Tomorrow, May 16th, 2017. Sometime around 5:20-5:30pm EST LilShock and I will be saying goodby to our strange little cat of almost 17 years. He is dying from kidney failure brought on by Hyperthyroidism, and the medicine used to treat it. He’s had it for 4 years, and lived three years longer then the vets gave him due to Lilshock’s diligent care. It has reduced him from a normal 11 lbs. to a gaunt and wobbly 4 lbs., and he has reached the the point where forcing him to stay alive any longer would just be cruel.
No pet loss is easy, I wouldn’t dare say our pain is any worse than anyone else who has lost an animal they’ve really cared about. Even after having lost our other longtime cat of 14 years last August to a rare colon cancer. Pain is pain…but right now this one is ours, so it sucks the most;) However, even among all the pets we’ve both had in all our years Morlock is unique, and a situation in our life that will never repeat.
Sure, saying a cat is strange is sort of redundant…it’s a cat, they’re ALL strange…that is how the cat do. But he’s OUR strange, and his story began in a Kentucky barn early 2000. Were life a little less convoluted he would have ended up just another unremarkable feral. Lost to the short, hard conditions outdoor cats generally live through had not a pair of tragedies fallen upon others. Two weeks out…Morlock’s mother never came home. Could have been a thousand different things so speculation is pointless, all that was left now was a litter of mewling kittens with eyes just starting to open, and a panicked farm owner.
Word got out, caring locals rose to the challenge of adopting kittens, ready to begin the difficult task of hand-rearing the little wiggle-worms who would need to be bottle fed EVERY two hours, no exceptions. Enter Lilshock. Weeks before, a young kitten they adopted had died suddenly due to the carelessness of another. This was tragedy number two. Still grieving, but hearing about the tough situation the farm owner and kittens were in, Shock decided to take on one of the last two needy little muppets.
Two weeks later I drove down to meet Lilshock, so I could help pack their things to come live with me. It was still early 2000, and our entire relationship had been 99% online. This is the first time I got to meet Morlock. A black and white tuxedo with a big fat pink belly. He would later become the best animal companion I have ever had in my 41 years. So, think about the timing of all of this. In essence, Morlock has been with us the ENTIRE time we have lived together, and with Lilshock almost his whole life. Never a day without. Until May 16th, 2017. Sometime around 5:20-5:30pm EST.
Like all pets Morlock has a billion other interesting tales. The time he went tearing down a hallway, made a U turn into the bedroom and ran full-tilt into a closed closet door which was NEVER open. The time he pulled the stopper out of the bathroom sink and LICKED IT CLEAN. Or as a kitten on our drive up from Kentucky, traveling in an aquarium because we didn’t have a carrier, he pooped on his nun squeak-toy. Smelled so bad it was all I could do to keep the car on the road, had to get off at the next exit to clean him up and air out. Every pet’s life is filled with those moments. It’s part of why we keep them isn’t it? To have those odd little non sequiturs in addition to the companionship they bring. They may frustrate us at times, make us angry, or cry. But we’ll always have those moments to laugh (or be grossed out) about later.
So, tomorrow, May 16th, 2017. Sometime around 5:20-5:30pm EST. You are tasked with finding and grabbing whatever creature you hold dear. Be it animal, vegetable, or mineral…or human (fish are excluded). You will give them a great big hug and you tell them how much they mean to you, even if they can’t understand (if they REALLY don’t understand, give food). We won’t be able to anymore, and we will be broken.
UPDATE: 7:19 pm. He has found peace.
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7 years, 9 months ago
16 May 2017 05:15 CEST
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