Rascal was one of a litter of four females born in my laundry room May 4th 2008. She is my avatar pic (I don't know if I should change it now). She was full of adventure right away and decided at less then a week old, eyes not even open yet, that it was time to leave the nest and explore. Her mother was the supplier of milk so she had to go back to her, but I was who she wanted to be with. She would stay with her mother and sisters at night and if I was gone, but as soon as I came in the room she would wiggle her way out and over to me for cuddles.
As she grew she did out grow wanting to actually cuddle much, but would still want to be close to me sitting next to me or behind me on the back of my chair. At night if she came to bed with me she would sleep on me or above my head on my pillow. If I was eating she would often beg for food especially if I had yogurt or ice cream so I would often let her lick the container or bowl when I was done. She was also a talker, it was fairly common for her to have a running commentary going as she walked around the house, basically for no one in particular, just anyone that would listen. When it was time for the wet food meals she would be waiting on the cat tree next to the cat room door and if we walked by she would meow to let us know she is waiting. She may have been little but she could be loud when she wanted to and would swat at and bop any of the other cats on the head to make sure she got her share of the food.
She was always small and very thin (like her mother who passed away when she went to get spayed, her heart gave out), she never really ate a lot, but started to really lose weight when I switched to a cheaper adult food that was easier to get locally. I took her to a vet and it turned out she had an intolerance to soy and some sort of digestive issue that cause her to not produce enough enzymes in her gut to be able to digest very well, they would need to do more tests to try to figure it out better. The vet had never seen or heard of this issue before in cats so was stumped as to what to do, and they didn't think she would live that long, but really they had no idea. They gave me the option of either trying a higher calorie and protein diet, since she ate so little so the idea was if what she did eat was nutrient packed she might be able to get enough, or try supplements. Going with supplements would require more testing to figure out what to give and then likely regular blood tests to check the levels, so I went with the option of trying to figure out a diet that worked for her. It took some time and a bit of trial and error but eventually she was actually gaining weight. She would grow bored of food and I had to change it every so often, but once we figured it out for over 10 years she held her weight at about 6lb. She was still underweight at 6lb, but holding so I figured we had at least figured something out that seemed to be working. She would often leap and jump from furniture to furniture through the house, so I would joke that she is staying light to keep her flight weight. She always liked being up high and didn't spend much time on the floor if she could help it.
She started having some issues this year about a week or so into February, her hearing was going and so was her balance if she tried to move around too quickly, stumbling occasionally and missing jumps. She didn't want help though, if you tried to help her by picking her up to put her on a shelf she was trying to go to she would get mad and push you away. She wanted to do it herself even if that meant climbing up something to get were she wanted to rather then jumping up. Then mid February my husband and I both got sick with some sort of bad cold/flu, and although people say cats can't catch a cold or flu from humans the cats also started getting an URI about a week after we first got sick. Rascal's sister Shadow was one of the first to get sick and sadly ended up passing away after it turned into pneumonia (I wrote about her in another post). Rascal got sick too, not as bad but lost some weight during that time, but she was still getting around, and seemed to be getting better. She was still weak but her balance was improving, she preferred to be on the top of the cat trees, and she was even eating more, still small amounts at a time but wanting food more often. She as even back to climbing up my chair and trying to steal my food, so I was hopeful she was on her way back to normal.
Then on March 13th I woke up to find her laying on the floor next to the heater soaked in her own pee, breathing like she was out of breath, and acting like she didn't feel well at all. We got her into the vet that afternoon (not the same vet she saw for the digestive issues in the past) and after examining her he didn't seem to hopeful, but I wasn't ready to let her go, so he gave her some shots and meds for me to bring home with instructions to come back if there as no improvement with in a couple days. Unfortunately the next day she was still about the same, she did eat a little bit, but she was just so tired. About noon she started crying and stumbling around, so I scooped her up to try to comfort her and I cuddled with her for what turned out to be the last time as she passed away in my arms. She was gone within minutes, but it took me over an hour to calm down enough to wrapper her in a blanket and put her in a box.
She made it to just over 14 years 10 months, and seemed to be doing well until about a month before she passed, so not bad for a cat that "likely wouldn't live long", but it still wasn't long enough, I wasn't ready. I kind of think that might be why she passed at home, took the decision of when to let her go out of my hands. I have other cats, but some you just have an extra special bond with, she was my baby and I miss her so much.
I had her cremated, and will have the ashes home soon. I also had them do a clay paw print for me but I'm not sure how long that takes. It's sent away to a company that bakes and hand paints them, so it might be a few months.
