It all happened pretty quickly...it was barely six weeks from the first "hmm, he overshot the litter pan once", not even a month from "okay, that's become a pattern, time to call the vet".
He healed up well from the anal sac troubles, but his blood tests came back with some concerns. Then he kept losing weight no matter what we tried; at the end, he was down to barely five pounds from his usual nine. He had x-rays, abdominal and cardiac ultrasounds, steroids, all kinds of foods and treats; basically everything non-invasive and non-traumatic we could try.
It was cancer. We had hoped that appetite stimulant and heart meds for the murmur would help get his strength back up and give him better quality of life, but sadly no. The night before I said goodbye was a rough one for the poor little guy...I stayed up with him all night, gave him a warm lap to cuddle and soft pets any time he stirred. The next morning I made the call to the vet.
You guys know how I loved this cat. He was with me nearly thirteen years and we saw many different places, lives, loves, and losses together. He was a constant for me in some of the roughest times I've had and a connection to friends and family across miles and years.
He was a sweetheart who liked sitting in the shower with you, meowed annoyingly in the early morning hours, hobbled adorably with his missing paw yet ran like a cougar when he was after something, didn't care about most "people food" at all yet begged for piece of a Frito or Dorito. He was easy-going with anyone he met and amazingly non-finicky about food, litter, beds, toys.
He was an independent cat who still needed to be in the same room with you. He met you at the door when you came home and meowed until you brushed him, he cuddled in bed with you for a bit before deciding he'd rather sleep on the floor. He gave headbutts and demanded you scritch him, using that little claw on his partial paw to drag your hand to him. He would stretch up and paw at your knee until you picked him up, and and he would just hang out in your arms as you walked around the house. He would come over when I called his name and always wanted to be on my lap when I was on the computer.
He was a good cat and I will miss him.
