(The very moving story of one woman’s unfaltering quest to save her cat’s life)
by C. Kason
Pepper passed away yesterday morning in my arms. He was 14 years old.
His nine lives were well used. From the moment I met him
I knew he was going to mean ‘trouble’.
I had been on vacation and a friend was taking care of my cat “Pushface”.
He was forced to have him put to sleep in my absence. He felt so bad
that he purchased a kitten so when I returned I would not be alone. I
arrived home to a little tiny ball of fluff in the middle of the
room…sporting a cast on his right front leg! “He fell off something
while I was out” my friend explained ” and I had only had him for a
day!” So that was my introduction to “Pepper” whom I actually didn’t
name for another 2 months. I was still mourning “Pushface” and
couldn’t put my attention to naming another cat.
But he would have none of it and was ‘at me’ every minute.
Pepper was just like his name…full of spice!
He was into everything and was constantly testing my patience.
I couldn’t leave the kitchen without putting EVERY bit of edible substance
away – he would eat anything and did. Once I was preparing a dinner for
guests and had a whole chicken on the counter. I left for a moment to
answer the phone and from the corner of my eye I saw him dashing out the
front door with something in his mouth. You guessed it!
THE WHOLE CHICKEN!!!
I chased him down the street but by the time I caught him….the chicken was of
no use to me. That was just one of many such pranks. He used to fly
from roof-top to roof-top and often got caught where he couldn’t get down
and I had to climb up sides of buildings to retrieve him. One night I
came home and couldn’t find him.I heard his faint cry from somewhere and
found him under the steps unable to move. I brought him upstairs and
noticed a huge gash down his stomach. I cleaned it with peroxide and
put him down on the floor.
After a while I noticed he didn’t move and under further exploration
found that his spine seemed to be broken. I rushed him to an emergency
vet (this is a whole other horrible experience) The outcome was that
they took X-rays and could not determine whether he would live and if he
did could be incontenant. They wanted a huge price to operate…which I did
not have at that time (he was then 3 years old).
I brought him home to heal him myself. I was with him 24 hours a day
turning him from side to side and cleaning his box of waste.
He did not eat for a week but eventually took some liquid.
I gently excercised his limbs and eventually when he was stonger
and taking a little food I would carry him to the litter box and hold him
under his upper legs – he was more or less “dead” from the “waist” down
and he would scratch with his front legs in the litter until he would
urinate on his own.
After a month of this one day he scratched and scratched and after about
20 minutes did a solid bowel movement. It was the happiest day!
He was going to be all right! I then had to teach him to walk again.
Daily we would do his walking excercise with me holding him under his
upper arms and moving his bottom legs one at a time in a walking motion.
This went on for several months until he was able to walk on his own.
He eventually was fine but walked with a bit of a waddle. So now he had a
right front paw that turned out and had a little bit of a limp from his
baby break and a waddle from his latest “accident” –
I never did find out what happened to him. Well after that
experience we bonded. We loved each other unconditionally.
He had a personality that swayed any cat-hater. He loved people and they
loved him. He was very social and all my friends adored him.
He played Hide-n-Seek with me as well as many other games and
slept at the foot of my bed. Over the years he had many other little traumas
but not until last February of 1997 did the most serious occur.
He was diagnosed with a Hyperthyroid condition that was life threatening.
After much investigation I decided to have a Radioactive Iodine
Treatment. It was rather harsh but was recommended by many vets. He was
all right for a while but then he started to fail. Over the last 16
months I have done everything to keep him alive. Every treatment
homeopathic natural diets Sub-Q fluids daily injected. He had many
good months and many bad ones but he fought like a trooper to stay alive
(for me I believe) until yesterday morning when he couldn’t fight any longer.
He jumped on my bad around 4:30 AM to wake me and tell me it was time.
I held him in my arms as he passed through the stages of leaving.
It was painful for us both and I finally had to take him to a vet for the
final stage. There is no way to relate the spirit of this cat. He had
courage and dignity and an awareness that I’ve never experienced in an
animal. I don’t know how I will get along without him. I do have
another cat. She is sweet but alas she’s not my ‘Pepper!!
This is my tribute to PEPPER.
I will love and miss him more then I could have ever imagined.
| Pepper |