Kitty 4/04-4/8/08
At about 12:50 yesterday I prepared a syringe feeding for Kitty. I went into his room and gently picked him up from where he was stretched out on the floor and set him on a towel on the bed. I had just set the syringe into his mouth when he started gasping. I set the instrument aside and stroked him while still supporting his head in my other hand. He gasped again and I thought, “Oh no! I need to get him to the ER, he’s dying!” I let his head lay down on my hand and kept talking to him. He shuddered once and that was it.
He first showed up here back in spring of 2005. Charlie noticed him first.
He thought our Salem Moon had gotten outside and tried to pick him up and bring him in. He was bitten for his troubles and I teased him about it. “What, all black cats look alike to you?” I laughed. The following week I was bitten trying to drag what I thought was Salem out from under a shrub in the front yard.
We had no more room for animals and tried to find somebody who might want this handsome boy. I fed and watered “Mimic” on the front porch. Mimic didn’t like his name and wouldn’t come for it. We tried several others, but the only name he would ever answer to was Kitty. When winter came I made an insulated place for Kitty to sleep and filled it with thermal blankets. One day I came home and he ran up to all agitated. I asked him why he wasn’t sleeping in his nice warm box and kept looking at the box. Somehow he had gotten the insulation inside all bunched up and the blanket was way up and he couldn’t get it…. so I went to push the blanket down and something moved underneath! I picked up a corner to find a little possum! The little guy moved out after about a week, but poor Kitty!
He lived on the porch until the following spring when he showed up with his eye splayed open. I took him to the vet and dropped him off for treatment and to be neutered. We had been saving up to have him fixed, it’s just some one or other of our animals would get sick and need the money and so we had put it off. The vet’s office called me before I had even gotten home. “He has Feline Leukemia. Do you still want us to neuter him?” I said, “He’s only about two years old and otherwise healthy. Yes, neuter him, treat the eye and we will figure something out.”
You can get a false positive on a Feline Leukemia ELISA/Snap test. No animal should EVER be euthed because of one positive. We planned to save up for the more expensive test that would be sent to a laboratory. However, this test would cost about $350…so it was going to be a while when other animals needed dentals, and vaccines and medicines.
Feline Leukemia (FelV) is contagious through sharing food & water and litter boxes. We put him in our spare bathroom. When I cleaned his box/room, I would pick up all the food and water bowls in the house and let him run a bit. I called it Kitty running his laps. He wasn’t aggressive in any way with the other cats and he was so big they left him alone too.
We fed him mostly canned food, because the FelV cats tend to develop kidney issues and canned is easier on their systems. He did get Chef's Blend from time to time not only because he liked it, but helped firm up his litter box leavings.
When Woody appeared on the scene in 2007 needing isolation we moved Kitty to the Spare Bedroom to live with Lou, our rock dove. It was a better arrangement for Kitty as he had a companion, a window, a bed and roommates every time somebody came to visit. Kitty was thriving! He weighed at least 16 pounds, his coat was glossy and he was bright-eyed and active. He did not look like a sick cat at all.
My brother visited the last Sunday in March. Kitty enjoyed sharing “his” bed with him. Tuesday Kitty ate his breakfast but not his dinner. When he didn’t eat at all on Wednesday, I took him to the earliest vet appointment on Thursday. He tested anemic…assuring us that he did indeed have FelV. The rest is here on the journal…( 4/5 & vet visit/update)
Lou was squawking as he passed and now she doesn’t want to come out of her cage, even if you leave the door open. I’m sure Lou’s namesake, my friend Louise, came for Kitty and is taking care of him for me now.
Safe journey, Kitty. You were loved and are still loved…
Kitty under the Butterfly Bush in August 2005
Close up of Kitty relaxing in the sunshine on the porch
Peeking through the door of his "first room". "Hey, whatcha' doin'?" His eyes were green, I don't know why they sometimes look yellow in pictures.
A good picture of Kitty, but not of me. This was taken 12/06 and you can see how BIG he was.
There are a few more pictures. I would swear there should be more, but if there are, I cannot find them. I've never been good about labeling the pix I load into the computer.
He first showed up here back in spring of 2005. Charlie noticed him first.
He thought our Salem Moon had gotten outside and tried to pick him up and bring him in. He was bitten for his troubles and I teased him about it. “What, all black cats look alike to you?” I laughed. The following week I was bitten trying to drag what I thought was Salem out from under a shrub in the front yard.
We had no more room for animals and tried to find somebody who might want this handsome boy. I fed and watered “Mimic” on the front porch. Mimic didn’t like his name and wouldn’t come for it. We tried several others, but the only name he would ever answer to was Kitty. When winter came I made an insulated place for Kitty to sleep and filled it with thermal blankets. One day I came home and he ran up to all agitated. I asked him why he wasn’t sleeping in his nice warm box and kept looking at the box. Somehow he had gotten the insulation inside all bunched up and the blanket was way up and he couldn’t get it…. so I went to push the blanket down and something moved underneath! I picked up a corner to find a little possum! The little guy moved out after about a week, but poor Kitty!
He lived on the porch until the following spring when he showed up with his eye splayed open. I took him to the vet and dropped him off for treatment and to be neutered. We had been saving up to have him fixed, it’s just some one or other of our animals would get sick and need the money and so we had put it off. The vet’s office called me before I had even gotten home. “He has Feline Leukemia. Do you still want us to neuter him?” I said, “He’s only about two years old and otherwise healthy. Yes, neuter him, treat the eye and we will figure something out.”
You can get a false positive on a Feline Leukemia ELISA/Snap test. No animal should EVER be euthed because of one positive. We planned to save up for the more expensive test that would be sent to a laboratory. However, this test would cost about $350…so it was going to be a while when other animals needed dentals, and vaccines and medicines.
Feline Leukemia (FelV) is contagious through sharing food & water and litter boxes. We put him in our spare bathroom. When I cleaned his box/room, I would pick up all the food and water bowls in the house and let him run a bit. I called it Kitty running his laps. He wasn’t aggressive in any way with the other cats and he was so big they left him alone too.
We fed him mostly canned food, because the FelV cats tend to develop kidney issues and canned is easier on their systems. He did get Chef's Blend from time to time not only because he liked it, but helped firm up his litter box leavings.
When Woody appeared on the scene in 2007 needing isolation we moved Kitty to the Spare Bedroom to live with Lou, our rock dove. It was a better arrangement for Kitty as he had a companion, a window, a bed and roommates every time somebody came to visit. Kitty was thriving! He weighed at least 16 pounds, his coat was glossy and he was bright-eyed and active. He did not look like a sick cat at all.
My brother visited the last Sunday in March. Kitty enjoyed sharing “his” bed with him. Tuesday Kitty ate his breakfast but not his dinner. When he didn’t eat at all on Wednesday, I took him to the earliest vet appointment on Thursday. He tested anemic…assuring us that he did indeed have FelV. The rest is here on the journal…( 4/5 & vet visit/update)
Lou was squawking as he passed and now she doesn’t want to come out of her cage, even if you leave the door open. I’m sure Lou’s namesake, my friend Louise, came for Kitty and is taking care of him for me now.
Safe journey, Kitty. You were loved and are still loved…
Kitty under the Butterfly Bush in August 2005
Close up of Kitty relaxing in the sunshine on the porch
Peeking through the door of his "first room". "Hey, whatcha' doin'?" His eyes were green, I don't know why they sometimes look yellow in pictures.
A good picture of Kitty, but not of me. This was taken 12/06 and you can see how BIG he was.
There are a few more pictures. I would swear there should be more, but if there are, I cannot find them. I've never been good about labeling the pix I load into the computer.