- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #81
Black Kitty says Happy New Year to everyone!
Last edited:
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
What's Wrong With This Cat? I'm New. Long Story.
- Thread starter alphagrrl
- Start Date
- Status
Looks like Black Kitty is having a happy time - those videos just put a huge grin on my face and it won't go away.
Thank you for this update and thank you for taking Black Kitty in to your home and transforming his life. It is wonderful to see him so happy and healthy now.
Love this thread! Black Kitty is a very special cat.
I just love hearing updates on Black Kitty. He is so happy, content and loved. Please keep us up to date.
AND HAPPY NEW year to Blackie!!!
Just read this thread from beginning to end. What lovely story! Black Kitty is a beautiful boy and it's wonderful to see him so happy in his home. [emoji]128149[/emoji]
Aww, Black Kitty playing is so cute. he looks amazing, you've done a great job with him.
Happy New Year Black Kitty
Happy New Year Black Kitty
There is something cats love to play with. That's the ear buds. Something everybody has in the house. Mine go mad for them especially my street cat.
You need to buy him a scratching post and a climbing frame. There is something for sharpening their claws as well as the
scratching post. It's a box with cardboard and catnip inside. The cardboard is set up in a way that the cat scratches it to sharpen their claws. It's very inexpensive and I'd buy more than one to try and save your furniture. It's a shame you didn't get the vet show you how to trim claws. You'll need to know that. When your ready there are plenty of people here to advice you. Meanwhile play with his paws so he'll get used to you touching his paws and pads.
You said you let him out for half an hour. IMO that was wrong. He has to learn he is only a house cat now. Supposing he'd run away? Inside, yes yes. Outside, no no.
I think you are pretty wonderful with all you've done for this beautiful kitty. Thank you. It shows what sort of person you are.
It's easy to become a cat lady without losing your love for dogs.
My thoughts are with you.
You need to buy him a scratching post and a climbing frame. There is something for sharpening their claws as well as the
scratching post. It's a box with cardboard and catnip inside. The cardboard is set up in a way that the cat scratches it to sharpen their claws. It's very inexpensive and I'd buy more than one to try and save your furniture. It's a shame you didn't get the vet show you how to trim claws. You'll need to know that. When your ready there are plenty of people here to advice you. Meanwhile play with his paws so he'll get used to you touching his paws and pads.
You said you let him out for half an hour. IMO that was wrong. He has to learn he is only a house cat now. Supposing he'd run away? Inside, yes yes. Outside, no no.
I think you are pretty wonderful with all you've done for this beautiful kitty. Thank you. It shows what sort of person you are.
It's easy to become a cat lady without losing your love for dogs.
My thoughts are with you.
Last edited by a moderator:
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #89
I hate having to tell you all now that this will be THE LAST UPDATE. I LOST MY BEAUTIFUL, SWEET BOY YESTERDAY MORNING!!!
I am devastated and angry and confused all at the same time, so I'm posting a pretty long diary to tell what has happened just in the past two weeks. It’s really really long. I’m sorry. If you skip to the pictures, neither BK or I will be offended.
May 15 - I let BK outside for his usual once-a-week playtime, and he refused to come in after about 4 hours. At 9pm I saw him out back where KiKi's dog pen used to be, so I went after him. It was dark, of course, but I got up to him and had my hands on him, when a stray black and white cat came out of nowhere and attacked him. I know now that BK knew that other cat was there, but I didn't. They fought for several minutes, and I found a stick and ran the stray off. BK ran up a tree and stayed for about an hour. When he came down, he ran under the house. I couldn't get him out till 11am the next morning. I wasn't about to leave and go to work because I didn't know if he was injured or not. I didn’t see any serious injuries, some scratches, but no blood, so I went to work and all seemed OK.
May 17 – I realized that BK’s right cheek was swollen, and I found he had a pretty bad cut/bite after all. I doctored him up the best I could (meaning I squeezed his poor little face until a lot of pus came out), and the swelling was a lot better the next day. I kept doctoring him for a few days like this, and he really looked a lot better.
