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Elle Brown, my cat - 1997 - 2016

Elle Brown, 1997 - 2016

I've never had a cat who was as precocious, communicative with a full vocabulary, mindful, a Daddy's girl, and absolutely loving as Elle.

The first time I held her as a kitten even before taking her home from a friend's house where she was born with her sister Sie (also a member of our family, who has already passed on), Elle purred instantly. We really hit it off, fell in love, and we've been smitten ever since.

Saying goodbye to her today was absolutely one of the saddest things I've ever experienced. After loving, living with and caring for her for 19 years, you get really close. The last few weeks have been grueling with mixed signals from the hospital, all the while knowing that today, would come. Tracey Jaquith and I are wrecks right now, but relieved her suffering is over too.

Elle was super special. I've never had such a pleaser kitty. Still full of attitude, but she always managed to look good in my eyes and worked hard at it. She always let you know how she was doing too.

We had to let her go after not eating for 8 days, and after having been discharged from the hospital last week, due to renal failure. The plan was to keep her on subcutaneous fluids daily, anti-nausea medicine, and hope that she would eat and recuperate so we could keep her kidney levels in check. Something went wrong though, and she just refused to eat with all sort of methods, foods, and strategies, and even drugs to get her to eat. Nothing worked.

We decided to stop short of installing a feeding tube in her, because we weren't sure if that would cause her necessarily to eat again on her own, and for how long would she have to go on with that discomfort and intensive care in the hospital away from home again -- especially at her 19 years.

She had been losing weight steadily for the last year. Her elevated kidney levels through the years were always a foreboding sign of her ultimate future and appointment today.

She declined quickly the last few days, with a really bad scare last night where she fell out of bed, more than likely attempting to get to the cat box. She already had peed in bed a couple hours previously. After her fall, she lay still, not moving ... it was so obvious that she was just too weak to continue. She did perk up a few hours later, and we got her to purr right to the very end, and she even had one tiny bit of toast with butter, but no more...

I scheduled an in house vet visit this afternoon, to return her back to the universe, but not out of our hearts. Her fainting meow the last couple days was no where near the deep, rich and varied voice she had. It was time.

I'd like to thank my friends and fellow Elle lovers who I can remember right now who have taken care of her at one point through the years: Christy Kovacs, Amy Bookout, Kim Mondelli, Todd Hodges, Russ Jaquith, and of course her super dedicated and loving co-parent, Tracey Jaquith. If I've missed anyone, please remind me, so I can thank you.

I'm not one who believes in the after life, but I'd so love to think that I'll be with her again. She hasn't left my heart though, and she remains there purring and continues to tell me everything that matters in her life.

I've lost my best friend.