Mr. Kitty

In Memory of Mr. Kitty

 

I just want to say a few words about Mr. Kitty.  He was a stray gray tabby cat with a lot of white trim.  My mother started feeding him in her yard in Lexington, South Carolina, several years ago.  When my mother had surgeries and had to be in rehab for months, a friend (and I, when I was there) continued to feed him.  When my mother had to come to Maryland to live in an assisted living, I brought Mr. Kitty too.  I had taken him to the vet in South Carolina and learned that he was FELV positive.  So he had to stay indoors, but he couldn't mix with my indoor cats.  He stayed with my mother in her room at Catered Living of Bel Air.  He grew fat, but he was happy.  He stayed by my mother and purred loudly when I or staff came to visit and petted him.  I had been afraid that he would long to be outdoors again, having started life that way, but he became quite a bed potato.  When my mother had a fall and had to be hospitalized, Mr. Kitty continued to stay in her $3000 plus room for two months, and I would go visit him every day.  But my mother had to move to another assisted living, one which wouldn't let her have a pet, so I took Mr. Kitty to live with me in my guest room.  I went in to sit with him in the morning when I had my breakfast and in the evening after I got home.  He would get very close to me and purr and purr.  (He couldn't go out in the rest of my condo because I had three other cats of my own.)  He remained there with me since February, but just last week, he suddenly seemed to go downhill.  When he wouldn't come out on Friday and had stopped eating, I knew it was bad.  The vet said that the feline leukemia had taken its toll and that he would have to be euthanized.  I know she was right, because when we were in the examination room waiting for her, I petted him and petted him and he didn't purr and he no longer gazed into my eyes with adoration, but just looked straight ahead.  It's hard to lose such a sweet pet, and I miss him in the morning and in the evening when I would normally go visit with him.