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Catsey Veteran
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Cats owned: 2 moggies
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Posts: 15,256
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Winston
More than 2 decades ago as a young punk, who loved animals, I acquired 2 kittens. Winston and Mutley at the age of 6 weeks. Poor little mites were riddled with fleas and it very quickly became clear that Mutley was blind. Winston was always very good to Mutley, they played and fought just as kittens do but Winston always let Mutley eat first and never hurt him. Mutley was of course the most adventurous with very little sense of fear; he was always getting into mischief. Very sadly at the age of 5, Mutley died. He was being treated for an abscess, vets felt that he shouldn’t have died and asked if they could do an autopsy. Poor baby had the kidneys of an 18 year old cat and a lesion on his heart. Poor baby never really stood a chance. Winston and I were delighted that we had shared in his life for his 5 short years and we were both grief stricken at our loss.
Several months past and Winston and I had adjusted to the change in our lives. One night whilst out partying with friends, we ended up back at some ones flat for some more partying, as the night was still young. The bloke who shared this flat with several others had a very scared and almost weasel like cat called “Woodstock”. It became very clear why he was so afraid, as the guys began to brag about giving the poor animal LSD and cannabis “for a laugh”. I very nearly hit the roof!!! I very quickly got that poor cat out of there and shortened his name to Woody.
Woody was extremely frightened and bewildered. He lived behind the sofa for a fortnight. Winston won his friendship before I did and they became companions for many years. Sure they too would have their fights but were always found cuddled together shortly after a disagreement.
Woody was always afraid of people, especially men. The only true bonds he had were with Winston and me. That was until Graham and I got together. Almost instantly, Woody became the best of pals with Graham, which was so lovely to see.
One morning, at the age of 18, Winston jumped onto the bed to wake me, as he did every morning, but this time he fell off. I immediately jumped up to see if he was alright; it very quickly became clear that he was not alright. He had lost the use of his hind legs and I’ll never forget the look of panic on the old boys face. I rushed over to him and tried to calm and reassure him before calling the vet. That day, Winston was diagnosed as having CRF. The vets outlook of this was extremely bleak and left me feeling overwhelmed and devastated. The vets prognosis was that at best Winston would have a few more months of life left.
A few months past and Winston was doing well. I had found some interesting sites on the internet which had loads of info about CRF but it was very hard going trying to take it all in. At this point, at the age of 15ish, Woody became very ill. He stopped eating and drinking. After trying for a couple of days to get him eating, I decided the vet was needed. Woody was admitted to hospital with Hepatic Lipidosis and was badly jaundiced. He was placed on IV fluids for a couple of days but he was not at all in good shape. We got him home on the Saturday morning. We couldn’t get his meds or any food into him. The more we tried the more stressed he became. We decided to let him go on the Monday morning. Once again me, Winston and Graham were left broken hearted.
Another few months past and Winston was again at the vets to check on the progression of his CRF. His Creatinine levels had fallen and all in all, he wasn’t doing too badly. The vet suggested getting him a new companion, a kitten. I felt this wasn’t such a good idea but the vet and the nurses all said it would give him a new lease of life. So against my better judgment, we got a kitten. The DIVA.
Winston wasn’t very impressed with this little bundle of fluff. And in all honesty, who could blame him. He was never nasty to her but he found her very tiring and as she got older, she irritated him sometimes. He was quick to put this youngster in her place and she too was quick to take a telling from the old boy. They were never bedfellows but also they were never enemies either.
It had been a very long time since I had had a kitten and have to tell you that Eva the Diva has taught me a lot, bless her heart.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but I continued to learn as much as I possibly could about CRF and successfully managed to keep Winston on an even keel for quite some time.
Towards the end of last year, I began thinking, maybe foolishly, maybe not, about taking on another cat. I knew in my heart of hearts that Winston wasn’t going to be with us forever. I thought long and hard and tried to weigh up the pro’s and cons of getting another cat.
Then some one who I had come to know and respect for her selfless work in rescue had posted one of her cats on a forum for rehoming. I already knew his story and I had named him too. I was in love with this scruffy puss. I expressed an interest never believing he would ever possibly be mine as he was in North Wales and I live in Scotland.
However, Dawn made it all possible with the help of another friend in rescue and her family. Bernie arrived here in November last year.
Winston didn’t have much of a problem with Bernie being here but the Diva was another matter entirely. It has taken 6 months to get Eva to accept Bernie into the home. The biggest improvements came after the demise of my old handsome puss Winston.
Winston took a few turns for the worst towards the end of March this year. More and more things were beginning to go wrong with my old boy. There was a point when I believed my Winston was immortal and could survive anything life threw at him. Sadly none of us are immortal and Winston’s old and frail body was failing him. After much soul searching and support from many people, I decided to let him go. Winston died peacefully at the grand old age of 21 on the 4th of April 2006. I miss him desperately and will always hold his memory in my heart for as long as I live.
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