Calico: RB

"Art Shapiro" wrote in message
...
It's pretty sad around here; my favorite cat Calico, only 14 1/2, had to
be put down last night. A couple weeks ago she got somewhat lethargic,
spending most of her time on one chair. She started drinking more and
more, and last weekend stopped eating. This didn't seem to be expected
given her thyroid condition. I give her Tapazole twice a day, or at
least hope she'll eat the food with the pill mashed into it, as Calico is
the cat that couldn't be picked up.

She spent the week in the hospital during the day and came home at night.
The vet found that one kidney was quite enlarged, as confirmed by an
ultrasound on Thursday. Sure enough, tests showed it was sudden kidney
failure, as the readings had been just slightly high a few months ago at
her yearly checkup. She had a heart murmur, which we had known for a
couple years, but had developed high blood pressure. The vet felt that it
was probably renal cancer, but the initial biopsy came back negative
yesterday.

She dropped weight quickly - the former 9 pound cat had been in the upper
7s this year, and was 5 pounds 2 ounces on Wednesday, and 4 pounds 6
ounces, skin and bones, on Friday. She would only eat when force-fed, but
was as happy as ever, purring away. We agreed there was nothing to be
done and said goodbye last night just before they closed, My housekeeper,
the Eerz lady you may remember, held her; I've never been able to do that.
Interestingly, Calico seemed to be happy for my wife's attention, whereas
she had virtually never gotten near my wife in all those years, usually
running away.

Aside from the one huge problem of not letting herself be picked up -
until (to my surprise) about the last three months of her life - she was a
magnificent cat. She was always extremely happy, purred constantly, and
was my constant companion in the house. I made her an indoor cat about 7
years ago, because I had to coax her inside at night (taking as long as
five hours) and it just got ridiculous. But it worked out well. The last
five years she loved to be under the covers at night. I've not had a
kitty for whom it was so blatantly obvious that she was delighted with her
life with us.

It had taken one entire year, almost to the day, before I could touch her
after she arrived. The remaining 13 1/2 years were a joy. I sure didn't
expect her to be the next to go, with Watermelon Man looking so old. It's
very sad.

Art


I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. You have my sympathy and purrs for
healing a broken heart.

Jill

Art Shapiro wrote:

It's pretty sad around here; my favorite cat Calico, only 14 1/2, had to
be put down last night. A couple weeks ago she got somewhat lethargic,
spending most of her time on one chair. She started drinking more and
more, and last weekend stopped eating. This didn't seem to be expected
given her thyroid condition. I give her Tapazole twice a day, or at
least hope she'll eat the food with the pill mashed into it, as Calico
is the cat that couldn't be picked up.

She spent the week in the hospital during the day and came home at
night. The vet found that one kidney was quite enlarged, as confirmed
by an ultrasound on Thursday. Sure enough, tests showed it was sudden
kidney failure, as the readings had been just slightly high a few months
ago at her yearly checkup. She had a heart murmur, which we had known
for a couple years, but had developed high blood pressure. The vet felt
that it was probably renal cancer, but the initial biopsy came back
negative yesterday.

She dropped weight quickly - the former 9 pound cat had been in the
upper 7s this year, and was 5 pounds 2 ounces on Wednesday, and 4 pounds
6 ounces, skin and bones, on Friday. She would only eat when force-fed,
but was as happy as ever, purring away. We agreed there was nothing to
be done and said goodbye last night just before they closed, My
housekeeper, the Eerz lady you may remember, held her; I've never been
able to do that. Interestingly, Calico seemed to be happy for my wife's
attention, whereas she had virtually never gotten near my wife in all
those years, usually running away.

Aside from the one huge problem of not letting herself be picked up -
until (to my surprise) about the last three months of her life - she was
a magnificent cat. She was always extremely happy, purred constantly,
and was my constant companion in the house. I made her an indoor cat
about 7 years ago, because I had to coax her inside at night (taking as
long as five hours) and it just got ridiculous. But it worked out well.
The last five years she loved to be under the covers at night. I've
not had a kitty for whom it was so blatantly obvious that she was
delighted with her life with us.