May 21 – BK got up that morning and went to the litter box after he ate. His appetite was still really good at this point, so I didn’t think anything was wrong. But when he went to the box, he had VERY loud, horrible smelling diarrhea. I went to the box and saw his stool was full of worms. I immediately thought of roundworms first. I took him straight to the vet, and they diagnosed tapeworms instead. They shaved his cheek and cleaned up his bite, and they gave him three meds: Cestex to kill the worms, Convenia injection for antibiotics, and a Metronidazole pill for anti-inflammatory and to help with the stomach issues. They gave me 5 days worth of the Metron pills. I also got two Comfortis pills, but I wasn’t going to use them until he was over all this other stuff. They said I should notice a big improvement by Monday, and they’d call to check on him.
Metron must taste worse than anything ever, because it was pure hell trying to get BK to take them. I pretty much had to cover them in wet food and shove them down his throat and hold his mouth closed for a long time. He still tried to cough them back up. I knew he wouldn’t feel good that day, but the next day he didn’t act any better. He just wanted to lay around. He didn’t eat a lot but was still drinking and peeing pretty regular.
May 23 – BK’s appetite wasn’t great, and I told the vet tech how he was just not interested in anything. She said it was normal behavior because he did get a lot of meds in his system at once and that he should feel better soon.
May 24 – BK still didn’t care about anything. He always came to greet me when I came home from work, but I would find him sleeping under a bed in my extra bedroom. He never went in that room except to go to his litter box. He’d get growly/whiny with me when I’d force him out. That day when I came home, I figured he’d been there all day, so I got him and figured I’d make him go to the litter box. I went to pick him up sort of under his ‘arms’, and all of a sudden he howled at me and just went limp. I dropped him right in the litter box, and he just sat there for several minutes like he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing. A few minutes later, he got out and walked off like all was normal. He still didn’t want to eat much, but he was still drinking and peeing. I thought he must be really angry with me for messing with him when he didn’t feel good. This whole week he was still very much mentally alert – listening to me, watching out the window, wagging his tail, etc. – but physically he just wasn’t right. Even his growly meows were weak and kind of hoarse.
May 26 – BK had lost interest in ANY food. I came home with a cheeseburger one night – which he loves – and even KFC, but he did not want any of it. He would go to the water bowl when he was thirsty, but he just stared at it sometimes like it was just too much trouble to drink. If I put it closer to his nose and nudged him into it, then he would start drinking.
That night when BK was on his pillow by me on the couch, I noticed his breathing was funny. He wasn’t coughing or struggling to breathe, but the noise in his throat or chest sounded like he needed to cough up some mucus or something. I decided that he was going back to the vet Friday morning no matter what. I tried to call them about an hour after they closed, but they didn’t even have an answering machine. ?!?!
I decided to go to bed with him early about 8pm so we could get up early the next morning. He was restless but didn’t seem any worse. He was still drinking when I put the bowl right in front of him. It was a bad night because I was so worried about him. He laid in his bed at the end of my bed, but then 30 min later he’d get up and lay on me, and then another 30 min later he’d lay on the other pillow, repeat all night. He wasn’t making any sounds to make me think he was in any real distress.
MAY 27 – I fell asleep at some point, but around 430am BK woke me up with that awful howling he had made a few days before with the litter box incident. I thought he had fallen off the bed and hurt himself. He wasn’t crying continuously, but he didn’t ‘snap out of it’ like the other time. I put him on a towel at the end of the bed, and then I thought who cares about the damn bed, so I put him on my chest where he liked to be when I was watching TV in bed. I had the lights off except for my closet, and I made sure he was looking at me. I had a feeling this was not going to end well, and I decided I wasn’t going to waste precious time driving to a vet 30 min away. I damn sure wasn’t going to let him die in the back of my car.
I always tell him, “Heyyyyy I’m right heeerrreeee” when I came home from being gone to work or wherever for awhile. He knew that was his cue to come running so I’d hug him to pieces. I kept saying that over and over and just kept talking talking talking to him. He was still very much mentally alert, and he’d wag his tail now and then.
