Aramis' Story
*Disclaimer: this is an insanely long post and I did it to tell the story of my wonderful kitty, but also as a way to help myself deal with my sadness of losing him. This was a long work in progress.*
*Disclaimer: this is an insanely long post and I did it to tell the story of my wonderful kitty, but also as a way to help myself deal with my sadness of losing him. This was a long work in progress.*
Aramis was born on September 8, 1998. He was raised by the “cat lady” in a small city in
Michigan. His mother died
while giving birth so he was bottle
fed until he was big enough to eat kitten food. A friend of mine was in search of a new cat. She lived near the cat
lady and knew this lady had many cats; most
often strays she took in and helped find homes. My friend went to her house and was told she could have any cat, EXCEPT
Aramis, as he was the cat lady’s baby. Of course, she instantly fell in love with the fluffy orange tabby, won over the cat lady, and took Aramis home.
A few years later, my friend and her boyfriend, realized they had five cats between the two of them and knew something wasn't working. It was quickly apparent that Aramis was always getting
picked on by “Dude," a huge cat that didn't like Aramis.
My friend and her boyfriend also worked 12 hour shifts, so Aramis was alone
most of time. Thinking of Aramis’ best
interest, and knowing how much of a social cat he was, she knew he needed a
better home. This is when Aramis and I
met and instantly bonded.
Aramis, a mere six years old, looking so regal :)
Aramis was six years old when he came to live with me. My initial reaction was, HE IS HUGE, he was so handsome, and, we had the
same color hair! He was playful, funny
and full of personality. I was never a
cat person, and really do not claim to be one now. I am an Aramis person. Over the course of my first year with Aramis,
I was able to learn his quirks and his language. Aramis was a very vocal cat; he most often
would announce himself, with a loud meow or two when he entered a room. He was always meowing and thoroughly loved
attention and snuggles. When anyone
would come over, Aramis always assumed they had come to visit him, as he would
turn on the charm, often laying on his back hoping for attention and a belly rub. Along with the meowing, Aramis also sounded
like he swallowed a motor; he purred so loudly.
Aramis taught me a lot about cats.
He was not a picky cat, as I have learned some cats tend to be. I could buy the cheapest litter and only
change it once a week; he was cool with it, as was I. Aramis groomed himself constantly. I guess it was a lot of work to keep his
fluffy orange fur looking so handsome.
Constant grooming plus long fur would guarantee that Aramis would hack
up a gnarly hairball about once a week.
It was quite dramatic the first time I discovered a hairball. I instantly thought Aramis forgot where the
litter box was and pooped on the kitchen floor, on the mat, of
course. He would never throw up on the
tile, always on the rug or the carpet.
My mom, who had many cats growing up, filled me in on what a hairball
looks like. My mom also informed me that
cats do not cough. From the time I met
Aramis, he would have pretty impressive coughing
spells multiple times a day. Poor kitty
sounded as though he was an 80 year old, two pack a day smoker with
emphysema. His previous owner explained the vet told
her the coughing was related to his hairballs.
After hearing the constant coughing and not seeing a hairball produced,
I wondered why he coughed so much. I
then saw Aramis throw up a hairball and knew the coughing could not be
related. Off to the vet we went. I asked every question about cats I could
think of. The poor vet had no idea what
she walked into. She was swooning over
my fluffy kitty, and Aramis was loving every second. The vet gave Aramis a thorough check up. She discovered he had severe gingivitis, and
a lot of throat irritation. He was
scheduled for a teeth cleaning, with possible teeth extraction, and a chest
x-ray to know what was causing the cough.
She also found a polyp in his middle ear, but didn’t bother with it
because it wasn’t causing any trouble for Aramis. Shortly thereafter, my poor Aramis went in for
his oral surgery. He lost a total of six
teeth, including one of his canines. This tooth
was hanging down out of his mouth. I may have been guilty of calling him “snaggle tooth.” Check it out.
Come to find out, this tooth was rotting out
of his mouth! The vet explained the
condition of cats’ teeth is genetic and there was no way to prevent this. She also reassured me that he would have no
trouble eating, even missing a lot of teeth.
After looking at the chest x-ray, and seeing him cough up what she described as "a big glob of nasty mucous" as they took his breathing tube out, the vet determined Aramis had chronic
bronchitis. He was put on strong
antibiotics for his teeth and gums and the bronchitis. Twice a day I had to give him pills and a
liquid, which the vet said, tastes awful and cats hate it! Aramis tolerated me giving him his medicine
as best as he could. After a couple weeks,
his six to seven coughing spells a day began to decrease and eventually stopped
all together. It was so great to not see
him coughing anymore! Aramis also didn’t
let me hold him much after all the meds I had to give him. Anytime I tried to
pick him up, he assumed I was going to shove a pill down his throat. Overtime, his fear subsided and I regained
his trust and we became snuggle buddies again.
Aramis seemed to feel better. He
was slightly more energetic and put on a couple more pounds. He loved to
play with milk cap rings, hair ties and rubber bands. He could
position them on his little paw and flip it up into the air. He then would run after it and sometimes chew it before starting the process over. He was highly entertaining. Aramis also enjoyed when I would put my hand under a sheet and tease him. He would pounce my hand and scare me every time!
A little while later, I moved in with two friends and their cat, Mama. Aramis meowed like crazy in the car on the 30 minute drive to his new home. It was quite special. Once in the house, he explored with his eyes wide open and pupils dilated (his beady eyes) for about a half hour. Once he explored, he plopped on the floor and his expression told me, "ok mom, we're home." Aramis did ok with Mama. His favorite "game" was to sprawl out on a step, stare down Mama and flop his tail up and down as if to say, "go ahead Mama, go up the steps, I won't chase you!" Of course, if Mama was brave enough to run past him, Aramis would jump up and run after her. They never fought, but they were never best buds either. Aramis really enjoyed his time there as he was able to eat Mama's wet food. He kept us all entertained, and kept Mama on her toes.
After a brief stay with Mama and our friends, Aramis, my sister and I made the big move to Philadelphia. In preparation of the 10+ hour car ride, I took Aramis to the vet to get a sedative. I was concerned for his comfort, but I was also concerned for M.'s and my sanity. If we had to listen to Aramis meow for 10+ hours, we may have lost our minds. Unfortunately, the sedative had the opposite effect on sweet Aramis. Red flags should have gone up when I gave him the pills, left him alone for an hour before we left, per vet's instruction, only to find Aramis flipping around the room chasing a fly. He was NEVER that active. Off we went. Poor guy was a mess. He meowed for awhile, he also puked in his cage and he started meowing and tilting his head from side to side. Poor kitty was acting like he was drunk! After about 12 hours, we finally made it to Philly and began our new life in a big city.
