotize.
But, Bob still had frequent moments of liveliness and animation, especially when we fed him. But the damage that was happening to his tongue affected his ability to feed himself. About a month ago, he began go up to his food bowl and just stare at it. So we started blending his food and that seemed to do the trick. We'd mix some canned food from the vet that was higher in nutrients, and also add either chicken breast or tuna, add a packet of some FancyFeast Broth (a "cat gourmet complement"), some chicken gravy and a bit of water and blend it all up. The last couple weeks we've been feeding him like a baby with a plastic syringe because his tongue simple wasn't cooperating. We'd go back and forth about his quality of life, but he always seemed animated around feeding time, so we thought it wasn't time yet. But he definitely had been losing weight. He was our biggest cat and he used to be around 9 lbs, but the last couple times we went to the vet, he was under 6 lbs.
But, Bob still had frequent moments of liveliness and animation, especially when we fed him. But the damage that was happening to his tongue affected his ability to feed himself. About a month ago, he began go up to his food bowl and just stare at it. So we started blending his food and that seemed to do the trick. We'd mix some canned food from the vet that was higher in nutrients, and also add either chicken breast or tuna, add a packet of some FancyFeast Broth (a "cat gourmet complement"), some chicken gravy and a bit of water and blend it all up. The last couple weeks we've been feeding him like a baby with a plastic syringe because his tongue simple wasn't cooperating. We'd go back and forth about his quality of life, but he always seemed animated around feeding time, so we thought it wasn't time yet. But he definitely had been losing weight. He was our biggest cat and he used to be around 9 lbs, but the last couple times we went to the vet, he was under 6 lbs.
Wednesday night he had a particularly bad bleeding episode (he'd occasionally bite his tongue and there would be some temporary bleeding in the past) and after taking him to the vet yesterday, the vet discovered that Bob's tongue had developed gangrene.
We knew this day was coming.
We brought him home for one more night. He used to habitually find me sleeping on the couch and immediately jump up on me and sleep on my chest. Last night when I went to bed, I brought him over from the kitchen and he spent some time on me again for a couple hours.
During the summer we'd occasionally go up to Canada on the weekends and we got into the habit of bringing him up with us not only to watch over him, but because he started perking up being the sole cat. Trips to Canada soon became trips to the "Cat Spa."
(In case you're wondering what our other cats, Velvet and Pixie, were doing back home, we'd leave them a debit card, take-out menus and numbers for local eateries (like Meowlinaro's*), and a stack of DVDs... although judging from my computer history, I think they just liked to surf the net and leave snarky comments on TMZ...).
We knew this day was coming.
We brought him home for one more night. He used to habitually find me sleeping on the couch and immediately jump up on me and sleep on my chest. Last night when I went to bed, I brought him over from the kitchen and he spent some time on me again for a couple hours.
During the summer we'd occasionally go up to Canada on the weekends and we got into the habit of bringing him up with us not only to watch over him, but because he started perking up being the sole cat. Trips to Canada soon became trips to the "Cat Spa."
(In case you're wondering what our other cats, Velvet and Pixie, were doing back home, we'd leave them a debit card, take-out menus and numbers for local eateries (like Meowlinaro's*), and a stack of DVDs... although judging from my computer history, I think they just liked to surf the net and leave snarky comments on TMZ...).
Bob used to always be the alpha male, comparatively speaking. The dynamic changed so much when he got ill. He sometimes used to be an occasional bully to Pixie. But when he got ill, I think he started feeling vulnerable, and the change in dynamics made an impact on him emotionally. Over the course of this summer we wondered if he was actually suffering from some sort of depression when he came back to our house after being the solitary cat for two or three days. This past weekend (Sept 23-25) he really sacked out on me while I slept. At one point, I was sleeping on my stomach and I woke up with this dead purring weight on my neck, and I realized he was draped across it like a yoke.
Bob's trademark was his stoicism. He tolerated more-or-less whatever you did to him (giving him medicine, cutting his nails, giving him a bath which we had to do numerous times in the recent weeks because his attempts at cleaning himself actually made his fur messier because his drool was more copious and ever-present and let's leave it at that...). He'd look at you sort of wide-eyed and with his heart rate going up a bit but he'd take it quietly, along with trips to the vet and their examinations. UNLIKE our chubby, neckless calico, Pixie, who acts like you're trying to skin her when you simply want to trim her nails.
Bob's trademark was his stoicism. He tolerated more-or-less whatever you did to him (giving him medicine, cutting his nails, giving him a bath which we had to do numerous times in the recent weeks because his attempts at cleaning himself actually made his fur messier because his drool was more copious and ever-present and let's leave it at that...). He'd look at you sort of wide-eyed and with his heart rate going up a bit but he'd take it quietly, along with trips to the vet and their examinations. UNLIKE our chubby, neckless calico, Pixie, who acts like you're trying to skin her when you simply want to trim her nails.
He was purring as they gave him the injections this morning, and he went very quickly after that, settling down as if to sleep and then he was gone. Bon voyage, Bob. You'll be missed, you little nazi ghost cat (it was a stupid joke of mine: he was white (like a ghost) with some black spots and he had a bit of a black mustache, like Hitler).
Anyway, I hope his full spirit has been restored.
It's nice to think that Bob's hooking up with Kody. Our cat Kodiak, a grey tiger cat, passed away two summers ago, and he and Bob hit it off. Bob sometimes would even groom him.
It's nice to think that Bob's hooking up with Kody. Our cat Kodiak, a grey tiger cat, passed away two summers ago, and he and Bob hit it off. Bob sometimes would even groom him.
And wouldn't it be nice if my mom happens to be around, too...
*Lockport residents will understand this hysterical cat pun of a local Italian restaurant!
