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General Cat

General Cat passed away early this morning. This is the end of an era for me, the first time to be without a pet for just more than seventeen years. General was born on Friday May 13, 1988, and was adopted into my house, along with his sister Princess, just six weeks later soon after I moved to New Jersey.

General got along well with Rebecca, and was great with her after we came home from China. Often when Rebecca was crying, he would come into the room and just lie down where she could see him, and then she would calm down. I noticed he began to lose his hearing about that time too.

Unfortunately, last year, we found out he had a tumor growing in his tummy which was causing him to throw up constantly. After talking with our vet and discussing treatment options such as surgery and chemotherapy, we decided to waive all that because he was getting pretty old. The vet agreed with our decision, and prescribed Prednisone to make it more comfortable for him, but told us it wasn't a cure, we were just buying a bit more time for him. I prayed that he would get another birthday, and that prayer was answered, but I didn't think I'd get more than that one birthday, so these last three months have actually been some bonus time.

Up until two days ago, he actually seemed to be stronger than a year ago. Then something happened real suddenly. We had put off getting his shots, but now he was due, so last Wednesday he went in for some shots. He went downhill after that. Thursday night he just stopped. No strength, no appetite, and stopped purring when we pet him. It was real disconcerting. We called the vet yesterday, who told us to up the Prednisone and see her on Saturday. Saturday's here now, but he didn't make it. I was with him last night around midnight, and when I went to bed I wasn't confident I would see him alive again.

Seventeen years old, and he's been with me since he was a six-week old kitten. Lots of memories of this guy. He was the last of our four cats, and we lost Trixie less than three weeks ago.

Goodbye General. You were a great cat.

Posted by Joel Fuhrmann at August 13, 2005 06:34 AM