Aramis, my sister, our roommate and I lived in a "luxury apartment" in Philadelphia. We are convinced luxury was code for squirrel infested, nonexistent landlord, barely any heat, 3rd floor apartment. During our first few months in Philly, Aramis got fleas, we assume from the pesky squirrels or the fleas were just in the apartment. We also discovered, even without front claws and missing six teeth, Aramis was our little protector. He was able to catch and kill a mouse. He was clearly impressed with his ability, as he left the dead mouse out in plain sight for us to find. We also discovered the FURminator! We were able to help cut down on some of the insane amount of hair that Aramis shed. We just got him all hyped up on cat nip and brushed him until he started attacking our hands. We also discovered Aramis developed what my sister and I called his Philly accent. Aramis, being the vocal cat he was, meowed all the time. Now he would yell out a "Maa-roow." It was hilarious. I noticed it was usually when he didn't have my undivided attention. I had never heard that type of meow come out of him until we moved to Philly. He had an array of meows, some were really high pitched and pathetic, some really loud and long, usually in the morning and some that just sounded like a typical meow. He had so much personality from his expressive eyes all the way down to his furry pants.
During our time at our first apartment, we made many requests to the landlord about the condition of our home. Since the landlord was pretty sporadic and we weren't sure what he might do to the apartment while we were away, We decided to take Aramis home for the holidays with us. We were driving to Michigan for Christmas and didn't feel comfortable leaving Aramis for 10+ days, so we packed him up and he made the drive home with us, again. This time, sans sedative. He was much more comfortable. I let him out of his cage for a bit to let him see his surroundings and that seemed to help a lot. The next hurdle was to introduce Riley, my parents big mutt, to Aramis. Well, it took about 5 minutes for Aramis to put Riley in his place. Aramis owned that house for the little while we were there.
Aramis was so adaptable, he was able to move and settle in instantly. I figured it was due to having me and his favorite Aunt with him. Wherever we were, he was home. My biggest fear with him was that he would sneak out of the front door and would be gone. He was very sneaky and if he knew he wasn't allowed somewhere, he would stalk the door and try to get out if someone new was coming or going or if he thought you weren't paying attention. He tried this a few times, thankfully he never got far. He was also such a character and knew how to turn on the charm. He won over anyone who met him. The new friends I was making all loved the furry guy. Friends back home frequently saw pictures I posted of Aramis living the life. He loved living with two college kids, because M and D were always having people come over, so he got all the attention he could ever want. M noticed when she had a couple parties, Aramis was always making a grand entrance, but when he had enough of people and noise, he would quietly leave and go sleep on her bed or my bed. He knew his limits. All of our friends just adored Aramis, and really, could you blame them? Aramis was so handsome, friendly and such a special cat!
Just before our next move, Aramis had a new person enter his life...Erin! Little did he know she would become his second momma. He won Erin over instantly, despite her allergy to cats. Our second move (my fourth move with Aramis) was a few block down the street from our luxury apartment. This place was also with my sister, our roommate and myself. Aramis had the luxury of having a new set of stairs to run up and down and many new places to explore. This apartment was so much bigger and in much better condition compared to our first place. This was the case until we had the heat and humidity from Philly summers. The top floor was too hot to live in, so we placed an AC unit in our living room and M and I took over in there and it became our faux studio apartment. Aramis moved right in with us and enjoyed the comfort of the cooler temperature.
Our third move was to South Philly, in a tri-level row home. It was now just Aramis, me and his favorite Aunt. He explored his new surroundings and quickly made himself right at home. His Erin also came over lots, but wasn't able to spend as much time as she would like due to her pup at her house. I also spent more time away from Aramis at this house as I spent more time with Erin at her house. This gave Aramis a lot of one on one time with his favorite Aunt.
In this house he had two flights of stairs that he could run up and down. He was usually wherever people were. He would snuggle with me when I went to bed and proceed to rudely wake me up so I could go downstairs and watch him eat. He would sleep on my pillow and rest his paw on my face. If that didn't work, he would walk around on my head and on my back. If that failed, he would start to bathe himself sitting next to my head. The noise of him licking combined with his loud purring always got me right up! After he had a little breakfast, he would head up to the third floor to snuggle with his favorite Aunt and go back to bed until she had to get up for school. What a life! At this house, Aramis also had the opportunity to catch and kill a mouse. He brought it, as if it were a treasure, to me around midnight as I was sleeping. It was gross, but how could I be mad, he was protecting his momma! Another "perk" of this house, for Aramis, was the discovery of cockroaches! I was terrified as I realized I had/have an irrational fear of roaches. From February until we moved out in July, I was paranoid of these nasty little creatures. Aramis was our protector. He was able to show off his hunting skills.
I always felt better knowing Aramis was on alert to keep those roaches away from his momma. I loved this house and loved living with my Aramis and my sister, but Erin and I were ready to start our life together and we were planning our wedding so it was decided after this lease was up, I would move with Aramis into her home.
This time was pretty emotional. I knew this was the last time I would live with my sister and the last time she would live with her favorite kitty. I knew things would never be the same for those two, but I was hopeful she could come visit Aramis lots! I was also so nervous about the introduction of Aramis to Jackson, Erin's five year old Cockapoo. Jax, like Aramis, is very strong willed and likes to be in charge! The plan was to send Jax to Erin's parents for a night or two to give Aramis a chance to get settled. We moved M into her new home and me into Erin's home with a moving van all in one day. The last step was to bring Aramis to his new home. Erin and I brought him in and let him explore. He walked around with all his curiosity, and eventually laid down in the kitchen, looked at his mommas and his expression said, "I'm home."
He was such as easy going, laid back cat. After a full day and night, Erin went to get his furry brother, Jackson. Our home was in disarray, as I had boxes everywhere! Aramis was relaxing on the couch when Erin came home with Jax. A little back story on Jackson, he is OCD. If something is different or out of place, he will instantly notice and usually bark at the object. Well, as soon as Aramis heard Jax come in the house (still on a leash), he took off and hid under our buffet. Right next to him was a rolled up rug. So, Jackson came in, still on his leash, and was taken aback by my crap that was all over the living room. He spotted Aramis, or so we thought, and started barking! Erin and I looked at each other and thought, here we go! Little did we know, Jax was barking at the rug! He didn't yet notice the fluffy kitty directly next to it. That's when Aramis made his move. He ran out and instantly caught Jackson's sight. Jackson, again, still on a leash, went crazy. He was growling and barking! Aramis quickly jumped up on the couch and fluffed his fur up. He held his composure and kept his game face on. We brought Jax closer and Aramis started hissing and swatting at Jax. This just made Jax growl and bark more. I was devastated, as was Erin. Our worst fears were coming true!
