With heavy hearts today, we made the decision to let our sweet Iggy cat go; it’s been about 6 weeks since he had a decline in his health and we discovered an inoperable mass in the abdomen (located near the mesentery). We embarked on a palliative route of meds to stimulate appetite, control nausea and pain, too, and for a while, though growing weaker, he was his sunny self, personable, pleasant and eager for attention. For the past few weeks he’s slept every night curled up in my arms snuggling and purring.
The last few days were actually quite good – he was ambulatory, seeking out our company and that of the dogs and his feline brethren. A friend visited from Ireland with her twin 6 year old girls and they adored him, proclaiming him “lovely” and he soaked up the love and petting they lavished on him. And even last night, he seemed content, happily purring and cuddling. But mid morning today, he suddenly wanted to hide from us and seemed to be in some pain and clear distress. We rang our vets and they came round at 3:30 – we told him once more what a good puss he had always been and how cherished and then we let him go. The dogs and his kitty brothers were able to see him and know he is gone. We miss him terribly already.
He was sweet, charming, funny, and elegant and a huge flirt: he loved to lock on to you with his gorgeous green eyes and then roll over so you could rub him under the chin and down his belly. We called that move his “patented shoulder drop and roll” and it always made my heart glad to see it. His coat was glorious – plush and thick and he loved nothing more than to be stroked, brushed and even lint rollered! He would come running from another room at the sound at the telltale sign of that lint roller or another animal being brushed!
You are in our hearts forever, Iggy; you were only ours for the last 7 of your 14 years, but every day was golden with you in it. Be at peace, sweet boo.
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Thank you to those who expressed hope in the Spiritual Place that he might make it to enjoy sunny warm spring days - it was not meant to be. Both the snow and the tumor were relentless - we've been hard hit with a wet, white snowstorm all day today.