We had to put down the family cat last night. :sigh:
Ricky had been with me most of my adult life. He was quite literally the runt of the litter – a friend of mine had found homes for all of her cat's other kittens, but no one wanted this skinny little cross-eyed thing, one eye clouded over, with a plaintive cry. Turns out he also had a congenital heart defect, and every vet who ever saw him figured he could just go at any time.
Well, he made it nearly 17 years.
A true companion, he was inquisitive and fiercely intelligent. From an early age, he could open almost any door or cabinet – or find a way around them - despite his poor vision. He was also a helluva mouser – with unbelievable patience, he managed to eradicate the mouse population of my first apartment building over a two year period. You can imagine the number of "trophies" I came home to (or worse, had to take away from him in the middle of the night and dispatch myself).
In later years, he took incredibly well to my new married family life, and quickly became the family pet. He particularly enjoyed it whenever anyone was home sick – many a time my wife would wake up to find him lying on her (an amusing image as she sleeps on her side).
He could handle almost any situation with aplomb. Whenever we had someone over to work on the house, Ricky would follow them around and "supervise" their work, often with his head cocked quizzically to one side.
The only exception to his great disposition was vet visits. A sweet, gentle thing home, he was an unholy terror in every vet clinic he entered. He wouldn't suffer manhandling – he became quite well known around the local office, where staff usually had to get the oven mitts out to handle him. A tough old bugger, he had a growl that could be heard a mile away.
His heart condition worsened recently, and we had just put him on heart medication hoping he could make it through the holidays. He was still feisty and had a good quality of life. But during the night, he threw a blood clot that paralyzed his hind quarters.
Fortunately, he was in our bedroom when it happened, and my wife is a light sleeper and awoke immediately. We managed to get him to a local 24-hr emergency clinic right away. Obviously in distress, they were able to make him comfortable and put him down quickly so he didn't suffer long. I'm just glad the service was available and we were able to get him there fast.
He will be missed by all who knew him!
Ricky had been with me most of my adult life. He was quite literally the runt of the litter – a friend of mine had found homes for all of her cat's other kittens, but no one wanted this skinny little cross-eyed thing, one eye clouded over, with a plaintive cry. Turns out he also had a congenital heart defect, and every vet who ever saw him figured he could just go at any time.
Well, he made it nearly 17 years.
A true companion, he was inquisitive and fiercely intelligent. From an early age, he could open almost any door or cabinet – or find a way around them - despite his poor vision. He was also a helluva mouser – with unbelievable patience, he managed to eradicate the mouse population of my first apartment building over a two year period. You can imagine the number of "trophies" I came home to (or worse, had to take away from him in the middle of the night and dispatch myself).
In later years, he took incredibly well to my new married family life, and quickly became the family pet. He particularly enjoyed it whenever anyone was home sick – many a time my wife would wake up to find him lying on her (an amusing image as she sleeps on her side).
He could handle almost any situation with aplomb. Whenever we had someone over to work on the house, Ricky would follow them around and "supervise" their work, often with his head cocked quizzically to one side.
The only exception to his great disposition was vet visits. A sweet, gentle thing home, he was an unholy terror in every vet clinic he entered. He wouldn't suffer manhandling – he became quite well known around the local office, where staff usually had to get the oven mitts out to handle him. A tough old bugger, he had a growl that could be heard a mile away.
His heart condition worsened recently, and we had just put him on heart medication hoping he could make it through the holidays. He was still feisty and had a good quality of life. But during the night, he threw a blood clot that paralyzed his hind quarters.
Fortunately, he was in our bedroom when it happened, and my wife is a light sleeper and awoke immediately. We managed to get him to a local 24-hr emergency clinic right away. Obviously in distress, they were able to make him comfortable and put him down quickly so he didn't suffer long. I'm just glad the service was available and we were able to get him there fast.
He will be missed by all who knew him!