We put Aramis is his room (which we named the "Spare-amis" room). He was all set up with a comfy bed, his food and water, his litter box and a window to look out and sunbathe in. We also put a gate up at the door of his room. That night, we felt defeated. I felt so sad that Aramis was locked up, but remembered this was day one. We had a lot of work to do with these furry kids of ours. Day after day, we slowly let the boys look at each other through the gate. I was with Aramis and Erin was with Jackson. Aramis was beyond curious and Jax would still lunge and growl at the gate.
During the night, we let Aramis have full access to the house as Jax was closed in our room with us. We also let Aramis out of his room, leaving the gate up, while we were home. He eventually got brave enough to venture out and come snuggle with us. Jax, with some direction and reminders, was able to ignore Aramis enough to allow him to lay on the couch. Much to our surprise, on my birthday, about a month after we moved in, Aramis and Jackson were both laying on our bed with us! Halleluiah!! Granted, they were no where near each other and we could feel the tension, but it was major progress! It was the greatest present I could have gotten! (this was just before I found a small dead mouse Aramis had caught and brought upstairs to show off) Erin and I never expected the boys to be best friends, we just wanted them to peacefully coexist. Success! Our worries, for the time being, were gone! We kept Aramis closed off a bit longer while we weren't home, but quickly, that ended too. Once we got into our routine, the boys seemed to follow suit. They had mastered the art of peacefully co-existing. Our worries about them getting along were gone!
Aramis was able to make new friends now living with our Erin and Jackson. He loved all the attention and always put on a show. Between friends and family, Aramis had frequent visitors. Along with visitors, Aramis also had new favorite spots. He loved to lay on the back of the couch by his mommas heads, he could keep an eye on Jackson and be close to us. He was able to get to this perch after he got past Jackson. Jax would try to herd Aramis away from us when we were on the couch. This happened repeatedly most evenings. Aramis also grew quite fond of sleeping on our pillows (aka our heads).
Erin tolerated it only so much, as too much of his fluff in her face made her itchy. I was usually the lucky one to have Aramis on my head and pillow promptly at 5am in the morning. If walking on my pillow, placing his paw on my head/face, licking my forehead, on gnawing on my hair didn't wake me up, Aramis would begin the lovely purr/bathe himself ritual. That immediately got me up and out of bed as this ritual was quite noisy and annoying. Once he got me up, he would yell at me (the Maa-rooow was full volume) to go to his room to watch him eat. It was quite special. After I was up, and Aramis ate, he would sometimes venture downstairs with me and get a drink out of Jackson's water bowl. His bowl upstairs was never good enough. This brings me to another one of Aramis' quirks. He, more times than not, would drink by placing his furry paw into the water bowl and then licking the water off his paw. If you were to catch him drinking like this, he typically would freeze, paw in the air, and stare at you. If he realized you were just a spectator, he would continue to drink with his paw. On rare occasions, he would drink from the bowl like a normal cat. After this morning routine, he was always ready for a nap. He typically would venture back to our bed and curl up. If there was a comfy spot in the sun, more than likely he would lay there and go right to sleep.
Aramis loved to sunbathe. Anytime the sun was coming in, Aramis would find that spot and curl up or sprawl out and take a long snooze. He also loved the radiators in the colder months. Frequently we would find him curled up next to the radiator. Sometimes he would put his nose right next to the radiator. Other times we would catch him with his legs under the radiator. It was pretty cute.
As our first Christmas living in this new home was approaching, Erin and I decorated. Aramis was on alert for any new ribbon or decoration he could chew on. Thankfully, he wasn't too interested in the Christmas tree. He only showed curiosity long enough to realize he could care less what it was. Erin and I found some snazzy pet sweaters and decided the boys had to have them. We then decided it was only appropriate to have our boys be the main attraction of our Christmas cards. Erin had been sending out cards with Jax for a few years. They were both generous and willing to include Aramis that year. They were quite popular cards, if I do say so myself!
As the next year began, Erin worked and coached and I continued to nanny and take classes. Life was busy, and our boys tolerated the time away from us. They loved when we came home for the night as they would come snuggle with us on the couch or in bed. What a great little family we had. We live in a great little community. There was a pet-palooza put on which we attended with Jackson. While we were there, we were given many samples of wholesome pet food. We heard the vendors opinion of the food and why it was a good idea to have our pets on this grain free, by-product free food. We were sold! We switched Aramis and Jackson that day. Well, we bought new food and gradually switched them over. I bought Aramis the healthy weight variety, as he was a little chubby. Erin's favorite nickname for him was "Chubbs." He was rarely called Aramis, it was typically Fatty and Chubbs. I had previously tried Aramis on this healthy food, but that little punk would pick out the healthier food from his regular food and leave it all around his food dish. This time around, he was eating the healthy food. We noticed his fur was much shinier and felt softer. He was even more handsome! As we got closer to Christmas, Erin and I tried to come up with another fun card idea, clearly with the animals. Here is our Christmas card from 2012.
They became buddies...as much as a cat and a dog can be I guess. We have these cards on display every Christmas. I love it. We get so excited about making these cards and hearing from our family and friends. Maybe we are a bit biased, but that's ok with me!
Aramis and Jackson put up with a lot as we put them through quite a bit. Here are some great pictures we captured over the past couple years.
Starting another new year, Erin and I knew we had some changes coming. I was going to be starting an accelerated nursing program and not working. We weren't quite sure how my schedule would be. We started the year off with me having four day weekends. This was great and clearly the boys loved having one of us home a lot more. Jax and I would go for walks and Chubbs and I would snuggle longer in bed. It was a great routine! In May, I started the insane nursing program and things sure did change. I spent all day at school and then would come home to spend hours looking at my computer. Jackson was ok as long as he went outside, and his momma Erin was around. When she wasn't home, he typically will just sleep and mope awaiting her return. Aramis, on the other hand, was very interested in what I was up to and wanted to be as close as possible. Whether I was studying, watching tv, or in the kitchen cooking, Aramis was most often by my side, or sleeping nearby.
I started taking Aramis for yearly check-ups at the vet Erin takes Jackson. Thankfully, Aramis never needed the vet more than once a year. He got his yearly shots and always was a favorite among the vet and vet techs. He knew how to turn on the charm :) At his vet visit in March 2013, the vet noted that he was down a pound from the previous March. I explained I had put him on better food and was giving him a bit less to keep his weight at an appropriate level. We called it his lifestyle change, no more all day buffet. The vet noted it and also made a comment about not seeing any muscle wasting. I shrugged off the comment and didn't think too much of it. Aramis was 14, but he was so full of life, I figured I helped him drop a pound of the past year. He was now 12 and a half pounds instead of 13 and a half.
