That Teacher, Mrs. ABC: Ghost Cat...

February 12, 2011

Let me introduce you to our Ghost Cat!

He is a very lively, active, entertaining cat. He loves to chase laser lights and run in gigantic circles. He loves to jump high and jump often. He loves to sit in Colt's lap purring loudly and "making muffins" (knead). He loves to drink water from the running facet, and will, although accidentally, nearly trip whomever he is trying to beat to the sink. He loves ice cream, pizza, ice in his water bowl, and a recent favorite was his Whiskas wet food pouches....NO seafood, JUST poultry, and of course, anything in a cup that is not meant for him. These are just a few of the things that Ghost perfected.

When in a fight, play-fight, or play session with his siblings he would always win....EXCEPT when playing with Zizzy. He would let her win! He would lay still after "struggling" to beat her, and allow her to prance off in victory. When playing with or fighting with Linky, he would roll and tumble and jump in such a way that Link could not keep up. Mind you some of Link's short comings are derived from his being an insanely obese kitten, but to win, Ghost would rare his front right paw backward and proceed to slap Link or any other cat in his space, repeatedly. All of this would happen so fast, the cats would just sit there completely stunned. In turn, Ghost would be crowned the victor.

Many times Colt and I would order pizza for dinner and have leftovers for a snack or another meal later on. Fresh, hot pizza was appetizing to Ghost, but the alluring nature of the cold pizza was just too much for Ghost to ignore. He would jump up to whichever surface had the pizza and would try to steal it from the consumer. Once, Colt was eating a slice of cold pizza out of his own right hand while leaning his left elbow on the bar in the kitchen. Ghost jumped up to the counter and walked briskly to Colt's hand and proceeded to eat the pizza right out of Colt's hand. By this I mean, Ghost took the pizza directly out of Colt's hand and walked away to eat his "prey".

Today, Colt and I had to make a very hard decision. In the past year, Colt's sweet, intelligent, and special kitty cat, Ghost, became increasingly ill.

Over the past 6 or so months Ghost has lost weight. He went from being about 8 pounds to 6.3. He is only 6 and a half years old, therefore, his weight is extremely alarming.

Let me back track....

Last summer, Colt and I had Ghost tested for fear he was becoming sick, after all of our tests came back negative, the vet told us that he was probably suffering with some kind of cancer: stomach or intestinal. But we were informed that it could be either Inflammatory Bowel Disease or Kidney Disease, too. All of these scenarios left us with a sick baby Ghoey, and the knowledge that he would not be with us for as long as we were intending.

Over the past week or so, maybe two weeks to encompass it all, Ghost has taken a turn for the worst. We just didn't want to believe it. He was no longer as playful; he did not demand facet water, and he was throwing up undigested food, more and more. He stomped jumping from counter-top to counter-top, even though this was one of his favorite past-times. He began just easing, sliding his way down the counter doors to the floor.

Last night, after feeding him at about 7 p.m. he seemed to be doing fine. However, all of that changed about 5 hours later. Just after midnight he vomited up, what appeared to be everything he had eaten for the entire day. He then dry-heaved four more times: just after two, just before 4, just after five, and while in Colt's arms at 7:20 a.m. He was not himself, Ghost was not looking at us, he was not with us. His eyes were damp and darkening with the intensity of pain. He would not move. He refused food and water, he was hissing and growling at his siblings, as well as, me! He NEVER growls at me or Colt. He would come sit with us, he wouldn't let us hold him. We saw him go into dark corners by himself, and he would his if we came in to move him out.

This was NOT our sweet baby. Something has really changed and turned for the worse, so we made the decision to call the vet. We made an emergency appointment and went in. The vet said that she could not feel any tumors or lumps in his intestinal track, but that she would not be able to necessarily feel if there was something in the stomach. However, due to our discussion about his recent behaviors, actions and misfortunes, she told us it wasn't good.

We were not about to let him continue suffering, so we had to make the final decision to let him rest in peace. This is by far the HARDEST thing I have every had to endure. We love Ghost so very much, we are going to miss him with ALL of our hearts! These memories are truly bitter-sweet, for there will never be any more, but he was blessed with the best life he could possibly have being the "son" of Colt. He is now out of pain and is with us in our hearts daily.

This is very difficult for Colt since he has been with Ghost longer than he has been with me. Ghost had to accept me into the family before there was any hope of sticking around. I am forever grateful of his love!

Goodbye my Ghoey! I LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!