Oliver, Farewell Puffy Boy...

Oliver Pozz Bollywogz de Bozmonger

Born: (maybe) 2000 

Bridge: 28th September 2012

It is with a horrible, lingering shock and sadness that I wanted to tell our friends that Oliver, our beautiful fluffy boy, our Puffkin, who was made of love for all cats suddenly went to The Bridge in the early hours of last Friday.

Whiskers awry on lookout duty

Thursday night, we went to bed about 00:15 and five minutes later I heard a strange miaow from the kitchen. I immediately went to investigate, strange miaows mean something. Oliver was lying on his side on the floor, still and giving sad pain filled miaows. He was on a cushion that had been on the chair by the counter, which was his step to get up to where the fuuds are kept.  I thought he had fallen whilst jumping up and the cushion had slipped and had hurt his back, but inside I knew it was something worse.


I went to him and touched his head, speaking softly to him and he screamed, a real splitter of a scream and bit my finger through to the bone. I gently felt down his body and from about midway down his back he was limp. His tail was limp, his back legs had no tension. Nothing.


Dozing in the doorway to the garden this summer

We got him onto a towel, more fingers bitten to the bone in the process and slid him into the carrier using the towel as a sling. He screamed and yelled with every touch. He was terrified, in agony.  Our vet is about 3 minutes walk around the corner and they have their own out of hours service. We put in the call and got him there in the car within a few minutes. Liz the vet met us at the door and examined our lad in his carrier on the floor of the surgery.  He'd been thrashing about inside the carrier and got tangled up in the towel sling.  We slowly tipped the carrier on it's side so the lid could be used to slide him out with minimal movement. Liz checked him carefully and gently.  She could feel no femoral pulse at all, his heart rate was wild and erratic and worst of all, his back legs were cold and starting to stiffen.

Making sure Mungo knew he was loved

I had feared the worst when I found him,  Saddle Thrombus had flicked through my mind, then Liz confirmed it. Powerful clot busting drugs and even specialist surgery were all there was and even then, the chances of our loving Oliver making any recovery were utterly remote. There was nothing to be done to save him, no miracle, no treatment that would be safe or effective that wouldn't leave him in a terrible state. Liz said she had never seen a cat successfully treated for this and the treatment would be arduous, too arduous. Too much for our lovely Oliver.

In the face of that, the awful decision made itself. Liz gave Oliver a sedation shot and as he dozed off, still growling, we stroked him very gently and whispered our love to him, thanking him for the eight years he shared with us and for the love he shared with all of the cats who have lived here. Oliver always looked after any cat who was sick or injured. He always knew when a cat was about to fall sick or it would soon be time for them to go to The Bridge and would stay with them until they were well or it was time for them to go.  He was an expert ear licker and groomer. He was friends with all of the neighbourhood cats and a wonderful friend to us, the apes.

Keeping a paw on Wuudler & Gerry

Once he was asleep, Liz carefully lifted him to the table, even asleep he still managed a growl, that's how bad the pain of Saddle Thrombus is. The final shot went into his leg vein and even though the sedation shot and the thrombus slowed his circulation down a great deal, in a few moments, he breathed his last, made a couple of respiratory spasms and he was gone.

We stayed with him for a long time. Stroking him, talking to him, feeling his wonderfully soft fur.  Beautiful friend, suddenly gone. 

Dreamytime lens hussy

How could this have happened? We asked ourselves again and again, but Liz assured us there was nothing we could have done that would have predicted this. Oliver was the healthiest cat we'd shared our lives with over 20 years living here.  He had no major health conditions. One vet, years ago thought he could detect an "only just grade 1" heart murmur, but no other vet could detect it again. But then we thought back to August. 