My parents came out for a visit in April and also picked up on Aramis seeming a tad smaller from the last time they saw him. This now took my attention and I became hyper aware of how much Aramis was eating and feeling him more as I pet him. He was eating about the same amount of food, but I was noticing I could feel his spine a bit more than I used to. I decided to keep an eye on him and look for any behavior changes. I didn't see anything different, so I offered him more food, which he gladly ate.
I started the insane nursing program at the end of May. Life was crazy, but I still made sure to make Erin, Jax and Aramis top priority. As the weeks went by, I was getting a bit more concerned with how thin I was thinking Aramis was. Erin and I were also starting to notice s couple new quirks in his behavior. A few times during the night, Aramis would jump on our dresser, paw at the mirror and meow loudly. This was completely out of character for him. I was nervous, so I took him to the vet. We saw a new vet that had never met Aramis. She weighed him and did a head to tail assessment. He was down about a pound from March, which was concerning. She asked about his temperament and food intake. All still seemed normal for him at that point. He was eating a bit less, but that was normal in the summer months for him. The vet took blood and a urine sample. A few days later she called back to say Aramis had a UTI and the only thing she found in his blood was an elevated calcium level. We put Aramis on a round of antibiotics. About 3 weeks later, we went back to the vet for a repeat blood test, hoping, though not likely, the UTI could have raised his calcium level. Sadly, Aramis had lost a bit more weight and his blood still had elevated calcium. The possible causes for this could be hyperparathyroidism, an issue with his thyroid, or cancer. She said the only way to diagnose anything would be to do x-rays, ultrasound and a more in depth blood test. I talked with her a bit and explained I didn't have the money to do any of those invasive tests, and even if I did find out it was cancer or a tumor on his thyroid, at almost 15 years old, I would not put Aramis through surgery or chemo. I spoke with another vet after the results of the second blood test came back and was so glad to have had another opinion. This vet explained that he takes a very conservative approach to older pet care and completely understood not wanting to do anything invasive on Aramis. He idea was to put Aramis on Prednisone, a steroid, to help increase his appetite to maybe put some weight on him. He said, if it was cancer, the steroid works like chemo and may help to slow the growth of a tumor. I was commited to this approach and went right over and picked up the steroid. He started with a pill once a day for a week, then a pill every other day indefinitely. I noticed right away, his appetite increased. He became so hungry. I was thrilled. He was allowed to eat whenever he wanted and as much as he wanted. We gave him his all day buffet back and I got the full fat food, no more healthy weight control food for Aramis. He also was getting a variety of wet food multiple times a day. This went on for a few weeks. Maybe we figured out what he needed!
As the weeks went by, Aramis slowly started changing. He was not as energetic as he once was. He also felt like he was still losing weight, despite his increased appetite. As more time passed, he was beginning to get pickier about what he did eat, and wasn't eating his dry food much any more. I was in a bit of denial, but wasn't going to give up on Aramis. We gave Aramis so much love and snuggles. Aramis also started hiding more. This was a huge red flag that something wasn't right. Aramis loved attention and people. The fact that he was hiding in our closet and under our bed during the day was heartbreaking. As more time went on, we had to bribe him to eat. I was getting new kinds of wet food to try and get him to eat anything. We were losing our battle against whatever was making him sick and so so thin.
I started bringing food to Aramis, putting wet food and water out for him on our floor to lure him out from under our bed a few times a day. I also got new cat treats to get some calories into him. It was stressful as I just wanted him to eat and be my laid back, care free kitty again. He stopped sleeping with us and I no longer had my five am wake up buddy. I hated that I used to complain about his frequent early morning baths. I would have given anything for him to ma-roow at me at five am.
On September 8, 2013, Aramis turned 15!
He put up with me taking a few birthday pictures. My sweet, old boy. He really was a birthday prince.
As the fall was coming, Aramis was declining more and eating even less. I started using a syringe to give him watered down food and water, as I wanted to keep him going. I thought, maybe if I got a little food in him, he would try and want to eat more on his own. Erin and I also took him back to the vet. We saw the same vet that I spoke with on the phone. He was wonderful and was so calm and patient with Aramis. Aramis didn't get out of his cage, so we took the top off and the vet examined him while he laid on his towel. The vet found what he believed was an 8cm. tumor in his abdomen. We aren't sure if the first vet missed this, if his weight was such that the tumor wasn't palpable, or maybe the tumor had grown so much it was now able to be felt. Whatever the case, it was finally determined our sweet boy had cancer. The vet said it was lymphoma, a very common cancer in cats, which raise their blood calcium levels. Poor Aramis was now down to only 8 pounds. He was so frail and looking so old. The vet told us to increase the steroid, back to every day, hoping it would increase his appetite. He reassured us that losing weight is not suffering for cats. He said they can walk around like a skeleton, and even though it is shocking to see, he is not in pain or suffering. It was evident he wasn't in pain, he tolerated the vet giving him a thorough check, all the while purring. Aramis still would purr for us all the time, which was wonderful. This vet visit was at the beginning of October. The vet gave us the go ahead to feed Aramis anything and everything he wanted. He also said, if he tolerated the syringe feeding, to go ahead, but if he wasn't tolerating it, probably best to not force feed him. He also said we cold give him Pepcid AC to help with any nausea he might be experiencing. The vet also told us what to look for to know if Aramis was suffering. We were having the dreaded conversation no pet owner ever wants to have. We were told it really was our choice when to bring Aramis back. We were also told, Aramis could pass away during the night. Our poor kitty was declining and it was breaking our hearts.
Over the next couple weeks, we fed Aramis baby food, his pills and gave him so much love and affection. He hid most of the day and really wouldn't come out from his hiding spots. I would pull him out just to hug and kiss him. I noticed he wasn't grooming himself anymore and his once fluffy, shiny orange fur was now looking unkempt. It was so sad to see. I was asking Erin all the time if she thought his time had come. Erin was my voice of reason. Aramis was tolerating the feeds I gave him, he was using his litter box (well he would sometimes use it, most times he would pee right in front of the litter box) and he was still purring.
