10 years ago, DH and a friend went to PetSmart for some things. What they came home with were tales of a wonderful cat that they found there. Our friend was moving to a place in the mountains and was looking for a good mouser. I met this cat in question and it was Carly. She hugged me so sweetly. I checked her little paws to see if she would allow me to clip them and expressed my approval. We convinced our friend that it wouldn't be right to put her in a shack as a mouser and took her home ourselves.
When we brought her home, we, of course, were lovingly watching every move she made. But it became apparent quickly that something was odd with her tail. It just hung there like a rope. We took her to our vet and it was discovered that her leg had been broken previously and had healed without any medical help. There was also damage to her spine which caused her tail to be non-responsive. Before she came to us, she had had a very hard life. We didn't do anything immediately, but after a couple of years, it was obvious that the tail could easily have been injured as she felt nothing in it. It would whack on the floor when she jumped down. The final indication was when DH noticed he was standing on it and she was totally oblivious to it. So to the vet who removed the tail in a lovely bit of surgery and Carly had a new cute butt.
Carly is also the reason I joined TCS. We started with her litterbox in a spare room, but DH decided it should go into a bathroom. This did not please Carly and she used the dining room instead. We quickly moved the litterbox back to its original location, but I had to clean up the dining room. TCS has just the info I needed and I haven't left since.
Carly adapted to her new home and was at ease with both Much and Lucy. While Lucy always rebuffed her attentions, Much had no problem with Carly sleeping with her.
Sunspots however were neutral territory and Lucy would tolerate sharing.
After we lost Much, we brought Aoibhe and Kiefer into the house. Carly somehow forgave us for these little terrors but they did give her a hard time.
One thing that drives DH to distraction is if someone else looks uncomfortable to him. This always means that the cats get moved around until he thinks they are comfortable. Needless to say, the cats usually move somewhere else soon afterwards. Carly would cause him to squirm as she slept on shoes or get into the smallest box possible. DH finally had to accept this and would leave his slippers in a corner at night for her comfort.
Another place that Carly liked was DH's CRT monitor. Large and warm, I'm sure it was the favorite spot for a lot of felines. Things were good until DH replaced it with a flat screen. Poor Carly went to jump on the monitor and found herself behind it. She looked so sad peeking out from behind that DH had to immediately run out and build her a shelf. Not as nice as the CRT, but she found it comfy.
Carly didn't give regular head butts. Instead she would lean in and press her forehead against ours. When I was at the computer, Carly liked to snuggle in the crook of my arm with her forehead pressing on my cheek. She would purr and hug me around the neck with her little paws curling one at a time, alternating. She always seemed to be in bliss at these times.
Carly liked to sing to her toys. This was always about 2am and she would finish with a crescendo while running upstairs with her toy.
From the beginning, Carly was serious about food. To the point where she got up to 13 lbs and was nicknamed Daddy's little football. This was a cat who would have a pill pocket break open on her and she would eat the crumbs and the pill. A potato chip falling on the floor would not bounce before she had it consumed. It was a big deal when about 2 years ago, she stopped eating. We struggled for months to get her eating. She spent a lot of time at the vet. Her white blood cell count was sky high, but no other indicators for lymphoma. Carly was treated for IBD with steroid injections because she was also vomiting. There was a low point where we were considering feeding tubes and she ended up staying at the vet for 5 weeks. When we got her home, she was supposed to get syringe feedings, but we found that she loved roast turkey slices. So she got a lot of roast turkey. We also were able to get her on a regular dose of predisolone. Carly stabilized and began eating proper cat food again. But turkey was still important to her. She would demand it any time someone one was in the kitchen. One time she was pestering a plumber working in the kitchen for it.
Carly didn't mind being at the vet. In fact, she always ate heartily there when she was refusing food at home. But she didn't like the car ride to and from the vet. She complained the whole time on the drive there, but was really quiet on the trip home until we hit the exit. She always knew the exit and would start the complaining again.
At the beginning of this year, three of the cats were on medication and I found that it went a lot quicker if the pills were wrapped in Braunschweiger. There were times near the end where Carly didn't seem interested in her wrapped pill until Kiefer came over. Then it became a competition for her. No way was Kiefer getting her treat!