It had taken one entire year, almost to the day, before I could touch
her after she arrived. The remaining 13 1/2 years were a joy. I sure
didn't expect her to be the next to go, with Watermelon Man looking so
old. It's very sad.

I'm so sorry. You worked hard to help her accept human affection, and
it sounds like you were successful. I love the image of her sleeping under
the covers (with you?). Purrs for you and your family, including any of
her cat friends.

I see you're already looking into opening your house up to another
homeless cat (or in this case, a soon to be homeless cat). That's really
generous of you to be thinking about other animals that need a home when
you're in the middle of grieving. Good luck - I really hope that works out.

Joyce

On 07/30/2011 06:49 PM, Art Shapiro wrote:
On 7/30/2011 5:12 PM, MLB wrote:
I wasn't expecting to be sending those words for Calico and you have my
sincere sympathy. And now Watermelon Man seems to be getting ready to
join the others. I hope he doesn't suffer in his decline.

Actually, while he looks discouragingly old - I think he might be older
than the 16 we guess based on the vet's estimate of four when we got him
in 1999 - he is eating like a horse, is still up around 18 pounds, and
shows absolutely no significant ailments. He hasn't left the property in
years, unlike his earlier days, and other than hating Giovanni (just
like my wife and I do) is happy as could be.

Emma has turned into a quite pleasant member of the household. She's
perhaps a bit too much of an affection junkie, but otherwise is very
content living here and isn't the slightest problem. She was found to
have VERY high blood pressure and is on medicine twice a day. I have to
mix it with her food, as I've never had a more difficult cat to dose.
She still won't come in the bedroom, but anywhere else in the house
she's ready to get affection. I still think it was crummy of folks to
unload an eleven year old cat.

I've made inquiries today about a Craiglist Russian Blue about 20 miles
away. I've exchanged emails with the owner's roommate but not reached
him yet. Apparently it's an allergy issue. The cat is only one year old.

Art


Good luck in adopting the Russian Blue,. When I was about 10 years old. our across-the-street neighbors had a "blue" we called it a Maltese.
I loved that cat and visited it almost daily. She showed up at the
neighbor's door and asked to come in. She was very "heavy with kittens".
The father looked at her and said "gee wizz" what have we here?" Gee
Wizz became her name and she eventually was the mother of my first cat,
Frisky"

You are good to animals and people too. Best wishes. MLB

In article ,
Art Shapiro wrote:

It's pretty sad around here; my favorite cat Calico, only 14 1/2, had to
be put down last night. A couple weeks ago she got somewhat lethargic,
spending most of her time on one chair. She started drinking more and
more, and last weekend stopped eating. This didn't seem to be expected
given her thyroid condition. I give her Tapazole twice a day, or at
least hope she'll eat the food with the pill mashed into it, as Calico
is the cat that couldn't be picked up.
[gentle trim]

It had taken one entire year, almost to the day, before I could touch
her after she arrived. The remaining 13 1/2 years were a joy. I sure
didn't expect her to be the next to go, with Watermelon Man looking so
old. It's very sad.

I'm so, so sorry for your loss. When you're ready, I'd love to hear you
retell the stories of your good times together, as I'm sure there are so
many that I at least haven't heard. That way she can live on in all our
hearts.

Play hard at the Bridge, Calico.

-minnow

On Sat, 30 Jul 2011 19:43:57 -0400, "J J Levin"
wrote:

"Art Shapiro" wrote in message
...
It's pretty sad around here; my favorite cat Calico, only 14 1/2, had to
be put down last night. A couple weeks ago she got somewhat lethargic,
spending most of her time on one chair. She started drinking more and
more, and last weekend stopped eating. This didn't seem to be expected
given her thyroid condition. I give her Tapazole twice a day, or at
least hope she'll eat the food with the pill mashed into it, as Calico is
the cat that couldn't be picked up.