I don’t know if his cries were from actual pain or fear, but I know now it had to be both. I know I was terrified myself. I was crying the whole time and begging God not to take him just yet – please let me get him to the vet and find out what’s wrong.
BK made that sound a few more times, not continuous, but about 5 min apart, and I couldn’t stand it anymore. I finally stopped asking God to let him stay with me, and I said, “If you’re going to take him now, then please just take him! PLEASE JUST MAKE HIM STOP HURTING!”
Almost immediately after I said that, BK gave a big long sigh – not like pain, but more like, “OK. Finally. F*** this. I’m done here.” And I knew he was gone. And I kept talking to him anyway. For a long time.
It was only 5:00am. I laid there forever with him before I could move. My brain knew he was gone, but my heart was waiting for a miracle. Even when I finally got up and started getting ready to go to the vet, I kept checking on him every five minutes, waiting for him to jump up and look at me like I was an idiot.
I got him to the vet at 8:00am and pretty much demanded to know what the hell had just happened. I already had all kinds of theories about reactions to the meds, rabies, etc. The vet came in and we talked for over an hour. She said they've used those meds a long time with no serious reactions, and she said the Cestex and Convenia would have been out of his system in just a day or so anyway. She kept bringing up his leukemia and telling me that his immune system was weaker than other cats. I. KNOW. THAT. I was asking about pneumonia and congestive heart failure and every damn thing I could think of.
She finally said she would narrow it down to either heartworms or lymphoma. Heartworms never crossed my mind even once. I've had many dogs treated for it successfully. She said heartworms in cats are more aggressive toward their lungs. Either way, she said neither of those is treatable. She said they've had many cats who came in for something seemingly minor, and then they found out they were full of cancer or heartworms. I actually wondered if she stuck a needle in his heart right then, would she find anything?
I kept asking her why he had NEVER acted sick since I had him, even though he's positive. She said cats are masters of disguise, and sometimes you just would never know anything was wrong unless you actually tested for something. I kept asking what I should have been looking for, because of course I blame myself. She said there was nothing. She kept trying to convince me that I should "leave here in peace", because she said BK would never have lasted this long out on his own. She said his life span was already going to be shortened because of the leukemia. She said his immune system just finally gave up. She said he might have had heartworms or cancer THE WHOLE TIME I’VE HAD HIM, and we wouldn’t know unless we tested him for it.
It took me forever to decide not to do an autopsy. I told her it's not going to change anything, and I honestly don't know if I'd feel 'better' if I did know the exact truth. I might actually feel worse, if that's even possible.
I'm just devastated because it seemed like he was absolutely fine up until last weekend when I took him in for worms. It was just worms!!! I remember telling my daughter a few days ago that I was scared all the stress and meds would make everything go downhill from here. I was right.
The only 'good' thing about all this is that I was at home with my BK when he died. I was scared all week that I'd come home and find him dead under the bed. I kept talking to him when he went, and afterwards, and in the car on the way to the vet, and after I left the vet. I’ve been talking to him since Thursday night really – most of it is apologies and regret.
BK will be cremated and his ashes will go on the mantle along with my dogs, Bud and KiKi. He and KiKi hated each other so much. I hope they’re friends now. I wish I had been able to get him to eat something great this week before he died. I would have given him a steak if wanted it. That sounds so stupid. It all sounds stupid.
I think a lot of MY pain comes from thinking that this all happened so fast and seems so sudden, despite what the vet tried to tell me. I just feel like he was fine two weeks ago.
I hope he knows how much I loved him. I didn't realize how much myself until just a few days ago when I actually thought about him leaving me.
I’ve been spending way too much time on the internet trying to find answers, but really it mostly just makes me feel worse. Last night I was somewhat close to calming down, but then I found this, and it ripped my heart up all over again:
http://cats.lovetoknow.com/What_Is_the_Dying_Behavior_of_Cats
After I read that, I just started bawling because I realized that BK knew. HE KNEW. But I didn’t. I didn’t see what he was trying to tell me all week.
