Sadly, my kitty passed away today. It's only just now hitting me.
He was an angora that I found as a stray sometime in 2001 or so. I was working a paper route very early (~3am) in a low-income housing complex when I turned a corner and about a dozen kitties scattered. I made a smooching noise, and the fluffiest white kitten I had ever seen was the only one who turned back. I gave him a few pets and he followed me around the complex on my route.
I had wrapped up my route and he was still following me, so I took a look at him in the streetlight. His eyes were crusty, he had some tape on his tail, and the whiskers on the left side of his face had been burned off, probably by some neighborhood kids. I decided then to take him home and take him to the vet when they opened. The vet said he was about 4 months old, and had a mild case of distemper. She gave us some medicine and he became a permanent part of our household since then. We named him "Casper" cause he was so white. He had the most loving temperament, always down for a good petting or lap sit, and even when we scolded him, he would just lay over on his side and give us "the look" demanding a kitty massage.
About 5 or 6 years ago, he developed cataracts and was totally blind within a few months. That didn't stop him going where he pleased, and he never lost his way around the house and yard. About 2 months ago, we started noticing him slowing down quite a bit, and losing some strength in his back legs. He seemed to recover a bit after a week or two, but never got back to full strength. The vet said he was just getting older and to just keep him comfortable. As long as he was eating and drinking normally (which he did), he would be fine. About three weeks ago, it seemed it was all he could do to lay on his bed, eat a teaspoon of food every now and then, and take himself to the litter box. Eventually, he wouldn't eat more than a bite or two if at all and couldn't make it to the litter box, so we made him a bed out of a foam pad, a plastic bag and a towel. This morning, my wife called me at work to let me know he had passed. My son said that around 8am he meowed feebly a few times, then stopped breathing.
I only wish I had been there.
RIP Casper
2001 - 2016
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