One Sunday morning, we walked downstairs and instantly smelled cat urine. I was panicked that something awful happened. Aramis was in his usual spot, behind the living room chair on his make shift bed of blankets we made for him, just quietly sleeping. I then found the puddle of cat pee by the front door. I went back over to Aramis, who smelled so bad, and discovered he was covered in his urine. In the nine years I had Aramis, he had never not used his litter box. I felt so bad for him. I knew he was ashamed and embarrassed. Erin and I carried him upstairs and tried to clean him as best we could, all the while crying. We knew this was the beginning of the end of our sweet Chubbs. We set up the office to be his room. I laid towels and fleece blankets all over the floor, for his comfort and in case he had another accident. We kept him in this room, as I was afraid he might not be able to go up and down the stairs anymore. Aramis was so weak, he could barely walk. He would still get up and use his litter box, or just pee on a pad we put at the front of his litter box. Such a good boy. As the week went on, I was finding it harder to force feed Aramis. He was fighting me, so I gave up. I would still offer him food and water, but just with his bowl, no more with the syringe. I would spend so much time with my smelly kitty and just told him how much I loved him. He would still purr and kiss my hands.
Erin and I talked a lot about our next step, and as my voice of reason, Erin made me see that Aramis didn't have any quality of life left. He could barely walk, he wasn't eating anything, he smelled and couldn't clean himself and we had him stuck in a room. I would bring him downstairs wrapped in a towel so he could visit with us and Jax, but he would try to get up and walk to the back of the chair to hide. Erin made the difficult call to the vet to schedule an appointment to end Aramis' suffering. I am so thankful she was able to be the strong one. We scheduled the appointment in the evening so M could come too. The weekend was awful, all I could think was this is our last few days with our sweet boy.
The day came that I never wanted to have to live through. I was home all day with Aramis and I spent most of my time with him. He had stopped purring, which made me realize we were making the right decision. I tried all day to get him to kiss me, which he refused. He was so weak, but would pick his little head up when I came to see him. Erin and M came home and we spent time sitting with Aramis and snuggling him. When the time came to drive to the vet, I wrapped Aramis in a towel and just held him on my lap. We got to the office, and the tech who always swooned over Aramis was taking us back. She was devastated for us. She too has an orange tabby and went on and on at how they are the best cats. We went to the room and she gave us more time with Aramis. Erin, M and I all took turns holding Aramis and telling him how much we loved him. We told him he wasn't going to have to suffer anymore. I was the last one to hold him and as I was laying him on the table, he turned his little head and kissed my hand. It surprised me, but was probably the best part of that whole day. My sweet boy. Aramis went very peacefully. He was only 7lbs. We stayed with him for a bit and gave him lots of love. He was such a wonderful, sweet, loving cat.
My favorite memories of Aramis are his furry pants, his hugs and snuggles around my neck, his loud purring and his various meows. He surely was the greatest cat there ever was and I am certain I will never find another cat even close to how wonderful, sweet, affectionate and loving like my boy was. He will forever hold a place in my heart and I know I will always miss him. Even though it has been a little over five months since we said good-bye, I still miss him like crazy. There are times I am home and I look at the stairs expecting him to be staring down at us. I look in his room expecting to see him, or his bed or litter box. On rare occasions, I can still smell him in our office. I made a paw print mold of his little furry paw and I keep it on the bed post next to me. I think of him everyday and miss him always. I am so glad I had nine great years with my furry little man. He was my constant for all those years. He moved so many new places with me and was my best buddy. He was so loyal and showed me how much he loved me everyday. Aramis will live on in our hearts, our stories and our memories (and the thousands of pictures we have of that crazy cat!).
"Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other, because of them."
- John Grogan
A few more pictures of my handsome boy...
So much work to stay so beautiful!
Ready to play!
A little while later, I moved in with two friends and their cat, Mama. Aramis meowed like crazy in the car on the 30 minute drive to his new home. It was quite special. Once in the house, he explored with his eyes wide open and pupils dilated (his beady eyes) for about a half hour. Once he explored, he plopped on the floor and his expression told me, "ok mom, we're home." Aramis did ok with Mama. His favorite "game" was to sprawl out on a step, stare down Mama and flop his tail up and down as if to say, "go ahead Mama, go up the steps, I won't chase you!" Of course, if Mama was brave enough to run past him, Aramis would jump up and run after her. They never fought, but they were never best buds either. Aramis really enjoyed his time there as he was able to eat Mama's wet food. He kept us all entertained, and kept Mama on her toes.
After a brief stay with Mama and our friends, Aramis, my sister and I made the big move to Philadelphia. In preparation of the 10+ hour car ride, I took Aramis to the vet to get a sedative. I was concerned for his comfort, but I was also concerned for M.'s and my sanity. If we had to listen to Aramis meow for 10+ hours, we may have lost our minds. Unfortunately, the sedative had the opposite effect on sweet Aramis. Red flags should have gone up when I gave him the pills, left him alone for an hour before we left, per vet's instruction, only to find Aramis flipping around the room chasing a fly. He was NEVER that active. Off we went. Poor guy was a mess. He meowed for awhile, he also puked in his cage and he started meowing and tilting his head from side to side. Poor kitty was acting like he was drunk! After about 12 hours, we finally made it to Philly and began our new life in a big city.
Poor fatty stuck in his cage and all doped up on the sedative.
Aramis, my sister, our roommate and I lived in a "luxury apartment" in Philadelphia. We are convinced luxury was code for squirrel infested, nonexistent landlord, barely any heat, 3rd floor apartment. During our first few months in Philly, Aramis got fleas, we assume from the pesky squirrels or the fleas were just in the apartment. We also discovered, even without front claws and missing six teeth, Aramis was our little protector. He was able to catch and kill a mouse. He was clearly impressed with his ability, as he left the dead mouse out in plain sight for us to find. We also discovered the FURminator! We were able to help cut down on some of the insane amount of hair that Aramis shed. We just got him all hyped up on cat nip and brushed him until he started attacking our hands. We also discovered Aramis developed what my sister and I called his Philly accent. Aramis, being the vocal cat he was, meowed all the time. Now he would yell out a "Maa-roow." It was hilarious. I noticed it was usually when he didn't have my undivided attention. I had never heard that type of meow come out of him until we moved to Philly. He had an array of meows, some were really high pitched and pathetic, some really loud and long, usually in the morning and some that just sounded like a typical meow. He had so much personality from his expressive eyes all the way down to his furry pants.
Some pictures from our "luxury" apartment...
The sweater his Aunt made for him.
During our time at our first apartment, we made many requests to the landlord about the condition of our home. Since the landlord was pretty sporadic and we weren't sure what he might do to the apartment while we were away, We decided to take Aramis home for the holidays with us. We were driving to Michigan for Christmas and didn't feel comfortable leaving Aramis for 10+ days, so we packed him up and he made the drive home with us, again. This time, sans sedative. He was much more comfortable. I let him out of his cage for a bit to let him see his surroundings and that seemed to help a lot. The next hurdle was to introduce Riley, my parents big mutt, to Aramis. Well, it took about 5 minutes for Aramis to put Riley in his place. Aramis owned that house for the little while we were there.
