franksolich extends his sincere condolences to the sparkling old dude

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11615601

Oh my.

Stinky The Clown (46,837 posts)

THe Meadow by The Bridge has a new citizen. We lost My Liddle Buddy this morning.

She died in her sleep. I found her as I went down to the office to start work. She was laying on the floor, on her side. It was not her usual sleeping spot and not her usual sleep position. I knew it the instant I saw her.

She was almost 17, Tigger was.

She was, by choice, the prototypical solitary cat. At one point we had two other cats in the house and she assiduously avoided them. Her world, by choice, was our home offices, a bathroom, and the laundry room. For years her litter box was in the shower in a spare bathroom. It was a perfect arrangement. Easily hidden from human view, and with a way in that only a cat could love. But that only worked with the electric Litter Maid. When we got sick of that device's failings we moved her to the laundry room and a roll-over litter box that was actually easier to clean than the Litter Maid.

In usual Tigger fashion, she adapted without a bit of fuss or bother.

She was a Cat Of The Clouds, preferring to spend her time up high. She lived for most of her life in a wicker basket atop a book case. It was about 6 feet in the air. She would jump up to a desk and then up to the top of the bookcase. When she was younger, she'd jump off from the top to the ground in one leap. Later, not so much. But to the end she lived aloft.

Tigger had some health issues starting maybe two or three years ago. Twice we took her to the vet when she had blood spots on her eyeball. The vet said it could be indicative of several things and we checked them all, to one degree or another. The final thought was thyroid. We did nothing for that apart from watching her and checking her numbers - always high, but never to the level that she needed meds or treatment. Then, maybe 6 months ago, she went blind. The vet said it could be a number of things (again) but most likely a complication of her now failing kidneys and her thyroid issues.

Just last week she was in again for a checkup. The vet suspected high blood pressure was now another issue for her. Tomorrow we were supposed to bring her in for a few hours to allow her to be there, relax (to lower her blood pressure to normal), and get her BP checked. We had also just gotten her some prescription food and were to start a potassium(???) supplement. I guess that was more than Tigger cared to deal with.

So she checked out.

All in all, not a bad way to go. She went right up to the line of being an invalid cat, but never actually went there.

Yesterday morning, just like every other, I said good morning to her as I passed her perch and went into my office. Within a few minutes she was at my feet, yowling at me for her morning scratch. It was just another normal day. Just like every normal day for the last 16 plus years.

Dammit.

Why do we have to outlive them?

It really ****ing hurts, okay.

[Big Dog]

My condolences to the Dude and Sparkly.

[franksolich]

My condolences to the Dude and Sparkly.

Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.

While my condolences are sincere--but not to the sparkling old dude's trophy wife, just to the sparkling old dude--I didn't mean it to be taken that seriously.

[Splashdown]

Losing a pet sucks.

[GOBUCKS]

Bouncy.

Mike the dude can go to hell.

[Ballygrl]

Awwwww, condolences to the Family, it's so hard losing a pet.

[franksolich]

Awwwww, condolences to the Family, it's so hard losing a pet.

Oh now, don't get all gushy about it.

Remember, the sparkling old dude's one of those who didn't care that Saddam Hussein was killing his own people, and in fact opposed George Bush's attempts to oust the genocidal old tyrant.

The sparkling husband dude apparently never cared about the brown people of Iraq.

So yeah, while my sentiments are sincere, it's not like I'm willing to send him a sympathy card or flowers or anything.

[Ballygrl]

Oh now, don't get all gushy about it.

Remember, the sparkling old dude's one of those who didn't care that Saddam Hussein was killing his own people, and in fact opposed George Bush's attempts to oust the genocidal old tyrant.

The sparkling husband dude apparently never cared about the brown people of Iraq.

So yeah, while my sentiments are sincere, it's not like I'm willing to send him a sympathy card or flowers or anything.

I'm an animal lover so I totally feel bad when people lose their pets, even though I'm allergic to cats.

[franksolich]

I'm an animal lover so I totally feel bad when people lose their pets, even though I'm allergic to cats.

I also need to correct a possible mis-impression here.

It's the sparkling old dude I feel (sort of) sorry for.

I'm not extending those feelings to his hollow papier-mache trophy wife.

Just to the sparkling old dude.

[GOBUCKS]

DUmmies lie, all the time, about every single thing.

[franksolich]

This report, from the sparkling old dude's trophy wife:

Sparkly (21,725 posts)

19. Conversation with the vet...

Tigger's vet, having just seen her on Friday, was very surprised to hear that she'd passed.

We spoke with her this afternoon, and she said Tigger's kidney disease was so mild, it couldn't have killed her. Her guess is that it was a blood clot which a spike in her blood pressure could have sent to her heart. Or as she put it, "a fluke thing."

Somehow it's hard to stop our minds from going back to the shock of her body lying there, without going into details about the specifics... And it's hard not to think back on her life as a measurement of our own, or something.

My daughter, then 9 or 10, brought her to our then-house (with husband #1) on a leash from a friend down the street, begging me to adopt her. I was about to leave that husband, and decided to adopt her in the "new house" to help make it a happy place. (First husband was allergic.) Tigger was there before my furniture.

When I met Stinky about 7 months later, Tigger was just getting over her spaying surgery. Then she moved, with me, when I came to live with (and marry) Stinky.

Over time, my daughter developed bad allergies to cats that weren't there before. Sometimes she'd even admonish me to "get rid of the cat!" But today, she cried -- partly for Tigger, partly for the years that Tigger measured, I think.

It's a sad day.

P.S. -- Yes, Tigger adjusted to the comings and goings of other dogs and cats here by confining herself to the basement, thus becoming Stinky's steadfast "Office Cat" (or "Liddle Buddy").

[Duke Nukum]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

[GOBUCKS]

And Sparkly the dilettante trophy wife can go to hell along with catbox squatter Mike.

It's too bad if a cat actually died, but the bright side is any pain it may have caused Mike the dude and Sparkly.

Freudenschade extends to anything that causes a DUmpmonkey to suffer.

[franksolich]

And Sparkly the dilettante trophy wife can go to hell along with catbox squatter Mike.

It's too bad if a cat actually died, but the bright side is any pain it may have caused Mike the dude and Sparkly.

Freudenschade extends to anything that causes a DUmpmonkey to suffer.

You know, I wasn't aware the sparkling old dude's trophy wife had been married before.

[Skul]

Sucks to lose an old friend, even if it's a cat.
We still love you, stinkDUde, hang in there.

[Splashdown]

Maybe one of the DUde's "business associates" was sending him a "message" like the horse's head in the Godfather?

[franksolich]

Maybe one of the DUde's "business associates" was sending him a "message" like the horse's head in the Godfather?

You know, I never thought of that.

That sounds like something Louie the Cobbler or Pretty Boy Anastasio or Giovanni the Nose would do.

[Airwolf]

I feel sorry for the cat. Stinkbait can forget any sympathy from me.