A floofy lad needs his oatgrass

On 22nd August, Oliver had suddenly had two small Grand Mal seizures within 30 minutes of each other. He had behaved normally in the run up, just like he did last Thursday. He came around from the seizures very quickly, got up and went to eat his crunchers. We got him to the vet straight away. He was hospitalised overnight under supervision incase he had more fits. The first blood panel showed a very low level of potassium, so he was given a potassium supplement on his food. The next day the K level was back to normal. As low potassium can develop spontaneously in older cats and Oliver was probably about 13 years old - that was the diagnosis. Everything else checked out fine. He had a K supplement for two weeks and several check up panels, he seemed as right as rain again.


Good mancat pals

Mario. the vet who attended him had a niggle though. Oliver's heart rate would race then slow under examination, during the space of a single breath, which is not totally unusual, but something about it niggled, something he couldn't put his finger on.  Oliver seemed well and settled, he had no more fits, so it was put down to the level of K.


I might be Puffkin but now I've had Enuffkin!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We discussed the previous fits with Liz as our lovely lad lay there lifeless and she wondered if the fits may have been caused by tiny pieces of clot breaking off and going to his brain. If at the time, Oliver had had a heart rate issue that had been significant, he would have had an ultrasound immediately, but there was nothing at the time that showed he had a problem with his heart.


Oliver and Gerry doing the chair share

Gerry and our "new since February" mancat Mungo are now wandering the house, looking for Oliver in all his sleeping places. They are subdued, as are we apes. We are still in shock, still asking ourselves if there is anything we could have done, if there was something we did that caused it? We know the answer is no. Sometimes this just happens, our wonderful furry darlings are here, then they are gone. It just happens.


First sleep with Mungo

Sometimes you just have to wait to grieve too. I took my bitten fingers to the GP on Friday morning and was sent straight to hospital for 24hrs of IV antibiotics. It's amazing just how big ape fingers can grow when they have the bitey legacy of Oliver.  At the time I thought I'd rather be missing an odd finger or two than missing Oliver.


Oliver during his first week here. He soon grew some more floof.

Oliver came to us out of the blue. He'd been lurking occasionally for a couple of years, he never stopped to feed. He was a grubby, thin stray. Then one day a neighbour found him in her house eating her cat's food. So we set a trap inside her cat door and caught him. Neutered and fed, he soon blossomed and formed a firm, deep friendship with Tabbus. 


Snow patrol from the inside where it's warm

Oliver was always his own cat, he would tell us when he wanted to be petted, where on his body he wanted the pets and it was a firm bitey for any ape who didn't heed his direction. The only time he would settle on a lap was when an ape was sitting on the toilet, then he would purr and knead, in total delight. He refused to be brushed, despite us trying every type of cat and ape baby brush available. Lately I'd tried using some TTouch techniques with him, but he wasn't buying any of it.  He kept his own coat and the coats of every other cat immaculate. This was especially valuable for Gerry our funsized scruffbag.


Watching the snow fall

Oliver would come and snuggle in the ape bed most nights, having a good knuckling around his big chops, purring up a storm, then he'd suddenly have had enough and be off to the end of the bed or to snuggle with one of the other felines for the night.

Oliver was a mighty hunter too. He was the scourge of mice and Greenfinches.

Showing a mousie that a career as cat food is in the offing

So here we are, one friend down. Many empty beds, many echos of a good life filled with love and the hope that somewhere, at The Bridge, Oliver is reunited with all the feline friends he had loved and lost over the years.

Farewell lovely Puffkin, please watch over us if you can

We will always love and remember you.

Wordless

Mancat Monday - For The Love Of Mancats

Tabbus Tabbus & Me

Hello to every cat. It's Oliver here.

Just over a week ago, that fine and fun feline Vampy Vic asked cats to tell a love story. I love all cats, but I wanted to tell you all about a cat I loved very much. His name was Tabbus Tabbus - so tabby they named him twice.

Tabbus was living here when I was trapped by my Mum. Tabbus had been trapped once by her too. He had been living the rough, semi-feral life of a tom cat in the village. By the time I came to live inside Tabbus was well established as the lover boy of the house. Tabbus loved every cat and every human.

As you can see the tradition of sitting on top of the shed to purr is a long one here.

