Smokey: 2010 - 2012
Smokey: 2010 - 2012
Brenda has always wanted a Meezer, so when the local vet had a litter of Siamese kittens, she jumped at this little guy:
He started out as a tiny little thing that smelled like a hickory-smoked barbecue, which is why we named him Smokey. The scent faded over time, but the name stuck. Smokey started out as a sleepy little kitty. He could sleep just about anywhere, at any time. he didn't meow like a regular Siamese. He had a little chittering cheep, and when you picked him up and turned him on his back, he would go limp and sound a little like Perry the Platypus. he was a very unusual cat indeed.
He was very limber and could curl his tail into a prehensile curlicue. I wish I had a picture of that amazing tail.
And he loved to cuddle.
He liked to sit on my printer/scanner, so I resorted to putting a pillow on it to keep the hair out.
We also found out something else. Smokey was an amazing cat, he was full of boundless energy and quite the athlete. Even as a kitten, we found he could jump very high and would play until he ended up panting on the floor. By the time he was fully grown, Smokey could jump over 6 feet straight up in the air. If we put a toy on top of a bookcase, he would pace a little, gauging the height, then leap up, snagging the edge of the bookcase, then haul himself up. No place was safe from his climbing and leaping skills.
http://jaderb.org/images/Smokey/Smokey_at_play.AVI
http://jaderb.org/images/Smokey/Smokey_loved_to_play.AVI
Smokey also liked to play games. He had this little trick where he would take one of his toys and tried to see if he could get it under my desk without my noticing. if I turned and looked at him, he would drop the toy and act innocent. And when I turned away, he would pick it up and sneak it closer. If he saw me turning, he would drop the toy just outside my reach, knowing I would grab it and toss it farther way, or someplace high, where he would have to jump at it. You can see one of his toys in the picture of him under my desk. Ah, success!
As you can see, his colors darkened as he matured. He was a beautiful cat.
Smokey loved to try to escape outside, only to be lured out from under the porch with jingle toys and laser pointers. We did try to make him king of the jungle on the porch, since we didn't allow our cats to go outdoors.
He liked finding hidey holes for himself.
Smokey also loved being with the other kitties.
Well, except maybe Spot. But then, Spot was the new kitten, and wanted to play and chase the others, and he would chase Smokey around the house until Smokey would get into a hissy-fit.
Maybe we should have noticed that Smokey would sometimes become tired and pant after a hard time at play, or when Spot chased him around. But we chalked it up to his going all-out when he did things.
The first sign we saw that something wasn't right was last Monday. I noticed that he had been spending a lot of time on the porch in a particular spot. It seemed OK as the cats tend to go out to enjoy the afternoon sun and snooze away the day. After all, they're cats. But something didn't look right with Smokey. I brought him into the main room, where I had the A/C going and tried to cool him off and give him water. When Brenda got in, I gave him a piece of chicken, one of his most favorite foods. Just a couple of days ago, he was wrestling with the other cats to snag as many pieces as possible. Instead, he walked away from it, and plopped down by my computer chair. Then went back out to the porch and sagged down.
Concerned, Brenda and I called the vet and asked to bring him in. It was about 6 PM. We brought him in, and the vet did some exams. he was a bit dehydrated, and his blood cell count was up. He was running a fever. She gave him an IV and after awhile sent us home. About 10 PM, with a bit of the IV fluid left and Smokey trying to move around and pull it out, I removed the IV. He wandered away and I noticed him a short time later, back on the porch with a dark pool under him. He had licked around the IV point and got it to bleeding. We bandaged him up and kept him in the bedroom overnight. He was so very subdued.
The next morning, we took him back over to the vet and explained what happened. This time, his temperature was 95 degrees. Dangerously low. She gave him a warmed IV and took another blood sample to send out. She told us to go home and she would call us later to pick him up. Later, she called us and told us Smokey had taken a turn for the worse. He was panting as if he couldn't breathe. She tried to get him on oxygen and said his lungs were filling with fluid. She called the regional pet hospital, about an hour away, and told us we needed to take him there. They could then put him in an oxygen tend and drain the fluid.
We got him in the car (IV still attached) and took off. At 8 PM the traffic was a bit heavy, and it took a bit longer than expected. It didn't matter. Less than 5 minutes out, Smokey stopped breathing. We got into the parking lot, grabbed the carrier, and ran in. They were expecting us, and I told them he had stopped breathing, although his body was still warm. They took him upstairs into the ICU and tried to resuscitate him. It was too late. His heart had quit.
Smokey had a big heart, and sadly, looking at the X-Rays, the doctor said he had an enlarged heart, as well. It appears he was born with it, and between the exertion and the heat, it couldn't pump anymore. We left for home, heartbroken. Our amazing little Meezer had lived a a short life, but perhaps he knew his time was short, for he tried to pack as much into it as possible.
I hope that when he goes on to the next place, he finds a lot of tall trees to jump into, birds to chitter at, and a lot of tall grass he can sleep in. He will truly be missed.
