Kaylee Tamika Remington
This picture was taken 8 days ago on the 16th. She seemed a little listless but otherwise her normal cheerful self.
This morning, she died at the Rock Road Animal Hospital after being almost completely unable to breathe due to a massive tumor in her chest cavity. She had feline Leukemia.
When I first met her, she was in a cage at a 2nd chance animal shelter. This was just a little over a year ago. She was among several cats we were considering for adoption, and she had been there for a long time, just living in that cage. When I walked over to her cage, she reached her paws out and latched onto my sleeve, as if to say "Please hold me. I like you, mister. Can we be friends?"
I took her out and held her, and she was the sweetest little thing I had ever seen. She latched onto mu shoulder and laid her head down on it, purring, as if she knew me beforehand and was so happy to see me. When I put her away in her cage, intending to go hold another cat, she reached out and grabbed my shirt from behind with her claws, not wanting me to go away. She was saying "No, I liked it when you held me. Please hold me for the rest of my life!"
And so I did.
She was so darling. She would only like being petted on her own terms, though. If she did not want attention, she would shy away from being petted. But I was her favorite, and many times a day, she would come and demand my complete attention, pulling me away from what I was doing, especially at my computer.
She was the boss cat in the house, and our other two cats Kai and Mei Mei knew it. Kaylee totally had the run of the place! And rightly so. When she puffed up her bushy tail and arched her back, the other cats knew she was the dominant one. But it's not like she bullied them. She just kept them in line.
A few days ago, I noticed her wheezing, and thought it was just her allergies. She had suffered sinus allergies the prior year, so I had thought nothing of her current wheezing. However, as the days progressed, it came to a head the night before last. I told my mom that she seemed strange, and was wheezing a lot. And she had been throwing up more than usual, we had noticed that, too.
Mom said she seemed fine yesterday morning when she left for work. When I came home from work, I didn't even notice she wasn't around, because she did have her aloof moments when she just slept in the basement on some stacked boxes. She liked it down there.
But later int he night, I couldn't find her, and looked around. I eventually found her in the basement, wheezing for air, lying in a crate. I think her intention was to die there, honestly. She knew her time had come.
We took her to the overnight emergency animal hospital, and they took xrays of her chest. She had a giant mass in her chest that was pressing her windpipe and esophagus up and basically cutting off her ability to breath and eat. Her lungs were pushed back and overextended because the air she got in, she was having trouble getting out. Her digestive system was completely empty - who knows how long it had been since she had actually eaten instead of just trying and throwing up. The lady there said that it was either a tumor or fluid, and would run tests overnight. We all went home, hoping it was fluid. I knew in the back of my mind that it wasn't.
Mom apparently got a call on her cell phone overnight that Kaylee tested positive for feline Leukemia, so chances are it was a tumor. We went to the hospital, took Kaylee to her normal vet, and the vet was honestly shocked that Kaylee was still alive. The tumor was so huge it was compressing her heart and lungs back. The vet advised euthanasia, and we agreed.
I held her in my arms, and bless her heart, despite her weakness and inability to breath easily, she still climbed up my chest and laid her head on my shoulder. My little angel kitty. Even now, remembering that, I just break down a little bit. She died being held the way that she loved the most. I hope her last moments were comforting. She seemed so happy that I was holding her and petting her.
I know she was happy to see me one last time.
She will be missed.