![20230211_111332[1].jpg](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' width='300' height='400' viewBox%3D'0 0 300 400'%2F%3E "20230211_111332[1].jpg")
As she grew she did out grow wanting to actually cuddle much, but would still want to be close to me sitting next to me or behind me on the back of my chair. At night if she came to bed with me she would sleep on me or above my head on my pillow. If I was eating she would often beg for food especially if I had yogurt or ice cream so I would often let her lick the container or bowl when I was done. She was also a talker, it was fairly common for her to have a running commentary going as she walked around the house, basically for no one in particular, just anyone that would listen. When it was time for the wet food meals she would be waiting on the cat tree next to the cat room door and if we walked by she would meow to let us know she is waiting. She may have been little but she could be loud when she wanted to and would swat at and bop any of the other cats on the head to make sure she got her share of the food.
She was always small and very thin (like her mother who passed away when she went to get spayed, her heart gave out), she never really ate a lot, but started to really lose weight when I switched to a cheaper adult food that was easier to get locally. I took her to a vet and it turned out she had an intolerance to soy and some sort of digestive issue that cause her to not produce enough enzymes in her gut to be able to digest very well, they would need to do more tests to try to figure it out better. The vet had never seen or heard of this issue before in cats so was stumped as to what to do, and they didn't think she would live that long, but really they had no idea. They gave me the option of either trying a higher calorie and protein diet, since she ate so little so the idea was if what she did eat was nutrient packed she might be able to get enough, or try supplements. Going with supplements would require more testing to figure out what to give and then likely regular blood tests to check the levels, so I went with the option of trying to figure out a diet that worked for her. It took some time and a bit of trial and error but eventually she was actually gaining weight. She would grow bored of food and I had to change it every so often, but once we figured it out for over 10 years she held her weight at about 6lb. She was still underweight at 6lb, but holding so I figured we had at least figured something out that seemed to be working. She would often leap and jump from furniture to furniture through the house, so I would joke that she is staying light to keep her flight weight. She always liked being up high and didn't spend much time on the floor if she could help it.
She started having some issues this year about a week or so into February, her hearing was going and so was her balance if she tried to move around too quickly, stumbling occasionally and missing jumps. She didn't want help though, if you tried to help her by picking her up to put her on a shelf she was trying to go to she would get mad and push you away. She wanted to do it herself even if that meant climbing up something to get were she wanted to rather then jumping up. Then mid February my husband and I both got sick with some sort of bad cold/flu, and although people say cats can't catch a cold or flu from humans the cats also started getting an URI about a week after we first got sick. Rascal's sister Shadow was one of the first to get sick and sadly ended up passing away after it turned into pneumonia (I wrote about her in another post). Rascal got sick too, not as bad but lost some weight during that time, but she was still getting around, and seemed to be getting better. She was still weak but her balance was improving, she preferred to be on the top of the cat trees, and she was even eating more, still small amounts at a time but wanting food more often. She as even back to climbing up my chair and trying to steal my food, so I was hopeful she was on her way back to normal.
Then on March 13th I woke up to find her laying on the floor next to the heater soaked in her own pee, breathing like she was out of breath, and acting like she didn't feel well at all. We got her into the vet that afternoon (not the same vet she saw for the digestive issues in the past) and after examining her he didn't seem to hopeful, but I wasn't ready to let her go, so he gave her some shots and meds for me to bring home with instructions to come back if there as no improvement with in a couple days. Unfortunately the next day she was still about the same, she did eat a little bit, but she was just so tired. About noon she started crying and stumbling around, so I scooped her up to try to comfort her and I cuddled with her for what turned out to be the last time as she passed away in my arms. She was gone within minutes, but it took me over an hour to calm down enough to wrapper her in a blanket and put her in a box.
She made it to just over 14 years 10 months, and seemed to be doing well until about a month before she passed, so not bad for a cat that "likely wouldn't live long", but it still wasn't long enough, I wasn't ready. I kind of think that might be why she passed at home, took the decision of when to let her go out of my hands. I have other cats, but some you just have an extra special bond with, she was my baby and I miss her so much.
I had her cremated, and will have the ashes home soon. I also had them do a clay paw print for me but I'm not sure how long that takes. It's sent away to a company that bakes and hand paints them, so it might be a few months.
![20230211_111332[1].jpg](https://thecatsite.com/data/attachments/447/447012-e90d3ebf4059c6f885c3dd4b72bd6290.jpg "20230211_111332[1].jpg")
