The even shorter goodbye - Skippy 2009-2026

Back in April we lost Skippy.

When we first moved down here, I realized his teeth probably should have been cleaned before we left. They weren't horrible, but it was one of those things I didn't really think about. I was a little more focused on Xena (who did get a dental before we left) and by the time I got to thinking about it, all there really wasn't enough time on the schedule to get them both done.

As I said, they weren't horrible, but time passed while we were in limbo.

When we moved to where we are now, I found a vet and started the process of getting them taken care of. By this time I noticed a bit of reluctance to eat harder foods. I had taken him to the vet (as evidenced by a previous post) and wasn't thrilled with their set up. So I took him to a second one. The first one noticed a heart murmur. The second one did not, but he was with me the entire exam. I had a kitty with a heart murmur before (Em) and I know hers really only showed up when she was stressed out. I figured it wasn't bad, and his blood work looked good, so I scheduled the dental.

It was waiting for that appointment that I was offered a job at a different clinic, so I cancelled that appointment and brought Skippy to the new one for the cleaning. In the pre-sedation exam, the heart murmur was back. I had a long conversation with the vet and he was recommending a whole bunch of tests and imaging, but that would mean a long wait to get his teeth cleaned. Since he was already having issues with food, I discussed that with the vet and asked him if he would be willing to move forward.. because what was the point of finding out what was going on with his heart if he wasn't eating well.

The vet understood my concerns and we agreed to move forward with the surgery. He came through it like the champ he was.

I only mention this, because this heart murmur was new.; I knew my boy was getting old, but I so didn't want to see it.

Xena was still his constant shadow. She loved that boy to an unreasonable level, and for the most part he put up with it. Occasionally, he would put his foot on her head as if to say "stop it" and all I could feel coming off her was her glee that he was touching her.

After the surgery I saw them sitting closer and closer. Not sure if she won him over or if was just too tired of trying to find a place she wouldn't follow him.

But as the months went on, I had the feeling something wasn't right. I had been giving him fluids once a week or so - because elderly kidneys like fluids - but I wanted to make sure that things still looked good. The exam went well, nothing was obvious, no masses, nothing on the lab work, his kidneys were stable. I figured I was being paranoid.

But one night in April I was in bed, just falling asleep, when I heard a noise. It sounded like either a cat fell off the cat tree or tried to jump up and couldn't make it. It took me a minute for my brain to process what it heard and wake me up, get me out of bed and turn the light on. Skippy was at the base of the tree. He seemed okay, but something just felt off. I observed him for a while and was about to call it a one off when he seemed to have some sort of seizure.

It was not one in the traditional sense. He was fully aware, but it was like he could no longer control his legs. It lasted a few minutes and it completely freaked me out.

I do what I always do when I am concerned about cats, I offered food. He did not want it. Not that surprising, as he was never really food motivated. He got up and walked away, seemed like himself.. so I decided to watch him a little while longer and I was sitting in the living room reading a book when I heard what sounded like cat feet scrambling on the hard floor.

Skippy had wandered off, so I didn't see what happened, but once again, he was with it.. but I could tell he was not happy about his feet not doing what he wanted them to. Since I couldn't be sure the noise I heard was him, I opted to watch some more. Sure enough, another half hour later, another incident.

Each episode only lasted a minute or two.. it was VERY weird.. I had no idea if this was something that I *could* wait until morning (it was Friday night) or if this was a "go to the vet now" sort of thing. I had woken up the Catman to discuss what he thought. Unfortunately, he was scheduled to fly out in the morning, so it was a pretty tense conversation. When Skippy had another episode, we decided to just go.

Unfortunately, the clinic was pretty busy. It took way too long (I am sure in reality it wasn't that long, but I was stressed and I didn't have access to my cat) to get to a vet to see what they recommended.

Unfortunately, she had no idea what was going on. He continued to have short episodes and she also called them seizures, but said they were totally a-typical as he was conscious through the whole thing. He never lost control of his bladder or bowels, he was simply frustrated that he could not make his legs work the way he wanted during that time. We discussed what could be causing it and what could be done for each and every option if we decided to go for more testing to figure it out. None of them were good, and he was having episodes so frequently that I could not in good conscious ask him to put up with it any longer. He probably wasn't in pain, but his brain deciding to make his legs flail every hour or so wasn't good.

She brought him to us and we sat with him a good long while. By the time we said goodbye it was morning.

Xena has seemed to take his passing in stride. Occasionally over these months, I have gotten the impression that she wonders what I did to him, but that could easily be my reading into things.

Skippy developed a URI as a kitten (in fact, that is the only reason we adopted him) and every couple of days to once a week he would sneeze and produce gobs of snot. Mostly they stayed on his face and he just cleaned them off himself, but occasionally it would hit a wall. I did my best over the years to keep them clean, but I would randomly find clear indications that he sat there and sneezed. He would often do it at the top of the cat tree, so six feet up on the wall I would find spots to clean. About a week before he passed I had just covered the wall behind the cat tree with contact paper to make it easier. Taking that down was super hard.. finding snot above where I put the paper.. well - water works inducing.. Even now there are a few spots I should clean up but.. yeah. Even the headboard is covered with a sheet because of him. I should take it off.. but I haven't.

From the time he was a full grown cat he was very stoic. When he had wants or needs he would just sit near you and look at you and wait for you to do the right thing... whether that was feed him or move your arm so he could snuggle up in bed with you. I rarely heard him make a peep. His meow was adorable when he decided to share it. To this day I remember the energy he had as a kitten. I used to take him outside on a harness and leash, but he was so full of go that I was afraid he would break free or hurt himself trying to run after something.

When we moved to NC, we were in a small apartment, so I started taking him out for walks around the complex. I put a walking harness on him and a leash and he would appreciate getting away from Xena and eating grass. He would go out, find the very first patch of grass and eat it like a cow.. which he would then promptly vomit up, walk around for a good warm bit of rock or concrete to roll around on, then find some more grass and eat some more before finding another warm bit to lay on. When we bought the house he would ask to go out, but that happened less and less often. I don't know if it was because it wasn't as warm in the months before April or if whatever caused his end was making him less interested in being adventurous. He did ask, we did go, but he would almost immediately come back in after eating some grass. I will never know what took him, I suppose in the end it doesn't matter.


I miss him.. so much.