Good night, sweet prince.

Today was the day.

As I mentioned last week, Kaesea has been getting weaker and weaker. A couple of days ago, he went to hop up on the bathroom counter and he missed. He landed in the trashcan and limped for a bit. So we knew it was time -- we didn't want him hurting himself when we weren't here.

He hasn't been eating very well for the past few days but he was hanging around the kitchen this morning, so we gave him some milk.

He enjoyed it:


Very much.


We found a very kind veterinarian who came to the house this morning. Kaesea, in his usual way, fought the tranquilizer meant to calm him down for the lethal injection. We tried to convince him he could just relax, but he kept trying to get up. Oh, my sweet little fighter. After a second injection, he finally relaxed, although, of course that tail kept going. Just to prove a point.

On his way out, he pooped on me, which seems fitting after all the poop that we've been through for the past few years. Once he was gone, it just seemed like he was resting. Like he would still hop up and give us what for. But he didn't. He was gone.

At this point, I am kind of numb... my heart is broken into a million pieces and I'm struggling to deal with that. I make inappropriate jokes and then burst into tears. It's all awkward.

Thank you for coming on this journey with us. Kaesea was a wonderful, beautiful, strong, crazy, feisty, fluffy, noisy, loving, hilarious little darling. My life is better for having known him and will never be the same again.

Best wishes to you and yours.
xoxo
-kelly

10.09.12 : the most handsome cat in the world

10.08.12 : lil thinker

10.07.12 : face down

10.06.12 : sun kissed

10.05.12 : deep in thought

10.04.12 : party animal

Kaesea, you're a rock star.

10.03.12 : ice cream fiend

10.02.12 : you look mah-velous

I wish this photo was not blurry, because the look that Kaesea is giving himself in the mirror right here just kills me -- hilarious!

10.01.12 : shrimp

Took this photo looking down from our second floor -- Kaesea's favorite hangout in the evenings is on the couch next to his dad.

Winding Down

A few nights after my last post, I thought for sure it was "time" for Kaesea. Of course, we woke up the next day and he was all perky, purring, eating, and fluffy. It's Kaesea. Of course he sprang back.

But the overall trend right now is clearly that he is winding down. He eats less and he sleeps more every day. There haven't been any sudden tragic incidents lately (knock wood) but it's just clear that our time is coming to an end.

He's in good spirits when he's awake and he still enjoys the little things in life (meaning: cheek brushing). He purrs when I pet him, he makes biscuits and he hangs out with us, but things are just... slower.

I guess this post is fair warning: At some point soon, this blog is going to be the Bad News Day. After that, we'll go dark.

I promise you this: I'll let you know. Silence = Kaesea is still around. If there's anyone still reading this (3.5 years later!), thanks for checking in. Your good thoughts and wishes are felt and sincerely appreciated.

9.30.12 : nom nom

The quality --blurry--  and subject matter --eating-- of this photo are not great.

But here's what I love about this photo: the paw. That little bend? The fluffiness? Gah! This kills me with cuteness.

09.28.12 : epic battle

Kaesea is not allowed on the kitchen table.

I don't think he knows this.

And... I'm not telling him.

09.27.12 : snugglepuss

God, I love this pink nose.

09.26.12 : kitten fountain

We have had a lifetime of back and forths with the bathroom faucet -- we have broken him of the faucet habit many times and we have also returned to it many times.

Right now, we're in it. Cause... how can we not?
Cheers, kitten.

09.24.12 : what's up?

09.23.12 : flat n' fluffy

09.21.12 : hidey hole

Kaesea has always loved what we call a "hidey hole" around our house (a term that takes me back to childhood, brought back to life by my clever husband).

Open a drawer and he'll jump in. Leave a cabinet or closet door open, and in he slips. Years ago, Bill actually removed a door from a wardrobe we had so that Kaesea could have his own regular hidey hole to frequent.

In recent months, his carrier has become his hidey hole. As you can see, he's got a furry blanket + one of his handmade quilts padding the thing. So it's pretty cozy in there.

Love this look -- "Leave me alone. Can't you see I'm in my hidey hole?!" You might get more respect if we were calling it your "man cave," Kaesea.

09.20.12 : sweet dreams

Will I know?

Everyone insists that I will "know" when it's time for Kaesea to go. But how? Will I? I worry about this. All. The. Time.

Today, Kaesea barely ate any food and pretty much slept all day. I finally convinced him to eat some shrimp and some "dairy flavored" treats (yes, really) at the end of the day, but... it wasn't much. Mostly, he slept.

Generally, he seems content -- he purrs, he makes biscuits, and he head butts us. He still loves to have his cheeks brushed and he really enjoyed those weird treats. He hangs out with us on the couch and in bed. But... he's losing weight. And he meows all night. And today, he barely ate.

How will I know? It's been such a long, slow journey. Is this yet another bump in the road? Will we wake in the morning to find Kaesea saying, "Okay. Let's eat!" Or... is this it? I have no idea. Hate that.

[edited to add]: As soon as I wrote this, he hopped up and ate a bunch of food, then cleaned his face. It's Kaesea. Sooo... of course he did. Stay tuned.

09.10.12 : make it go

Kaesea's has had a lifelong on-again/off-again addiction to Faucet Water. Over the years, we have broken him of it, then gone back to it several times.

When he was very sick last month, we let him drink from the faucet. Which, of course, has led to scenes like this -- Kaesea sitting in the bathroom sink, willing the faucet to go.

09.08.12 : author photo

If Kaesea ever writes a book, this will be his author photo.

09.04.12 : i love my uncle

There were a bunch of us standing around in the kitchen and Kaesea was sitting right in the middle of it all. Here, he's sitting right by his Uncle Bob, looking up as if to say, "Yes, yes. Go on..."

Such a little socialite.

08.29.12 : yes. mine.

08.28.12 : sitting pretty

Could I love this cat more? I think not.
Just look at those fluffy little paws.

08.26.12 : squinty

08.19.12 : knitting, interrupted

I was going to do some knitting today.
Kaesea had other plans.

08.18.12 : bunny foot

08.17.12 : little explorer

Kaesea joined me on the deck tonight to check out the view.

Big ol' Kaesea Update

It's been over three months since we moved to Michigan and yes, we are still here. Quite a bit has happened over the past several months, but I haven't had a moment to report it. So let's get it all down now...

In March, about a month before we left California, Kaesea was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, a very common ailment in older cats (Kaesea is now 16). There are a few ways to treat that and I'm not going to get into the boring details, but the best way for Kaesea was via a daily pill. While highly effective, there are some known side-effects to this pill, including diarrhea (which he already has!) and a very itchy face. Since we were just about to move, we opted to hold off on giving him a new medication as we were between vets and didn't want to risk the side effects.

After we got settled in, we found a new vet, who is great -- very kind and down-to-earth. His office is super close to our house, which is fantastic and I know that he has Kaesea's best interests at heart (meaning: when it's time to let Kaesea go, I know that this doctor will tell us, which is so important to us).

So we decided to start Kaesea on the hyperthyroid medication. After one month on a daily half-dose, he had gained almost a full pound! WOW! (Seriously. Let that sink in. One full pound in a month.)

That was about two weeks ago. We were over the moon with joy (for those keeping track at home, he weighed 7.4 lbs). After that amazing news, we upped him to the full dose and kept on administering that.

And then… early last week, he took a terrible turn. He had awful, awful diarrhea; stopped eating; smelled bad… the works. We went straight to his doctor and found that he had lost that pound he had gained. Ugh! We got him on some antibiotics, antidiarrheal, and daily fluids. Staying up all night with him I really thought we were looking at the end -- he was such a mess.

I know it probably seems like Kaesea is "near the end" all the time, but this time, it was truly terrible. I said, "One more day of this, and we're done." And… in true Kaesea fashion, he started eating again the very next day. He was pretty finicky, but we gave him some shrimp and once he started eating that, there was no going back -- that cat ate a full pound of shrimp over the course of two days!

Since then, he is back to eating, grooming himself, and pooping normally. Once again, our miracle kitty performs a miracle. We'll be taking him back to the doctor this week to check on his weight and discuss the hyperthyroid meds. When this first came on, we speculated that the cancer had finally come calling, but with his recovery and the timing with the increased dosage, we are now considering that it's the medication. Damned if you do and damned if you don't, right?

If you're still reading, thank you. Now that the move is behind us, I'll do my best to keep this site slightly more up-to-date.

08.10.12 : survivor

Took this photo a few days after Kaesea had been giving us yet another terrible scare.

He looks so good here -- hard to imagine the drowned river rat look he had going on just days before. Didn't take any photos of that.

08.01.12 : double the fun

Kaesea has taken to looking at us in the bathroom mirror lately. He used to do it periodically (in fact, here's a photo of him doing this three years ago in our old house!) but lately it's been a daily activity.

This photo kind of cracks me up.

07.29.12 : serious face

07.27.12 : sniff

07.26.12 : watering hole

Yes, Kaesea drinks from a glass.

Of course.

07.25.12 : winky

07.22.12 : out

07.21.12 : snapshots

After catching him in a giant hilarious yawn...

Kaesea says, "What? I didn't do anything."

07.20.12 : make eet go

07.17.12 : snooze

Yeah, Kaesea. Handling the mail makes me sleepy too.

07.15.12 : paperweight

Had to dig through a bunch of accumulated paperwork today. When it was all laid out on the coffee table, Kaesea opted to act as a paperweight.

Thanks, hon.

07.14.12 : ready

Yeah. Kaesea really isn't allowed on the kitchen table.

Do you think Kaesea knows this?

07.12.12 : sleepy kitten

07.12.12 : jack knife to a yawn

Kaesea is getting revved up for the Olympics.

07.11.12 : shadow cat

Kaesea tried his paw at shadow puppets today. Turns out, he's pretty much only good at making a cat.

But he does that very, very well.

07.07.12 : kittenish

The face that he is making here just kills me.

07.04.12 : fluffy yoga

06.28.12 : focused

06.22.12 : fluffy paws

06.21.12 : daddy's boy

Awwww.

06.20.12 : kiss de paw