April 15, 2008 - December 3, 2021
Alex was 2.5 years old when he came into my life, and we would be inseparable for the next 11 years. They say the cat chooses the person, and he definitely chose me.
He had a troubled start, being orphaned and malnourished as a young kitten because he was in a house where the person had died. He went through a few foster homes before finding his forever home with me. He was underdeveloped and had chronic upper respiratory infections (rhinitis), which he would have for his entire life despite aggressive treatment. Due to this, I wasn’t sure that he would even make it to 10 years old. I wanted to make the most of the time we had together, and he ended up being a spoiled cat, showered in love and attention.
Losing his mother early on, he didn’t really know how to interact with other cats and never learned a few normal cat behaviors. He didn’t groom himself, didn’t look out windows, and played differently than most cats. He rarely vocalized for the first few years that I had him, and when he did finally find his voice it was the sound I would expect from a much smaller cat. He never really meowed, it was more like a drawn out chirp with a trill at the end. It was a unique sound that I already miss hearing.
He had no real sense of personal space, either with people or other cats. Fortunately, our other cat (Nimbus) was very patient and gentle with him. Alex loved when we had visitors and would quickly make himself the center of attention. When I was at the computer or on the couch, he would often climb up onto my shoulder and instantly start purring. He loved to sleep on my pillow, next to my head.
His 10th birthday came and went. He was still sniffly, though we got better at managing his illness. Aside from the occasional flare-ups, and subsequent trips to the vet, things were good until shortly after he turned 12. He crashed hard, and the vet was advising euthanasia. We ended up taking him to another vet for a second opinion (this should highlight the value of a second opinion!). They put him on another medication, and he quickly bounced back from the edge. After various blood tests, there was no apparent cause for his crash, but we knew he was on borrowed time.
One of the few silver linings of all the lock-downs is that we spent a lot more time at home, and my wife was also working from home due to the pandemic. He loved all the extra attention he was getting and was doing very well. Someone in another post commented that they believed after a certain point, that cats are just running on love, and this certainly felt like the case for him. He went on like this for another year and a half.
Unfortunately, he started crashing the Monday after Thanksgiving and would not recover this time. I had actually taken the whole week off for Thanksgiving, planning to go visit non-local family, but ended up staying home. Of course most of that time was spent with our kitties.
The vet examined him and put him on some additional meds, which gave him another few good days, but his final crash would be the last. The diagnosis was one that we all dread: cancer. We promised him that we would fight alongside him so long as he wanted to fight, but that we would also let him go when he was ready. On that final evening, I set his carrier on the floor and opened the door. He walked from the other room right into it. Even though we weren't ready, he was ready to go. My wife and I agreed that further efforts would have been for us, rather than for his benefit, and we had him put to sleep. It was a truly heartbreaking decision, but watching my baby suffer would have been far worse.
He is at rest now and will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Thank you for providing this place to share Alex's life.
Alex was 2.5 years old when he came into my life, and we would be inseparable for the next 11 years. They say the cat chooses the person, and he definitely chose me.
He had a troubled start, being orphaned and malnourished as a young kitten because he was in a house where the person had died. He went through a few foster homes before finding his forever home with me. He was underdeveloped and had chronic upper respiratory infections (rhinitis), which he would have for his entire life despite aggressive treatment. Due to this, I wasn’t sure that he would even make it to 10 years old. I wanted to make the most of the time we had together, and he ended up being a spoiled cat, showered in love and attention.
Losing his mother early on, he didn’t really know how to interact with other cats and never learned a few normal cat behaviors. He didn’t groom himself, didn’t look out windows, and played differently than most cats. He rarely vocalized for the first few years that I had him, and when he did finally find his voice it was the sound I would expect from a much smaller cat. He never really meowed, it was more like a drawn out chirp with a trill at the end. It was a unique sound that I already miss hearing.
He had no real sense of personal space, either with people or other cats. Fortunately, our other cat (Nimbus) was very patient and gentle with him. Alex loved when we had visitors and would quickly make himself the center of attention. When I was at the computer or on the couch, he would often climb up onto my shoulder and instantly start purring. He loved to sleep on my pillow, next to my head.
His 10th birthday came and went. He was still sniffly, though we got better at managing his illness. Aside from the occasional flare-ups, and subsequent trips to the vet, things were good until shortly after he turned 12. He crashed hard, and the vet was advising euthanasia. We ended up taking him to another vet for a second opinion (this should highlight the value of a second opinion!). They put him on another medication, and he quickly bounced back from the edge. After various blood tests, there was no apparent cause for his crash, but we knew he was on borrowed time.
One of the few silver linings of all the lock-downs is that we spent a lot more time at home, and my wife was also working from home due to the pandemic. He loved all the extra attention he was getting and was doing very well. Someone in another post commented that they believed after a certain point, that cats are just running on love, and this certainly felt like the case for him. He went on like this for another year and a half.
Unfortunately, he started crashing the Monday after Thanksgiving and would not recover this time. I had actually taken the whole week off for Thanksgiving, planning to go visit non-local family, but ended up staying home. Of course most of that time was spent with our kitties.
The vet examined him and put him on some additional meds, which gave him another few good days, but his final crash would be the last. The diagnosis was one that we all dread: cancer. We promised him that we would fight alongside him so long as he wanted to fight, but that we would also let him go when he was ready. On that final evening, I set his carrier on the floor and opened the door. He walked from the other room right into it. Even though we weren't ready, he was ready to go. My wife and I agreed that further efforts would have been for us, rather than for his benefit, and we had him put to sleep. It was a truly heartbreaking decision, but watching my baby suffer would have been far worse.
He is at rest now and will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Thank you for providing this place to share Alex's life.