Ace of Spades Pet Thread, May 13

Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Thanks for stopping by. Kick back and enjoy the world of animals.

Would you like a treat?

Let's relax a little with the animals and leave the world of politics and current events outside today.

From Lirio100:

Sangria is now 11months old. She really, really wanted to sit in this box but there was no way she could fold up enough. Fortunately there was a pillow at the right height and so she made do.

Sangria looks a little concerned about being discovered. Pretty kitty.

Hello!

My aunt and uncle, both in their 70's, lost their beautiful collie, Max, last year. My aunt decided that they were too old to get another dog, but my uncle had other ideas. He did a lot of research to find a calm, loving breed . They soon adopted Charlie, a 6 month old Cavalier King Charles. However, my uncle neglected to read the fine print which warns that Cavalier puppies are insane!!
Hope you can use this! Dimuse

Looks like they have their hands full. Good thing that Charlie is so cute!

Hi KT - I am a very long-time lurker, as AofS was one of the first blogs on my favorites list from the early 2000s. If I were to comment, I would probably use the nic Lisan. I have thought often about sending in one or more of my cats for Saturday Pet thread, but sadly, I failed on follow-through. Now, though, I am writing to share my cat story.

As an adult, I have only had cats - - they were the "easier pet" for someone who worked long hours, and travelled for business. Most of the time, I had two cats, but on two separate occasions I had three. I always had black cats, having an affinity for them since I was a small child.

October 2019 was one of the periods when I had three cats: Daisy, a black short-haired cat who was 16 years old at the time, but perking along with kidney disease, and a chronic sinus problem associated with an almost lethal upper respiratory infection she acquired at the shelter awaiting adoption; Twinks, a slightly chunky, long-haired, mostly black tuxedo cat with 4 white feet, also a shelter cat; and Lost, a long-haired fully black cat with a malformed left eye-lid who showed up in my backyard one day, and got brought inside to stay.

This particular October, I was also cat-sitting my Momma's two cats: Newt, a long-haired black cat who came from a feral mother cat; and Buster, a regular short-haired gray tabby cat, long-legged, athletic, and the only male (though a eunuch) of the bunch.

While I was technically cat-sitting my Momma's cats, I pretty well knew they would be staying with me for the duration of their lives. Why? Momma had adopted a retired racing greyhound that June, and while Grayce was reportedly "cat-friendly", that was really only when the cats didn't move. There had been some scary close encounters between greyhound and cats, so Newt and Buster had been living in Momma's closet for months, only venturing downstairs through the dog gate when Grayce was crated at night. Not a good life for them, and it pained my mother, but I had not yet won the argument for permanently moving her cats in with me.

Then in October 2019, Momma went to Texas to visit family for a month. The two cats came to my house, and the greyhound went to board with a friend who had her own greyhound.

While in Texas, my Momma had a small stroke--out of the blue and very unexpected. The post-stroke plan was I would travel to Texas, and bring Momma home. All I had to do was corral five cats and get them boarded, as I had no one available to care for all of them at my house, including the administration of daily subQ fluids to the Daisy-cat.

The picture of the 5 carriers is after my curse-producing attempts to wrangle all five, with Momma's two pretty much refusing to be caught from under a bed just out of my reach. And yes, I had to employ a broom, much bed moving, resulting in some very unhappy and stressed cats. The "well duh" lesson learned is cats know exactly what you are planning, even before you plan it. You must strategize many hours in advance for cat capture by cutting off all escape routes, one by one. Bathrooms are best utilized as holding pens.

Wow. What and ordeal! But there's more.

Once back from Texas, Momma acquiesced to her cats staying with me. We got Momma somewhat recovered, only to have other health problems surface in her, and in our animals. We lost Newt to cancer in November 2020, Grayce the greyhound to unrepairable GDV (bloat) in February 2021, Daisy to a stroke in April 2021, and then Momma to congestive heart failure in July 2021.

I thought I was in a period where more loss was far away in time. The three remaining cats were still youngish, Buster being only 11, Twinks and Lost both 10, with no health issues. Then Thursday evening, Buster had some sort of episode- heart attack, stroke, not sure what and I will never know. It came on fast, and he was gone in a very short time--10 minutes at the most that it took me to hear, then see his distress and get him to the ER Vet about a mile from home. He had a horrible seizure in the crate while I was stopped at a light, seemingly on red forever, then finally at the ER. The vet could not find a heartbeat, asked about CPR, but I knew I had to let him go. I had not been able to hold him before he died because I was driving, so I held him tight and close for a long time after he was gone. All I could do was tell him I was sorry I hadn't been in time to save him, comfort him, fix him, then to hold him wrapped in love as he left this life. I can only hope he knew he was loved, so very well loved, and that he was not alone.

Buster was the last of my Momma's animals, but he was my kitty too. He was the lappiest of cats, always looking for closeness, and clearly unhappy if one of the other cats had the choice lap spot he wanted (see picture 2). He liked drinking from the toilet, and used his paws to sweep water from his bowl, leaving a wet mess. He would eat those thin plastic produce bags, so I had to be on guard and not leave any chewable plastic around. He liked to wrestle with Newt, then Lost, usually with lots of sound effects from both cats that unnerved me until I realized it was not a true cat fight, but more sibling thumping and whacking, a brother dutifully beating up on the sisters wanting his attention. He was the only cat I ever had interested in the laser light toy or other toys in general. He was a creature of habit, like most cats, and easily predictable on where he would be at any given hour of the day. His death was so unexpected, and fast that I was completely unprepared to lose him--a typical cat hiding what ailed him until it was too late.

I now have only the two cats remaining, two for the first time in 10 years. There is no more wrestling, as Lost scares the timid Twinks, and hissing occurs if personal space is not maintained. There is no more water bowl mess. The lap may still be occupied by a cat or two, but the hilarity is gone of three trying to fit somewhere on the human horizontal surface between waist and foot. Nights no longer are spent with Buster curled close, dodging all three lumps of sleeping cat. The house is a little empty.

I know many of the morons are nodding their heads. Losing an animal is hard, very hard. It is especially hard and difficult when it is unexpected, and the mental preparation for the coming loss, acknowledged or not, has not occurred. The what ifs are endless, and those unanswered questions on what you could have done, should have done, should have seen, did do but not fast enough, remain unresolved.

All I can do is remind myself how loved he was and to think of him curled up with Momma and Newt, Grayce there but not hunting him, and waiting, I hope, for the arrival of my lap to share, and the company of the sister-cats he gained when he became my cat.

So sorry about the loss of the loveable Buster. It sounds like you have had some other losses, too. It's nice that you have happy memories and your remaining two cats.

Thanks for the pet stories and photos today. We love to learn about the animals that members of The Horde love.

If you would like to send pet and/or animal stories, links, etc. for the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, the address is:

petmorons at protonmail dot com

Remember to include the nic by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Until next Saturday, have a great week!

If you start feeling nostalgic, here a link to last week's Pet Thread, the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, May 6 Some special PetMoron stories and photos there.

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 03:25 PM

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