I hope you forgive me, Black Kitty. You let me into your life when I wasn’t sure I belonged there, and you made my life better. You deserved better. I love you!!!!!
I am devastated and angry and confused all at the same time, so I'm posting a pretty long diary to tell what has happened just in the past two weeks. It’s really really long. I’m sorry. If you skip to the pictures, neither BK or I will be offended.
May 15 - I let BK outside for his usual once-a-week playtime, and he refused to come in after about 4 hours. At 9pm I saw him out back where KiKi's dog pen used to be, so I went after him. It was dark, of course, but I got up to him and had my hands on him, when a stray black and white cat came out of nowhere and attacked him. I know now that BK knew that other cat was there, but I didn't. They fought for several minutes, and I found a stick and ran the stray off. BK ran up a tree and stayed for about an hour. When he came down, he ran under the house. I couldn't get him out till 11am the next morning. I wasn't about to leave and go to work because I didn't know if he was injured or not. I didn’t see any serious injuries, some scratches, but no blood, so I went to work and all seemed OK.
May 17 – I realized that BK’s right cheek was swollen, and I found he had a pretty bad cut/bite after all. I doctored him up the best I could (meaning I squeezed his poor little face until a lot of pus came out), and the swelling was a lot better the next day. I kept doctoring him for a few days like this, and he really looked a lot better.
May 21 – BK got up that morning and went to the litter box after he ate. His appetite was still really good at this point, so I didn’t think anything was wrong. But when he went to the box, he had VERY loud, horrible smelling diarrhea. I went to the box and saw his stool was full of worms. I immediately thought of roundworms first. I took him straight to the vet, and they diagnosed tapeworms instead. They shaved his cheek and cleaned up his bite, and they gave him three meds: Cestex to kill the worms, Convenia injection for antibiotics, and a Metronidazole pill for anti-inflammatory and to help with the stomach issues. They gave me 5 days worth of the Metron pills. I also got two Comfortis pills, but I wasn’t going to use them until he was over all this other stuff. They said I should notice a big improvement by Monday, and they’d call to check on him.
Metron must taste worse than anything ever, because it was pure hell trying to get BK to take them. I pretty much had to cover them in wet food and shove them down his throat and hold his mouth closed for a long time. He still tried to cough them back up. I knew he wouldn’t feel good that day, but the next day he didn’t act any better. He just wanted to lay around. He didn’t eat a lot but was still drinking and peeing pretty regular.
May 23 – BK’s appetite wasn’t great, and I told the vet tech how he was just not interested in anything. She said it was normal behavior because he did get a lot of meds in his system at once and that he should feel better soon.
May 24 – BK still didn’t care about anything. He always came to greet me when I came home from work, but I would find him sleeping under a bed in my extra bedroom. He never went in that room except to go to his litter box. He’d get growly/whiny with me when I’d force him out. That day when I came home, I figured he’d been there all day, so I got him and figured I’d make him go to the litter box. I went to pick him up sort of under his ‘arms’, and all of a sudden he howled at me and just went limp. I dropped him right in the litter box, and he just sat there for several minutes like he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing. A few minutes later, he got out and walked off like all was normal. He still didn’t want to eat much, but he was still drinking and peeing. I thought he must be really angry with me for messing with him when he didn’t feel good. This whole week he was still very much mentally alert – listening to me, watching out the window, wagging his tail, etc. – but physically he just wasn’t right. Even his growly meows were weak and kind of hoarse.
May 26 – BK had lost interest in ANY food. I came home with a cheeseburger one night – which he loves – and even KFC, but he did not want any of it. He would go to the water bowl when he was thirsty, but he just stared at it sometimes like it was just too much trouble to drink. If I put it closer to his nose and nudged him into it, then he would start drinking.
