yesterday - friday april 26 - our dear friend honeykat closed his eyes for the last time. he was over 20 years old, and has been with my husband since just before our relationship began.
i had trouble writing this as i found i kept writing about all his health issues and all the care and medications we've been dealing with, but that's not what i want to tell about him. so let's start early.
arie got HK from a neighbor when he was a kitten, and he was quite the character and very loving. their first hour together, arie and honeykat lay down for a nap together with lots of purring and petting, and the bond was formed. by the time i moved in, HK was up to all sorts of mischief. he loved playing fetch - we'd throw toy mice down the indoor, carpeted stairs, and he'd rush down to get them and bring them back, letting us know he wanted to go again!
one day he was playing, running around the living room, banked off a wall, then another wall, then off the window screen, which opened and he fell through the second story window. luckily he was fine, but did we have a scare! my husband had a few guppies in a bowl, and he had started putting them up on top of the kitchen cabinet - one i couldn't reach on a stoole. but HK found his way up there, knocked the bowl over and watched the fish flex with interest.
i could go on all day, but obviously there were almost two decades between those stories and last night. honeykat was very loving, a very people-oriented cat. he used to love to figure out how to open things - i used to call him houdinicat. he worked his way past child locks, figured out how to turn the loose bedroom doorknob and anything he could open, he would. for 8 of his years, he had a buddy and they ran and fought, played, groomed and slept together. but HK's first love was always daddy.
honeykat was always a very vocal cat. he would talk to us with inflections, and if we answered, he and we would enjoy a running conversation. also if we didn't know what he was saying, he'd let us know. for example, he'd come over to my desk and place a hand on my leg, which meant he wanted to sit on my lap.
five and a half years ago, he was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease. we started giving him subcutaneous fluids, and his kidneys improved and stayed improved for years. then he developed IBS and hyperthyroidism. he was 15 or so. he's been on steroids, thyroid meds, lactated ringers solution, pepcid, an anti nausea med and so on. and in the last year and a half, his care became our life - that was okay, because we loved him. we dedicated ourselves to making him as happy and comfortable as possible. and he was very happy.
he was very picky and often nauseous, and at this point he was pretty underweight. he'd stand by the kitchen and give us loving looks and we'd feed him. flavor after flavor until he'd eat something. sometimes it would take 8 cans before we'd hit the flavor, but he was losing weight, so we were going through 20 to 25 cans a day, although once he found a flavor he wanted and ate some, he would make a circuit of the other plates he rejected and have a couple bites or more from each one. because of his IBS, he continued losing weight. he got weaker, so we got him an ottoman to jump on the bed and another for the couch.
three months ago, he started mostly staying on one side of the couch. he'd purr whenever we'd pet him, and he'd sometimes get down for food and water. i work in the livingroom, and he would chat with me. and mostly he had his spot, and we were fine with that. we'd come over and visit him, and he'd talk to us. he still purred, still would stand by the kitchen - or at that point, at any spot - and we'd feed him, where ever he was. he was no longer able to climb into the cat box, so we got an extra large dog kennel tray and filled it with litter. we were never away long. and he kept waking me up every night for petting and feeding. i haven't had a full night of sleep in years, and that was okay because i loved him.
a week ago last friday, HK couldn't walk. he had been to the vet recently and was put on potassium, which he loved because it had dessicated fish in it. he was half his healthy weight, but had been walking - not always steadily - and jumping onto the couch on his own. we thought "oh, no - this is it!" but oddly he started eating fiercely, put on some weight and on sunday was getting around on his own again. the next three days were a gift and we were so grateful. he needed a little help, but he was alert, engaged, eating and just as sweet as ever.
but thursday night, he stopped being able to walk and there's more stuff. he cried periodcally on friday early morning, so i stayed up with him, but he was uncomfortable and there was more going on, too. and on friday night, we called an at-home vet. after HK spent two hours on his daddy's lap purring as he was being petted, i gave him a final treat of fish juice with the potassium he loved, and the vet put him to sleep. it was quiet and gentle, HK was able to stay on his mat at home instead of going to an office, for which we're very grateful.
there's a hole in our lives that will never be altogether filled. but that's good, in a way. because it means that honeykat was not replaceable. in the past, i've had many cats and dogs, but i've never been as close to an animal as to HK nor has arie. his health problems and the time we spent taking care of him made our condo a hospital for a year and more - although we didn't notice at the time. but it made us more protective and closer to him.
he is so very missed and will always be loved.
i had trouble writing this as i found i kept writing about all his health issues and all the care and medications we've been dealing with, but that's not what i want to tell about him. so let's start early.
