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Jake got his purr back
Hope nobody minds me posting this. It seems kind of strange replying
to a posting after 9 years, but I think it may be cathartic ... You can find the original thread, from Aug 2003, he http://groups.google.com/group/rec.p...c2db4470b8be18 Jake is a cat my parents owned, and I would look after during their frequent trips away. Both he and his little sister Chloe where adults when they left the rescue shelter, so it's hard to know exactly when they were born, but Jake must be at least 12. When I asked for help all those years ago, Jake had gone from trusting, playful and intelligent to aloof and somewhat lethargic; most notably his purr had dropped from almost deafening down to permanently off. This was shortly after being used as target practice by somebody with a pellet gun. In the intervening years I've spent a lot of time with Jake, when I've had the opportunity, and although he maintained the habit of never looking me in the eye, and still didn't like spending too much time in my parent's house (he preferred his various holiday homes scattered throughout the neighbourhood), I'm glad to report he did get back a little bit of his playfulness. And he eventually started purring again when stroked, although it was a long slow process. Well, as you've probably guessed, Jake is getting old now. In recent months he'd started to put on weight, and I'd noticed he was having trouble cleaning the fur along his spine (he always kept his fur immaculate) so I knew old age was taking its toll. When I saw him in July I noticed he'd really ballooned up in size, so I knew he wasn't exercising -- I even teased him that he'd have to go on a diet. Then I saw him last week and he was skin and bones; that kind of weight loss in just a few weeks is not good! I told my father to take him to the vet, but it wasn't until one of the neighbours offered to take him that Dad made an appointment. It was Cancer, of course. Apparently there had been no warning of it when Jake was last checked over in June -- given the pace at which it must have spread, the kindest option was to let Jake go now. Dad did the sensible thing. Of course when I found out (yesterday) I was choked, and my mind wandered back over the times I'd looked after him, and I realised I'd been very privileged to have known such a character. Then I remembered the posting on this forum -- I tried to recall how I'd described 3 year old Jake in that message. Google (as they say) certainly was my friend, and when I read the message it brought back a lot of happy memories. I umm'd and arrr'd over whether to post an update -- I mean, after 9 years nobody is going to care(!!) But I thought it might help deaden the pain a little to tell you all that Jake got his purr back, and although he was never quite the same cat as when I first knew him, he certainly had his moments... The last memory I have of Jake is him curled up in my parent's kitchen. The weight loss had the silver lining of him being able to reach to clean his back properly, and I complimented him on how lovely his fur now was. I stroked him, and he immediately purred very loud. He purred just like he did when he was young. So in a few days time my parents are off on their travels again, and this time it will just be Chloe who needs looking after. Not sure how I'll cope, it will be strange indeed not having to trawl the street to find him (he rarely managed to organise his diary to be at the house when I was, and always liked to keep me waiting!) But I have a lot of happy memories, including (in a rather unexpected way) the comments I posted about youthful Jake on this group all those years ago. Thanks for listening, Simon |
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