That night when BK was on his pillow by me on the couch, I noticed his breathing was funny. He wasn’t coughing or struggling to breathe, but the noise in his throat or chest sounded like he needed to cough up some mucus or something. I decided that he was going back to the vet Friday morning no matter what. I tried to call them about an hour after they closed, but they didn’t even have an answering machine. ?!?!
I decided to go to bed with him early about 8pm so we could get up early the next morning. He was restless but didn’t seem any worse. He was still drinking when I put the bowl right in front of him. It was a bad night because I was so worried about him. He laid in his bed at the end of my bed, but then 30 min later he’d get up and lay on me, and then another 30 min later he’d lay on the other pillow, repeat all night. He wasn’t making any sounds to make me think he was in any real distress.
MAY 27 – I fell asleep at some point, but around 430am BK woke me up with that awful howling he had made a few days before with the litter box incident. I thought he had fallen off the bed and hurt himself. He wasn’t crying continuously, but he didn’t ‘snap out of it’ like the other time. I put him on a towel at the end of the bed, and then I thought who cares about the damn bed, so I put him on my chest where he liked to be when I was watching TV in bed. I had the lights off except for my closet, and I made sure he was looking at me. I had a feeling this was not going to end well, and I decided I wasn’t going to waste precious time driving to a vet 30 min away. I damn sure wasn’t going to let him die in the back of my car.
I always tell him, “Heyyyyy I’m right heeerrreeee” when I came home from being gone to work or wherever for awhile. He knew that was his cue to come running so I’d hug him to pieces. I kept saying that over and over and just kept talking talking talking to him. He was still very much mentally alert, and he’d wag his tail now and then.
I don’t know if his cries were from actual pain or fear, but I know now it had to be both. I know I was terrified myself. I was crying the whole time and begging God not to take him just yet – please let me get him to the vet and find out what’s wrong.
BK made that sound a few more times, not continuous, but about 5 min apart, and I couldn’t stand it anymore. I finally stopped asking God to let him stay with me, and I said, “If you’re going to take him now, then please just take him! PLEASE JUST MAKE HIM STOP HURTING!”
Almost immediately after I said that, BK gave a big long sigh – not like pain, but more like, “OK. Finally. F*** this. I’m done here.” And I knew he was gone. And I kept talking to him anyway. For a long time.
It was only 5:00am. I laid there forever with him before I could move. My brain knew he was gone, but my heart was waiting for a miracle. Even when I finally got up and started getting ready to go to the vet, I kept checking on him every five minutes, waiting for him to jump up and look at me like I was an idiot.
I got him to the vet at 8:00am and pretty much demanded to know what the hell had just happened. I already had all kinds of theories about reactions to the meds, rabies, etc. The vet came in and we talked for over an hour. She said they've used those meds a long time with no serious reactions, and she said the Cestex and Convenia would have been out of his system in just a day or so anyway. She kept bringing up his leukemia and telling me that his immune system was weaker than other cats. I. KNOW. THAT. I was asking about pneumonia and congestive heart failure and every damn thing I could think of.
She finally said she would narrow it down to either heartworms or lymphoma. Heartworms never crossed my mind even once. I've had many dogs treated for it successfully. She said heartworms in cats are more aggressive toward their lungs. Either way, she said neither of those is treatable. She said they've had many cats who came in for something seemingly minor, and then they found out they were full of cancer or heartworms. I actually wondered if she stuck a needle in his heart right then, would she find anything?
I kept asking her why he had NEVER acted sick since I had him, even though he's positive. She said cats are masters of disguise, and sometimes you just would never know anything was wrong unless you actually tested for something. I kept asking what I should have been looking for, because of course I blame myself. She said there was nothing. She kept trying to convince me that I should "leave here in peace", because she said BK would never have lasted this long out on his own. She said his life span was already going to be shortened because of the leukemia. She said his immune system just finally gave up. She said he might have had heartworms or cancer THE WHOLE TIME I’VE HAD HIM, and we wouldn’t know unless we tested him for it.
It took me forever to decide not to do an autopsy. I told her it's not going to change anything, and I honestly don't know if I'd feel 'better' if I did know the exact truth. I might actually feel worse, if that's even possible.