Tabbus showed me how things worked in the house. I became his acolyte and very soon we became firm friends. He showed me all the best sunning spots, the best places to watch for birds and mice and, most importantly he showed me that our humans were not a threat and with a little ad lib cuteness, any cat around here could get pretty much whatever they wanted. We used to hang out together all the time.

You'd find us on the bed watching birds fly by outside and...

contemplating life. If a human called us...

...we'd both answer together

"Is that the sound of cat dishes?"

Tabbus was a wise cat, he knew many good things

He would talk to humans all the time. When Tabbus talked, I talked too. Tabbus was a very fit cat, he was never ill. We used to snuggle together in the kitchen, Tabbus would tell humans about our day whilst they cooked dinner.

Best of all though, were the days we spent snoozing on the bed together. Tabbus was a licker like me and we'd wash each other for hours. Sometimes falling asleep in each other's arms mid-lick.

Whilst we slept I used to hang on to my Tabbus, I never wanted to be parted from him.

I loved him so very much.

If ever a cat or human was ill, Tabbus would be there for them. His purr was mighty. Tabbus made everyone feel better about life. He taught me many good cat things about how to make humans smile
He didn't even mind when I used to squash him against the very hot radiator. Tabbus could never be too hot.

Tabbus was the best pal a cat could have.

On 28th December 2005, Tabbus and me were out playing. Suddenly Tabbus ran indoors, yeowling in agony. Our humans immediately rushed him to the emergency vet. They were very frightened and so was I. The vet tried very hard to save my friend, but it was time for Tabbus to go to The Bridge and Tabbus died.

Our humans asked the vet to do a post mortem. The vet found that Tabbus had a very small liver tumour which had suddenly ruptured, so my dear friend and teacher had internally bled to death. The vet found that Tabbus also had tiny secondary lung tumours, so it would not have been long before Tabbus started to suffer.

Maybe it was better this way. I don't know.

All I know is..

...that I miss my happy, loving Tabbus very, very much.

Tabbus was buried under his favourite sunning spot in the garden. This last picture of Tabbus is him dozing happily on that same spot. After we all said goodbye to Tabbus, I sat on that spot every evening for months on end. Waiting for him for him to come chasing moths and bats with me.

On a summer evening you can still find me sitting there.

Everycat would like you all to remember someone you loved today and smile

Monday Meme

It's Monday and time to get our Meme on.

We were tagged by Steppa, Eric & Flynn and The Pouponette for the Eight Random Things meme. We will take two things each.

Oliver It took my humans one whole year to trap me. I'd sit and stare from the bushes or fence, I wouldn't even feed, then I'd be gone for three weeks at a time. I was a canny young feral tom with a big range. Now I'm a home lovin' camera hussy.

My miaow is a tiny squeak. It gets me what I want so who needs a macho miaow?

.

Gerry

My tongue is totally smooth like silk. I'm an original see.

I am named Gerry because when I was handed in to the vets, I was in such a manky state the Nurses thought I was 9000 years old and rather rudely named me Gerry as short for Geriatric.

Angel I sleep by my Mum's head every night and chatter if the duvet isn't arranged just right.

When I was netted with my brother Thomas at ten weeks old, I bit through my human's thumb, right down to the bone. But he didn't let us go. I'm glad about that.

Whicky Wuudler

I paddle the air with my back paws when I'm dreaming about stamping on moles I have caught. I can open a fuud bin that has locking clips on the lid, and do it quietly too.

We are rather late to this meme, so if any cat wants to do it, consider yourselves tagged. We love learning all about you cats of the world. We have got all behind with everything at Everycat due to the recent guests. But now the apes don't have all that fluffy, kitteny nonsense going on to distract them, they can get to making posts about us and catching up...

Team Tabby gave us this pretty Butterfly Award. Thank you Mindy & Moe. Dana & The Creek Cats gave us this Sharing The Love Award. Thank you all.

We wish every cat a Magnificent Monday!

Things to do on a Thursday

You know, some days there is nothing to be done except...

this

and this.