Aramis was so adaptable, he was able to move and settle in instantly. I figured it was due to having me and his favorite Aunt with him. Wherever we were, he was home. My biggest fear with him was that he would sneak out of the front door and would be gone. He was very sneaky and if he knew he wasn't allowed somewhere, he would stalk the door and try to get out if someone new was coming or going or if he thought you weren't paying attention. He tried this a few times, thankfully he never got far. He was also such a character and knew how to turn on the charm. He won over anyone who met him. The new friends I was making all loved the furry guy. Friends back home frequently saw pictures I posted of Aramis living the life. He loved living with two college kids, because M and D were always having people come over, so he got all the attention he could ever want. M noticed when she had a couple parties, Aramis was always making a grand entrance, but when he had enough of people and noise, he would quietly leave and go sleep on her bed or my bed. He knew his limits. All of our friends just adored Aramis, and really, could you blame them? Aramis was so handsome, friendly and such a special cat!
Just before our next move, Aramis had a new person enter his life...Erin! Little did he know she would become his second momma. He won Erin over instantly, despite her allergy to cats. Our second move (my fourth move with Aramis) was a few block down the street from our luxury apartment. This place was also with my sister, our roommate and myself. Aramis had the luxury of having a new set of stairs to run up and down and many new places to explore. This apartment was so much bigger and in much better condition compared to our first place. This was the case until we had the heat and humidity from Philly summers. The top floor was too hot to live in, so we placed an AC unit in our living room and M and I took over in there and it became our faux studio apartment. Aramis moved right in with us and enjoyed the comfort of the cooler temperature.
Our third move was to South Philly, in a tri-level row home. It was now just Aramis, me and his favorite Aunt. He explored his new surroundings and quickly made himself right at home. His Erin also came over lots, but wasn't able to spend as much time as she would like due to her pup at her house. I also spent more time away from Aramis at this house as I spent more time with Erin at her house. This gave Aramis a lot of one on one time with his favorite Aunt.
Erin and her niece came to check on Aramis over Thanksgiving.
Aramis resting his paw hoping his favorite Aunt will ignore her work and snuggle him!
Aramis resting his paw hoping his favorite Aunt will ignore her work and snuggle him!
In this house he had two flights of stairs that he could run up and down. He was usually wherever people were. He would snuggle with me when I went to bed and proceed to rudely wake me up so I could go downstairs and watch him eat. He would sleep on my pillow and rest his paw on my face. If that didn't work, he would walk around on my head and on my back. If that failed, he would start to bathe himself sitting next to my head. The noise of him licking combined with his loud purring always got me right up! After he had a little breakfast, he would head up to the third floor to snuggle with his favorite Aunt and go back to bed until she had to get up for school. What a life! At this house, Aramis also had the opportunity to catch and kill a mouse. He brought it, as if it were a treasure, to me around midnight as I was sleeping. It was gross, but how could I be mad, he was protecting his momma! Another "perk" of this house, for Aramis, was the discovery of cockroaches! I was terrified as I realized I had/have an irrational fear of roaches. From February until we moved out in July, I was paranoid of these nasty little creatures. Aramis was our protector. He was able to show off his hunting skills.
I always felt better knowing Aramis was on alert to keep those roaches away from his momma. I loved this house and loved living with my Aramis and my sister, but Erin and I were ready to start our life together and we were planning our wedding so it was decided after this lease was up, I would move with Aramis into her home.
A few more pictures from our house before our move with Erin and Jackson...
He loved that futon.
Putting up with the torture from E, and a look we deemed "Scare-amis"
I had a visitor on the other side of my computer! (Clearly watching tv and not studying)
In his jungle gym in his favorite Aunt's room. He loved to go in the bottom and paw at the nylon.
Scare-amis strikes again!
A small dinner party and Aramis clearly wanted to sit with the ladies!
His toothless yawn.
A few pics with his favorite Aunt.
He was such as easy going, laid back cat. After a full day and night, Erin went to get his furry brother, Jackson. Our home was in disarray, as I had boxes everywhere! Aramis was relaxing on the couch when Erin came home with Jax. A little back story on Jackson, he is OCD. If something is different or out of place, he will instantly notice and usually bark at the object. Well, as soon as Aramis heard Jax come in the house (still on a leash), he took off and hid under our buffet. Right next to him was a rolled up rug. So, Jackson came in, still on his leash, and was taken aback by my crap that was all over the living room. He spotted Aramis, or so we thought, and started barking! Erin and I looked at each other and thought, here we go! Little did we know, Jax was barking at the rug! He didn't yet notice the fluffy kitty directly next to it. That's when Aramis made his move. He ran out and instantly caught Jackson's sight. Jackson, again, still on a leash, went crazy. He was growling and barking! Aramis quickly jumped up on the couch and fluffed his fur up. He held his composure and kept his game face on. We brought Jax closer and Aramis started hissing and swatting at Jax. This just made Jax growl and bark more. I was devastated, as was Erin. Our worst fears were coming true!
During the night, we let Aramis have full access to the house as Jax was closed in our room with us. We also let Aramis out of his room, leaving the gate up, while we were home. He eventually got brave enough to venture out and come snuggle with us. Jax, with some direction and reminders, was able to ignore Aramis enough to allow him to lay on the couch. Much to our surprise, on my birthday, about a month after we moved in, Aramis and Jackson were both laying on our bed with us! Halleluiah!! Granted, they were no where near each other and we could feel the tension, but it was major progress! It was the greatest present I could have gotten! (this was just before I found a small dead mouse Aramis had caught and brought upstairs to show off) Erin and I never expected the boys to be best friends, we just wanted them to peacefully coexist. Success! Our worries, for the time being, were gone! We kept Aramis closed off a bit longer while we weren't home, but quickly, that ended too. Once we got into our routine, the boys seemed to follow suit. They had mastered the art of peacefully co-existing. Our worries about them getting along were gone!
Aramis loved to sunbathe. Anytime the sun was coming in, Aramis would find that spot and curl up or sprawl out and take a long snooze. He also loved the radiators in the colder months. Frequently we would find him curled up next to the radiator. Sometimes he would put his nose right next to the radiator. Other times we would catch him with his legs under the radiator. It was pretty cute.
