*I Love You Kitty Boy*

Our sweet kitty boy passed away today.  We noticed a few weeks ago that he was looking thinner and getting a bit lethargic, more than normal for a house cat, but didn't think much of it. He was happy and getting along great with our older cat Niles. We only had adopted him in mid February and wondered if maybe the weight loss was from adapting to a new environment.  

We took him to the vet when we realized just how significant his problem seemed to be. The result was that he had a fatty liver and his muscles were deteriorating because he was too nauseous to eat.  He was also severely dehydrated.  He was given lots of fluids and after an ultrasound revealed no tumor or anything funky like that it was suggested that we take him home, force feed him until he started eating again on his own, and bring him back if nothing was improving. When the vet shaved his belly for the ultrasound we saw just how jaundiced his poor little body was. So yellow. 

He spent a few days at home over the heater vent licking up a teaspoon or two of water, but it was obvious that things were getting worse.  He went back in to the kitty doctor the next day and a biopsy of his liver was taken and more fluids were injected. That was on Friday and Saturday afternoon he hid under the far corner of my bed, something he has never done before.  He finally was coaxed out by lots of cozy hot air coming out of the heater vent.  I gave him lots of loves and had a little talk with him that if he was ready to go home we didn't want him to suffer any more.

Sunday he was breathing fast shallow breaths and not moving. It was the saddest thing I've ever seen. It was like all of the life was sucked out of him and he was just breathing out of habit.  His sweet playful personality was long gone at this point.  We called the vet and she agreed that the most humane thing to do was to put him to sleep so he wouldn't have to suffer through the rest of the night, or who knows how many more days. She did an x-ray of him and will tell us the results of the biopsy tomorrow so we may know what took our sweet boy from us. She said that the rapid decay of his back leg muscles and lack of reflex response signal that something neurological was going on as well. 

Whatever the cause may have been we know that he was a wonderful, loving, playful little boy (only about 6 years old) and that the 3 months we had with him were well worth it. I miss my little furry guy more than I can even express.
I love you Tosh Guster Chocolate Moose Colombo ♥