Have an excellent Thursday every cat!

Easy Like Sunday - Sleeping

Hello to every cat and every bean!

It is howling a gale and pouring with cold rain here in the UK this Sunday, so we at Everycat will mostly be sleeping all day long. We may wake up for a few minutes, but it will only be to eat.

This is me, out for the count and dreaming of the delectable Fin Please note, I am NOT snoring, it only looks like I might be. Honest

Here is Angel, away with the fairies, dreaming of her glory days as the village saucepot. She is still very fond of ginger lads.

Oliver dreams of lickable cats whilst practicing his audition piece for the remake of "Coma" He makes very good use of his time sleeping.

Lastly Gerry, he is not sleeping because he is on rocket fuel at all times. If he slept, he might miss out on some fun. Which for a fun-sized cat like him would be a tragedy.

So that's our Sunday.

We wish every cat a safe, snuggly, sleepy Sunday!

Thank You & Floofy Friday

Thank you to every single cat and bean who visited us yesterday and made us all feel so welcome. We really appreciated all your friendly comments. It made our day!

A special thank you must also go to the gorgeous Fin and her Mum of Housecat Confidential who kept giving us friendly nudges, great advice, a guest blogging spot and the confidence to go ahead and put together Everycat. A cat could not want for nicer chums.

.

Another thank you goes to Camie's Kitties who gave us these two great awards. These are very cool and we feel honoured. Thank you.

So, on to the business of floof. Here is Oliver and a sample of his.

Oliver here! Hi to all lickable friends!

There's plenty more where this came from you know.

Private viewings available.

Book early to avoid disappointment.

Have a great Friday everyone!

PS: Scroll down and see our lovely new footer as made by the very talented Zoolatry

Thank you, we love it!

(we'll use it as a header as soon as we work out how to, we are a bit slow in this dept)

Hello to every cat from Everycat!

Hello every one! Whicky Wuudler here. It’s great to see you, Welcome!

It’s been a long time coming, but at last the puny humans have made a blog for us, the four cats of Everycat. Cats and humans throughout the Cat Blogosphere have been so friendly and encouraging when I have been a guest blogging cat, that my humans could no longer ignore my nagging. So here we are.

We hope to share a little of our cat lives with you. We can’t promise exciting adventures as we all love sleeping very much, but you never know, sometimes we might be awake long enough for the lumbering apes to find the camera and capture some action.

We’ve put some links to wildlife down there on the right, so visiting cats have something to hunt and play with if we are being a bit dull. There are plenty of comfy beds about the place and you are all most welcome to share them. The best fuud is in the bins on the kitchen counter. The nip jar is on the bookshelf and there are more of these paper mousies that need ripping up. We hope you enjoy your visit and will want to visit us again.

We’ll tell our individual cat stories as we get more practiced at blogging, but until then, without further ado, I will let my feline family introduce themselves…

Angel

Hello dears. My name is Angel. It’s very good to meet you. I’m eighteen and a half years old you know. In my younger days I was quite the saucepot. Now, I enjoy sunshine, long sleeps and being waited on paw and paw. I’m a most velvety, gentle sort, sedate, yet not averse to keeping all these mancats in order with a glare that could turn humans to stone. Do pop in again!

Oliver

Well hello. My name is Oliver and I love all cats. If you need your ears licking or your head bumping, some nuzzling, a snuggle or a hot furry bedmate and you’re feline. I’m your cat. If you are a little under the weather, or even just feeling fine, come lie down with Dr Oliver and all will be well. I love to meet new cats they are all so interesting and lickable. Yum.

Gerry

Hello cats of the world. I’m Gerry. I’m made of tangles, blackness, rust, seeds, beetles, twigs, crispy leaves, spiders, burrs, broken snail shells, feathers, tiny slugs, fur, cobwebs and something else. Oh yeah, fun. I am made of fun. Think of a fun sized black lion on rocket fuel. That’s me.

So that's us all accounted for and this is me, signing off with rumbly purrs to all.

See you soon!