As our first Christmas living in this new home was approaching, Erin and I decorated. Aramis was on alert for any new ribbon or decoration he could chew on. Thankfully, he wasn't too interested in the Christmas tree. He only showed curiosity long enough to realize he could care less what it was. Erin and I found some snazzy pet sweaters and decided the boys had to have them. We then decided it was only appropriate to have our boys be the main attraction of our Christmas cards. Erin had been sending out cards with Jax for a few years. They were both generous and willing to include Aramis that year. They were quite popular cards, if I do say so myself!
We received many compliments on our photogenic, furry kids. They were so good and listened so well for the photo shoot. I only wish we had the out takes or a video of Erin and I setting this up!
As the next year began, Erin worked and coached and I continued to nanny and take classes. Life was busy, and our boys tolerated the time away from us. They loved when we came home for the night as they would come snuggle with us on the couch or in bed. What a great little family we had. We live in a great little community. There was a pet-palooza put on which we attended with Jackson. While we were there, we were given many samples of wholesome pet food. We heard the vendors opinion of the food and why it was a good idea to have our pets on this grain free, by-product free food. We were sold! We switched Aramis and Jackson that day. Well, we bought new food and gradually switched them over. I bought Aramis the healthy weight variety, as he was a little chubby. Erin's favorite nickname for him was "Chubbs." He was rarely called Aramis, it was typically Fatty and Chubbs. I had previously tried Aramis on this healthy food, but that little punk would pick out the healthier food from his regular food and leave it all around his food dish. This time around, he was eating the healthy food. We noticed his fur was much shinier and felt softer. He was even more handsome! As we got closer to Christmas, Erin and I tried to come up with another fun card idea, clearly with the animals. Here is our Christmas card from 2012.
They became buddies...as much as a cat and a dog can be I guess. We have these cards on display every Christmas. I love it. We get so excited about making these cards and hearing from our family and friends. Maybe we are a bit biased, but that's ok with me!
Aramis and Jackson put up with a lot as we put them through quite a bit. Here are some great pictures we captured over the past couple years.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Always a snuggler
Can you feel the love?
What resulted after we used the furminator on Aramis...we called "him" Henry ;)
Starting another new year, Erin and I knew we had some changes coming. I was going to be starting an accelerated nursing program and not working. We weren't quite sure how my schedule would be. We started the year off with me having four day weekends. This was great and clearly the boys loved having one of us home a lot more. Jax and I would go for walks and Chubbs and I would snuggle longer in bed. It was a great routine! In May, I started the insane nursing program and things sure did change. I spent all day at school and then would come home to spend hours looking at my computer. Jackson was ok as long as he went outside, and his momma Erin was around. When she wasn't home, he typically will just sleep and mope awaiting her return. Aramis, on the other hand, was very interested in what I was up to and wanted to be as close as possible. Whether I was studying, watching tv, or in the kitchen cooking, Aramis was most often by my side, or sleeping nearby.
Aramis was always quick to take my seat as soon as I got up.
Other times, he demanded my attention by jumping right onto my work. He loved to lay on paper.
So many rough kisses! Such a lover.
He always wanted in on the action!
I started taking Aramis for yearly check-ups at the vet Erin takes Jackson. Thankfully, Aramis never needed the vet more than once a year. He got his yearly shots and always was a favorite among the vet and vet techs. He knew how to turn on the charm :) At his vet visit in March 2013, the vet noted that he was down a pound from the previous March. I explained I had put him on better food and was giving him a bit less to keep his weight at an appropriate level. We called it his lifestyle change, no more all day buffet. The vet noted it and also made a comment about not seeing any muscle wasting. I shrugged off the comment and didn't think too much of it. Aramis was 14, but he was so full of life, I figured I helped him drop a pound of the past year. He was now 12 and a half pounds instead of 13 and a half.
My parents came out for a visit in April and also picked up on Aramis seeming a tad smaller from the last time they saw him. This now took my attention and I became hyper aware of how much Aramis was eating and feeling him more as I pet him. He was eating about the same amount of food, but I was noticing I could feel his spine a bit more than I used to. I decided to keep an eye on him and look for any behavior changes. I didn't see anything different, so I offered him more food, which he gladly ate.
I started the insane nursing program at the end of May. Life was crazy, but I still made sure to make Erin, Jax and Aramis top priority. As the weeks went by, I was getting a bit more concerned with how thin I was thinking Aramis was. Erin and I were also starting to notice s couple new quirks in his behavior. A few times during the night, Aramis would jump on our dresser, paw at the mirror and meow loudly. This was completely out of character for him. I was nervous, so I took him to the vet. We saw a new vet that had never met Aramis. She weighed him and did a head to tail assessment. He was down about a pound from March, which was concerning. She asked about his temperament and food intake. All still seemed normal for him at that point. He was eating a bit less, but that was normal in the summer months for him. The vet took blood and a urine sample. A few days later she called back to say Aramis had a UTI and the only thing she found in his blood was an elevated calcium level. We put Aramis on a round of antibiotics. About 3 weeks later, we went back to the vet for a repeat blood test, hoping, though not likely, the UTI could have raised his calcium level. Sadly, Aramis had lost a bit more weight and his blood still had elevated calcium. The possible causes for this could be hyperparathyroidism, an issue with his thyroid, or cancer. She said the only way to diagnose anything would be to do x-rays, ultrasound and a more in depth blood test. I talked with her a bit and explained I didn't have the money to do any of those invasive tests, and even if I did find out it was cancer or a tumor on his thyroid, at almost 15 years old, I would not put Aramis through surgery or chemo. I spoke with another vet after the results of the second blood test came back and was so glad to have had another opinion. This vet explained that he takes a very conservative approach to older pet care and completely understood not wanting to do anything invasive on Aramis. He idea was to put Aramis on Prednisone, a steroid, to help increase his appetite to maybe put some weight on him. He said, if it was cancer, the steroid works like chemo and may help to slow the growth of a tumor. I was commited to this approach and went right over and picked up the steroid. He started with a pill once a day for a week, then a pill every other day indefinitely. I noticed right away, his appetite increased. He became so hungry. I was thrilled. He was allowed to eat whenever he wanted and as much as he wanted. We gave him his all day buffet back and I got the full fat food, no more healthy weight control food for Aramis. He also was getting a variety of wet food multiple times a day. This went on for a few weeks. Maybe we figured out what he needed!
As the weeks went by, Aramis slowly started changing. He was not as energetic as he once was. He also felt like he was still losing weight, despite his increased appetite. As more time passed, he was beginning to get pickier about what he did eat, and wasn't eating his dry food much any more. I was in a bit of denial, but wasn't going to give up on Aramis. We gave Aramis so much love and snuggles. Aramis also started hiding more. This was a huge red flag that something wasn't right. Aramis loved attention and people. The fact that he was hiding in our closet and under our bed during the day was heartbreaking. As more time went on, we had to bribe him to eat. I was getting new kinds of wet food to try and get him to eat anything. We were losing our battle against whatever was making him sick and so so thin.
