The Life and Death of our Kitten - Tattoo 2011 - 2013

We obtained Tattoo as a small kitten from the Animal Shelter near our home.  Because Sharen and I were at home together and often one of us would be gone for periods of time, Tattoo became a close friend for each of us.  Obviously, you don't own a cat.  They own you.  But Tattoo, learned how to relate with each of us and to ask for and receive what he wanted.  He was a good and loving kitten, and with the exception of his long hair, which he deposited on every surface of our condominium, he was a delight to have in our lives.

Tattoo was an inside kitten, but loved to go out on our deck, all seasons of the year.  In the beginning we were concerned that he would fall off, but after one incident as a small kitten, Tattoo learned the boundaries of the deck.  Sophia was his close friend and Libby, Sophia's dog, learned to tolerate him.

When Sharen came home from Argentina this last Spring, Tattoo was healthy and excited to have his "Mother" home.  After a few months, Tattoo - who at that point weighed about 12 pounds, begin to lose weight and to be disinterested in his food.  We experimented with feeding him different dry foods and wet foods and the timing around when we fed him, but he seemed to just continue to lose weight.

We took Tattoo to the veterinary  a couple of months ago.  They verified that he had lost weight and determined that he was dehydrated.  He appeared to be ill, but the blood and urine tests they did could not specifically diagnose any illness.  They stated at the time that there was the possibility that he had FIP, Feline Infectious Peritonitis. 

They hydrated him, and when we took him home within a couple of days his energy was back and he was eating.  After a few weeks, though, he stopped eating and drinking, continued to lose weight, and clearly was ill.  When we took him back in to the Vet, they repeated the blood and urine tests and could not rule out the FIP.  After several weeks, watching our Kitty continue to deteriorate, and after several discussions with the Vet, it was obvious that Tattoo was fatally ill.  The FIP is a virus that has no known treatment, so the question was whether we would just watch our pet die or whether we would make the decision to take him out of his misery.

We chose to have Tattoo euthanized  by the Vet.  We both said our goodbyes to Tattoo and I took him to the Vet.  I was in the room with him when they gave him a shot of PentaBarbital.  Within 5 - 10 Seconds Tattoo died.

I have had many pets in my life but this loss had the most powerful effect on me.  I drove across the street to a park and sat and cried.