arie got HK from a neighbor when he was a kitten, and he was quite the character and very loving. their first hour together, arie and honeykat lay down for a nap together with lots of purring and petting, and the bond was formed. by the time i moved in, HK was up to all sorts of mischief. he loved playing fetch - we'd throw toy mice down the indoor, carpeted stairs, and he'd rush down to get them and bring them back, letting us know he wanted to go again!
one day he was playing, running around the living room, banked off a wall, then another wall, then off the window screen, which opened and he fell through the second story window. luckily he was fine, but did we have a scare! my husband had a few guppies in a bowl, and he had started putting them up on top of the kitchen cabinet - one i couldn't reach on a stoole. but HK found his way up there, knocked the bowl over and watched the fish flex with interest.
i could go on all day, but obviously there were almost two decades between those stories and last night. honeykat was very loving, a very people-oriented cat. he used to love to figure out how to open things - i used to call him houdinicat. he worked his way past child locks, figured out how to turn the loose bedroom doorknob and anything he could open, he would. for 8 of his years, he had a buddy and they ran and fought, played, groomed and slept together. but HK's first love was always daddy.
honeykat was always a very vocal cat. he would talk to us with inflections, and if we answered, he and we would enjoy a running conversation. also if we didn't know what he was saying, he'd let us know. for example, he'd come over to my desk and place a hand on my leg, which meant he wanted to sit on my lap.
five and a half years ago, he was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease. we started giving him subcutaneous fluids, and his kidneys improved and stayed improved for years. then he developed IBS and hyperthyroidism. he was 15 or so. he's been on steroids, thyroid meds, lactated ringers solution, pepcid, an anti nausea med and so on. and in the last year and a half, his care became our life - that was okay, because we loved him. we dedicated ourselves to making him as happy and comfortable as possible. and he was very happy.
he was very picky and often nauseous, and at this point he was pretty underweight. he'd stand by the kitchen and give us loving looks and we'd feed him. flavor after flavor until he'd eat something. sometimes it would take 8 cans before we'd hit the flavor, but he was losing weight, so we were going through 20 to 25 cans a day, although once he found a flavor he wanted and ate some, he would make a circuit of the other plates he rejected and have a couple bites or more from each one. because of his IBS, he continued losing weight. he got weaker, so we got him an ottoman to jump on the bed and another for the couch.
three months ago, he started mostly staying on one side of the couch. he'd purr whenever we'd pet him, and he'd sometimes get down for food and water. i work in the livingroom, and he would chat with me. and mostly he had his spot, and we were fine with that. we'd come over and visit him, and he'd talk to us. he still purred, still would stand by the kitchen - or at that point, at any spot - and we'd feed him, where ever he was. he was no longer able to climb into the cat box, so we got an extra large dog kennel tray and filled it with litter. we were never away long. and he kept waking me up every night for petting and feeding. i haven't had a full night of sleep in years, and that was okay because i loved him.
a week ago last friday, HK couldn't walk. he had been to the vet recently and was put on potassium, which he loved because it had dessicated fish in it. he was half his healthy weight, but had been walking - not always steadily - and jumping onto the couch on his own. we thought "oh, no - this is it!" but oddly he started eating fiercely, put on some weight and on sunday was getting around on his own again. the next three days were a gift and we were so grateful. he needed a little help, but he was alert, engaged, eating and just as sweet as ever.
but thursday night, he stopped being able to walk and there's more stuff. he cried periodcally on friday early morning, so i stayed up with him, but he was uncomfortable and there was more going on, too. and on friday night, we called an at-home vet. after HK spent two hours on his daddy's lap purring as he was being petted, i gave him a final treat of fish juice with the potassium he loved, and the vet put him to sleep. it was quiet and gentle, HK was able to stay on his mat at home instead of going to an office, for which we're very grateful.
there's a hole in our lives that will never be altogether filled. but that's good, in a way. because it means that honeykat was not replaceable. in the past, i've had many cats and dogs, but i've never been as close to an animal as to HK nor has arie. his health problems and the time we spent taking care of him made our condo a hospital for a year and more - although we didn't notice at the time. but it made us more protective and closer to him.
he is so very missed and will always be loved.
We’ve lost dear old cats, a couple in my arms, and I know just what you say about a hole being there. We’ve kept things of theirs and new cats have wandered into our lives. It’s a basic tragedy that we outlive most of our pets, but you gave HK a long and much-loved life, and we can’t do better. Alas, we just can’t. Best wishes from here.