She spent the week in the hospital during the day and came home at night.
The vet found that one kidney was quite enlarged, as confirmed by an
ultrasound on Thursday. Sure enough, tests showed it was sudden kidney
failure, as the readings had been just slightly high a few months ago at
her yearly checkup. She had a heart murmur, which we had known for a
couple years, but had developed high blood pressure. The vet felt that it
was probably renal cancer, but the initial biopsy came back negative
yesterday.

She dropped weight quickly - the former 9 pound cat had been in the upper
7s this year, and was 5 pounds 2 ounces on Wednesday, and 4 pounds 6
ounces, skin and bones, on Friday. She would only eat when force-fed, but
was as happy as ever, purring away. We agreed there was nothing to be
done and said goodbye last night just before they closed, My housekeeper,
the Eerz lady you may remember, held her; I've never been able to do that.
Interestingly, Calico seemed to be happy for my wife's attention, whereas
she had virtually never gotten near my wife in all those years, usually
running away.

Aside from the one huge problem of not letting herself be picked up -
until (to my surprise) about the last three months of her life - she was a
magnificent cat. She was always extremely happy, purred constantly, and
was my constant companion in the house. I made her an indoor cat about 7
years ago, because I had to coax her inside at night (taking as long as
five hours) and it just got ridiculous. But it worked out well. The last
five years she loved to be under the covers at night. I've not had a
kitty for whom it was so blatantly obvious that she was delighted with her
life with us.

It had taken one entire year, almost to the day, before I could touch her
after she arrived. The remaining 13 1/2 years were a joy. I sure didn't
expect her to be the next to go, with Watermelon Man looking so old. It's
very sad.

Art


I'm truly sorry, Art.

Jay
I'm very sorry for your loss.

It is especially hard to lose a cat that loved you and much as you loved
her. They are somewhat rare, it seems.

Sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly fly the years,
One season following another,
Laden with happiness,
....and tears....

On 7/30/2011 7:18 PM, MLB wrote:


Good luck in adopting the Russian Blue,.

Looks like I have her. I was reluctant to drive around an unfamiliar
community in the dark, so the guy (seems like a surfer dude on the
phone) says tomorrow is fine, after I get back from cycling. He said
some "batty" ladies have been bugging him about the cat, but he finds
them unpleasant and wants me to have her.

BTW, with all the stress with Calico and Giovanni, this was, with one
exception, the first ride I missed in 13 years, aside from the rare
times being out of town. That one time three years ago I had my arm in
a sling after a severe crash, and both wheels were trashed. So I had to
skip one day. Today I just decided to unwind and tackle some gardening.
Watermelon did an excellent job supervising.

One thing I'm remembering about Calico is desperately trying to lure her
in at night in those early years, and putting a nice odoriferous bowl of
people tuna inside the front door, propped open with a stick with a
string running across the house to where I was hiding. When she'd
finally come apprehensively inside to the food, I'd yank the string and
the door would close, trapping her safely inside for the night. This
happened lots of times.

Art

On 31.7.2011 2:20, Art Shapiro wrote:
gentle snip

Aside from the one huge problem of not letting herself be picked up -
until (to my surprise) about the last three months of her life - she was
a magnificent cat. She was always extremely happy, purred constantly,
and was my constant companion in the house. I made her an indoor cat
about 7 years ago, because I had to coax her inside at night (taking as
long as five hours) and it just got ridiculous. But it worked out well.
The last five years she loved to be under the covers at night. I've not
had a kitty for whom it was so blatantly obvious that she was delighted
with her life with us.

It had taken one entire year, almost to the day, before I could touch
her after she arrived. The remaining 13 1/2 years were a joy. I sure
didn't expect her to be the next to go, with Watermelon Man looking so
old. It's very sad.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Purrs for your aching hearts.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

On 7/30/2011 11:23 PM, Art Shapiro wrote:
On 7/30/2011 7:18 PM, MLB wrote:


Good luck in adopting the Russian Blue,.