I started bringing food to Aramis, putting wet food and water out for him on our floor to lure him out from under our bed a few times a day. I also got new cat treats to get some calories into him. It was stressful as I just wanted him to eat and be my laid back, care free kitty again. He stopped sleeping with us and I no longer had my five am wake up buddy. I hated that I used to complain about his frequent early morning baths. I would have given anything for him to ma-roow at me at five am.
On September 8, 2013, Aramis turned 15!
As the fall was coming, Aramis was declining more and eating even less. I started using a syringe to give him watered down food and water, as I wanted to keep him going. I thought, maybe if I got a little food in him, he would try and want to eat more on his own. Erin and I also took him back to the vet. We saw the same vet that I spoke with on the phone. He was wonderful and was so calm and patient with Aramis. Aramis didn't get out of his cage, so we took the top off and the vet examined him while he laid on his towel. The vet found what he believed was an 8cm. tumor in his abdomen. We aren't sure if the first vet missed this, if his weight was such that the tumor wasn't palpable, or maybe the tumor had grown so much it was now able to be felt. Whatever the case, it was finally determined our sweet boy had cancer. The vet said it was lymphoma, a very common cancer in cats, which raise their blood calcium levels. Poor Aramis was now down to only 8 pounds. He was so frail and looking so old. The vet told us to increase the steroid, back to every day, hoping it would increase his appetite. He reassured us that losing weight is not suffering for cats. He said they can walk around like a skeleton, and even though it is shocking to see, he is not in pain or suffering. It was evident he wasn't in pain, he tolerated the vet giving him a thorough check, all the while purring. Aramis still would purr for us all the time, which was wonderful. This vet visit was at the beginning of October. The vet gave us the go ahead to feed Aramis anything and everything he wanted. He also said, if he tolerated the syringe feeding, to go ahead, but if he wasn't tolerating it, probably best to not force feed him. He also said we cold give him Pepcid AC to help with any nausea he might be experiencing. The vet also told us what to look for to know if Aramis was suffering. We were having the dreaded conversation no pet owner ever wants to have. We were told it really was our choice when to bring Aramis back. We were also told, Aramis could pass away during the night. Our poor kitty was declining and it was breaking our hearts.
Over the next couple weeks, we fed Aramis baby food, his pills and gave him so much love and affection. He hid most of the day and really wouldn't come out from his hiding spots. I would pull him out just to hug and kiss him. I noticed he wasn't grooming himself anymore and his once fluffy, shiny orange fur was now looking unkempt. It was so sad to see. I was asking Erin all the time if she thought his time had come. Erin was my voice of reason. Aramis was tolerating the feeds I gave him, he was using his litter box (well he would sometimes use it, most times he would pee right in front of the litter box) and he was still purring.
One Sunday morning, we walked downstairs and instantly smelled cat urine. I was panicked that something awful happened. Aramis was in his usual spot, behind the living room chair on his make shift bed of blankets we made for him, just quietly sleeping. I then found the puddle of cat pee by the front door. I went back over to Aramis, who smelled so bad, and discovered he was covered in his urine. In the nine years I had Aramis, he had never not used his litter box. I felt so bad for him. I knew he was ashamed and embarrassed. Erin and I carried him upstairs and tried to clean him as best we could, all the while crying. We knew this was the beginning of the end of our sweet Chubbs. We set up the office to be his room. I laid towels and fleece blankets all over the floor, for his comfort and in case he had another accident. We kept him in this room, as I was afraid he might not be able to go up and down the stairs anymore. Aramis was so weak, he could barely walk. He would still get up and use his litter box, or just pee on a pad we put at the front of his litter box. Such a good boy. As the week went on, I was finding it harder to force feed Aramis. He was fighting me, so I gave up. I would still offer him food and water, but just with his bowl, no more with the syringe. I would spend so much time with my smelly kitty and just told him how much I loved him. He would still purr and kiss my hands.
Erin and I talked a lot about our next step, and as my voice of reason, Erin made me see that Aramis didn't have any quality of life left. He could barely walk, he wasn't eating anything, he smelled and couldn't clean himself and we had him stuck in a room. I would bring him downstairs wrapped in a towel so he could visit with us and Jax, but he would try to get up and walk to the back of the chair to hide. Erin made the difficult call to the vet to schedule an appointment to end Aramis' suffering. I am so thankful she was able to be the strong one. We scheduled the appointment in the evening so M could come too. The weekend was awful, all I could think was this is our last few days with our sweet boy.
The day came that I never wanted to have to live through. I was home all day with Aramis and I spent most of my time with him. He had stopped purring, which made me realize we were making the right decision. I tried all day to get him to kiss me, which he refused. He was so weak, but would pick his little head up when I came to see him. Erin and M came home and we spent time sitting with Aramis and snuggling him. When the time came to drive to the vet, I wrapped Aramis in a towel and just held him on my lap. We got to the office, and the tech who always swooned over Aramis was taking us back. She was devastated for us. She too has an orange tabby and went on and on at how they are the best cats. We went to the room and she gave us more time with Aramis. Erin, M and I all took turns holding Aramis and telling him how much we loved him. We told him he wasn't going to have to suffer anymore. I was the last one to hold him and as I was laying him on the table, he turned his little head and kissed my hand. It surprised me, but was probably the best part of that whole day. My sweet boy. Aramis went very peacefully. He was only 7lbs. We stayed with him for a bit and gave him lots of love. He was such a wonderful, sweet, loving cat.
My favorite memories of Aramis are his furry pants, his hugs and snuggles around my neck, his loud purring and his various meows. He surely was the greatest cat there ever was and I am certain I will never find another cat even close to how wonderful, sweet, affectionate and loving like my boy was. He will forever hold a place in my heart and I know I will always miss him. Even though it has been a little over five months since we said good-bye, I still miss him like crazy. There are times I am home and I look at the stairs expecting him to be staring down at us. I look in his room expecting to see him, or his bed or litter box. On rare occasions, I can still smell him in our office. I made a paw print mold of his little furry paw and I keep it on the bed post next to me. I think of him everyday and miss him always. I am so glad I had nine great years with my furry little man. He was my constant for all those years. He moved so many new places with me and was my best buddy. He was so loyal and showed me how much he loved me everyday. Aramis will live on in our hearts, our stories and our memories (and the thousands of pictures we have of that crazy cat!).
"Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other, because of them."
- John Grogan
Our Sweet Aramis
September 8, 1998 - October 21, 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment