Jazzy-boy came into our lives quite unexpectedly, when my husband and I thought we were at our numerical limit of cat-children, as we already had 6, all indoor of course. We moved to a new home in a small neighborhood and noticed immediately an abundance of stray cats. Jasper was an incredibly sweet orange tabby that found our back porch and started coming back on a daily basis, twice a day, just in time for breakfast and dinner. I didn’t want to leave him outside because I hate to see outside cats. So I left him, but he continued coming for approx. 4 months, then showed up one day with a large fresh wound on his neck, I assume from a fight. I immediately took him to the vet to get the wound cared for, and had him neutered and vaccinated while he was there.
He was our inside baby #7 at that point. Only about 3 months after bringing Jazzy in however, we noticed his belly enlarging. The vet told me he was fine, so I tried not to worry. The bloating though got progressively worse, along with noticeable lethargy, and his loss of appetite. I could no longer bear seeing him this way so my husband and I took him to the vet just 2 days ago. Unfortunately, it turned out that Jasper was diagnosed with Feline Infectious Peritonitis, which is incredibly rare and incurable. The vet informed us that it was best to euthanize now before he became even more uncomfortable
and less like himself.
I couldn’t bear to see him the way he had been most recently and didn’t want him to suffer anymore. We made the very hard decision to put him to sleep, which absolutely killed us, as we weren’t quite prepared for it. But I now know that Jasper is back to his former sweet, active, healthy self and getting his rear-end scratched like he always loved. He was only with us in our home for 6 months, but he’s made his home here and in our hearts. He’ll be forever missed and loved…
Sweet rest, my boy,
| Jasper |
| Nikki Muccio |