Looks like I have her. I was reluctant to drive around an unfamiliar
community in the dark, so the guy (seems like a surfer dude on the
phone) says tomorrow is fine, after I get back from cycling. He said
some "batty" ladies have been bugging him about the cat, but he finds
them unpleasant and wants me to have her.

BTW, with all the stress with Calico and Giovanni, this was, with one
exception, the first ride I missed in 13 years, aside from the rare
times being out of town. That one time three years ago I had my arm in a
sling after a severe crash, and both wheels were trashed. So I had to
skip one day. Today I just decided to unwind and tackle some gardening.
Watermelon did an excellent job supervising.

One thing I'm remembering about Calico is desperately trying to lure her
in at night in those early years, and putting a nice odoriferous bowl of
people tuna inside the front door, propped open with a stick with a
string running across the house to where I was hiding. When she'd
finally come apprehensively inside to the food, I'd yank the string and
the door would close, trapping her safely inside for the night. This
happened lots of times.

Art

That sounds like a familiar story - you may have posted it about her a
long time ago. But, as was already requested, if you're up to it I
would love to hear more about Calico (or any of your kitties, it's
seems all I can come up with lately is off-topic stuff).


--
Hugs,

CatNipped
See all our masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped

See the RPCA FAQ site, created by "Yowie", maintained by Mark Edwards, at:
http://www.professional-geek.net/rpcablog/

Email: L(dot)T(dot)Crews(at)comcast(dot)net

On 07/30/2011 10:23 PM, Art Shapiro wrote:
On 7/30/2011 7:18 PM, MLB wrote:


Good luck in adopting the Russian Blue,.

Looks like I have her. I was reluctant to drive around an unfamiliar
community in the dark, so the guy (seems like a surfer dude on the
phone) says tomorrow is fine, after I get back from cycling. He said
some "batty" ladies have been bugging him about the cat, but he finds
them unpleasant and wants me to have her.

BTW, with all the stress with Calico and Giovanni, this was, with one
exception, the first ride I missed in 13 years, aside from the rare
times being out of town. That one time three years ago I had my arm in a
sling after a severe crash, and both wheels were trashed. So I had to
skip one day. Today I just decided to unwind and tackle some gardening.
Watermelon did an excellent job supervising.

One thing I'm remembering about Calico is desperately trying to lure her
in at night in those early years, and putting a nice odoriferous bowl of
people tuna inside the front door, propped open with a stick with a
string running across the house to where I was hiding. When she'd
finally come apprehensively inside to the food, I'd yank the string and
the door would close, trapping her safely inside for the night. This
happened lots of times.

Art


What a movie that would make! I hope Giovanni will settle down and become a more likeable cat.
Does he along with the other cats at all? I don't remember if you had
him neutered. Does he ever come in the house? I hope the weather is
good for your bike ride. We have been promised (threatened) afternoon
thunder storms for the next several days.

On 7/30/2011 10:31 PM, MLB wrote:


What a movie that would make! I hope Giovanni will settle down and
become a more likeable cat.
Does he along with the other cats at all? I don't remember if you had
him neutered. Does he ever come in the house? I hope the weather is good
for your bike ride. We have been promised (threatened) afternoon thunder
storms for the next several days.

He was neutered after we took him in, but it really hasn't helped. He
sprays all over the house, and in fact nailed my wife a couple weeks
ago. Just a totally rotten cat. We're so sorry we took him in.

He pretty much ignores the others, although he got into a fight with
Watermelon on the bed in the middle of the night today. Then came the
usual howling fit all over the house, and he finally got back on the bed
and settled down for a couple hours.

He would stay outside all night every night if he could, although he
likes to come inside during the day.

It's quite overcast here, humid and bordering on drizzle. Off to the ride.

Art