I'm just devastated because it seemed like he was absolutely fine up until last weekend when I took him in for worms. It was just worms!!! I remember telling my daughter a few days ago that I was scared all the stress and meds would make everything go downhill from here. I was right.
The only 'good' thing about all this is that I was at home with my BK when he died. I was scared all week that I'd come home and find him dead under the bed. I kept talking to him when he went, and afterwards, and in the car on the way to the vet, and after I left the vet. I’ve been talking to him since Thursday night really – most of it is apologies and regret.
BK will be cremated and his ashes will go on the mantle along with my dogs, Bud and KiKi. He and KiKi hated each other so much. I hope they’re friends now. I wish I had been able to get him to eat something great this week before he died. I would have given him a steak if wanted it. That sounds so stupid. It all sounds stupid.
I think a lot of MY pain comes from thinking that this all happened so fast and seems so sudden, despite what the vet tried to tell me. I just feel like he was fine two weeks ago.
I hope he knows how much I loved him. I didn't realize how much myself until just a few days ago when I actually thought about him leaving me.
I’ve been spending way too much time on the internet trying to find answers, but really it mostly just makes me feel worse. Last night I was somewhat close to calming down, but then I found this, and it ripped my heart up all over again:
http://cats.lovetoknow.com/What_Is_the_Dying_Behavior_of_Cats
After I read that, I just started bawling because I realized that BK knew. HE KNEW. But I didn’t. I didn’t see what he was trying to tell me all week.
I hope you forgive me, Black Kitty. You let me into your life when I wasn’t sure I belonged there, and you made my life better. You deserved better. I love you!!!!!
Last edited:
I am so very sorry for you loss. Tears are streaming down my face. Please know that you did the very best for Black Kitty. He trusted you and loved you with all of his heart. He feels no ill will towards you at all as he knows how much you loved him.
RIP Black Kitty you were so loved.
RIP Black Kitty you were so loved.
I am so very, very sorry for your loss. Please know you are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope your kitty's spirit stays close to you for as long as you need him to stay close. I lost my beloved feral Muffin two months ago and I still feel his presence with me. I hope you feel the peace and love your beautiful black Kitty is feeling now. Love neve dies.
I am so sorry for your loss. Black Kitty was very happy with you and we watched him thrive while he was with you. You did great with him and I am sure he found his person in you. I hope there is peace in knowing you made his life better.
I'm so sorry to hear this.
From what you've said his death could have been caused by any one of those things or a combination of them. I don't think I would have bothered with a autopsy either. Maybe knowing exactly what happened would make this a tiny bit easier, but it wouldn't change things. Far better to leave his body in peace and allow yourself to grieve.
I know it's awfully hard on you at the moment, but I hope you'll take comfort in knowing that you did everything you could for Black Kitty. You gave him a home and taught him to trust people. You cared for him and loved him and you were there for him when he passed. That means so much.
We always lock the threads when someone loses a pet, so I'll lock this one now.
I see you've already started a thread in Black Kitty's memory in our Crossing The Bridge forum.
http://www.thecatsite.com/t/320231/rip-black-kitty
Rest In Peace Black Kitty. You were a very special cat and you will be missed.
From what you've said his death could have been caused by any one of those things or a combination of them. I don't think I would have bothered with a autopsy either. Maybe knowing exactly what happened would make this a tiny bit easier, but it wouldn't change things. Far better to leave his body in peace and allow yourself to grieve.
I know it's awfully hard on you at the moment, but I hope you'll take comfort in knowing that you did everything you could for Black Kitty. You gave him a home and taught him to trust people. You cared for him and loved him and you were there for him when he passed. That means so much.
We always lock the threads when someone loses a pet, so I'll lock this one now.
I see you've already started a thread in Black Kitty's memory in our Crossing The Bridge forum.
http://www.thecatsite.com/t/320231/rip-black-kitty
Rest In Peace Black Kitty. You were a very special cat and you will be missed.
- Status
