I finally had to put my Boris to sleep last week. He was almost 19 and had kidney disease. He had been going downhill recently, not eating well, not as active and not grooming. He also has had a recurrent bleeding area on his front paw for several years. He would start bleeding and leave a trail of bloody footprints around the house. Initially I took him to the doctor each time. They would say that they didn’t know why this was happening, that it didn’t look like a tumor and they would give him antibiotics and the bleeding would stop in a day and he would be fine for about three months. They said that the only option to fix it was to amputate his toe but they didn’t want to do that because of his kidneys.
I did take him to a veterinary dermatologist for a second opinion. She did a culture, treated him with antibiotics and said the only way to treat it would be to amputate the toe which they did not want to do with his kidney disease. I did try daily cleansing with antibacterial wipes and topical antibiotics but that did nothing. So I have been going along for a few years, just having to clean up a crime scene every 3 months or so.
He had a physical in May, and had lost about half a pound but everything else was OK. About three weeks ago he had another bleeding episode but it wouldn’t stop. He would be fine for a day then start bleeding again. I took him to the vet and he had lost another pound. They gave him an appetite stimulant which initially helped but he just got worse and spent most of his time lying in his basket. When he stopped even going downstairs I knew I had to take him in. The vet was great and he went peacefully.
Now I have a cleaning guy who comes every other week to do the heavy stuff like vacuuming the stairs. He has been trying to clean up the blood from the carpet. I have been taking care of the hardwoods. Anyway, Boris’ basket and pillows were all stained with blood. In addition, everything was caked with fur. I left a message for the cleaning guy that he could throw out the stained things, like the basket and pillows, as well as the litter box which was cracking at the edge. I said not to throw away other things like the cat tree. I also figured that any extra cat litter could be donated or used for traction in the snow. (I had about four unopened boxes).
Anyway, I came home to find the cat tree in the garage and everything else gone. He had thrown out every cat toy, every cat dish, and even the brushes. I was using measuring cups to measure the food and they were gone too. It was if he was trying to completely erase Boris. I thought that one day I might have more cats but it was as if the universe was telling me that I wouldn’t have any more. It was literally hundreds of dollars worth of things like cat fountains, grooming supplies and litter that I could have used for another kitty.
Anyway, having everything gone makes me miss him more. He was my smart kitty. I always had to close all doors so he wouldn’t hide in a closet or a bathroom and accidentally get shut in. He also ate plastic so I became super careful about leaving anything plastic out. If you took your eyes off a plastic bag or anything wrapped in plastic, he would be chewing big holes in it.
He was not a lap kitty but he liked scratches behind the ears and would snuggle his head into your hand so you could scritch him the right way. He always walked up the stairs two stairs ahead of my so I could pet him while walking up the stairs without having to bend down. He was an expert at avoiding being picked up or put in the carrier. Unlike his sister Natasha, he could not be bribed with food. If you fed him at the wrong time, he would get suspicious and carefully position himself near an escape route.
I had him since he was about 7 weeks old. He was my Boris, my Bor Bor, Sir Fuzzbutt or VomitKitty. I think coming home to find everything gone really made it hit me hard that I don’t have any more kitties. I can leave doors open, and plastic bags on the counter and I won’t have to worry. I can dump spare change on the counter without worrying that he will eat another penny.
Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. I will see if I can link a picture. These are:
What I wish he always looked like
What he usually looked like
Darth Kitty (dermatologist put a muzzle on him)