Then last week, Carly went off her food. We took her into the vet 6/24 and it was finally diagnosed as lymphoma. We started a regimen of medications. But Carly's bad hip began to fail her. She would roll over on it when she tried to walk. Then the problem affected her back legs so she had to drag herself around. But she was determined. She was constantly on the move and we would have to look for her. Thursday night, she made it up the stairs to be with us and down the stairs later in the night. We're not sure how. After those first days with us 10 years ago, she never gave us any problems with using the litter box and she made sure she kept going to it during these last few days. Though one time, she got all but one leg in, figured she was in the box and let go. But she was in it.
Unfortunately, the paralysis continued to take her over. By Sunday she couldn't move around any more and soon couldn't lift her head. DH would prop her up so she could watch us and on Monday morning, we gave her some leftover pork tenderloin which she devoured with her old lust for food.
It was time for her to leave us. There would be no recovery as a meningitis-like paralysis had taken over. So on June 29, 2015, we took her to the vet one last time and said goodbye.
Carly was the most people-focused of any cat I have had. She was totally into everyone. It is so quiet now in the house. I thought my house was chaotic because I had four cats. It was chaotic because of Carly. Here is Carly at mealtime with Aoibhe and Kiefer.
We will miss you sweet Carly girl. Don't tell the others, but you were our favorite.
When we brought her home, we, of course, were lovingly watching every move she made. But it became apparent quickly that something was odd with her tail. It just hung there like a rope. We took her to our vet and it was discovered that her leg had been broken previously and had healed without any medical help. There was also damage to her spine which caused her tail to be non-responsive. Before she came to us, she had had a very hard life. We didn't do anything immediately, but after a couple of years, it was obvious that the tail could easily have been injured as she felt nothing in it. It would whack on the floor when she jumped down. The final indication was when DH noticed he was standing on it and she was totally oblivious to it. So to the vet who removed the tail in a lovely bit of surgery and Carly had a new cute butt.
Carly is also the reason I joined TCS. We started with her litterbox in a spare room, but DH decided it should go into a bathroom. This did not please Carly and she used the dining room instead. We quickly moved the litterbox back to its original location, but I had to clean up the dining room. TCS has just the info I needed and I haven't left since.
Carly adapted to her new home and was at ease with both Much and Lucy. While Lucy always rebuffed her attentions, Much had no problem with Carly sleeping with her.
Sunspots however were neutral territory and Lucy would tolerate sharing.
After we lost Much, we brought Aoibhe and Kiefer into the house. Carly somehow forgave us for these little terrors but they did give her a hard time.
One thing that drives DH to distraction is if someone else looks uncomfortable to him. This always means that the cats get moved around until he thinks they are comfortable. Needless to say, the cats usually move somewhere else soon afterwards. Carly would cause him to squirm as she slept on shoes or get into the smallest box possible. DH finally had to accept this and would leave his slippers in a corner at night for her comfort.
Another place that Carly liked was DH's CRT monitor. Large and warm, I'm sure it was the favorite spot for a lot of felines. Things were good until DH replaced it with a flat screen. Poor Carly went to jump on the monitor and found herself behind it. She looked so sad peeking out from behind that DH had to immediately run out and build her a shelf. Not as nice as the CRT, but she found it comfy.
Carly didn't give regular head butts. Instead she would lean in and press her forehead against ours. When I was at the computer, Carly liked to snuggle in the crook of my arm with her forehead pressing on my cheek. She would purr and hug me around the neck with her little paws curling one at a time, alternating. She always seemed to be in bliss at these times.
Carly liked to sing to her toys. This was always about 2am and she would finish with a crescendo while running upstairs with her toy.
From the beginning, Carly was serious about food. To the point where she got up to 13 lbs and was nicknamed Daddy's little football. This was a cat who would have a pill pocket break open on her and she would eat the crumbs and the pill. A potato chip falling on the floor would not bounce before she had it consumed. It was a big deal when about 2 years ago, she stopped eating. We struggled for months to get her eating. She spent a lot of time at the vet. Her white blood cell count was sky high, but no other indicators for lymphoma. Carly was treated for IBD with steroid injections because she was also vomiting. There was a low point where we were considering feeding tubes and she ended up staying at the vet for 5 weeks. When we got her home, she was supposed to get syringe feedings, but we found that she loved roast turkey slices. So she got a lot of roast turkey. We also were able to get her on a regular dose of predisolone. Carly stabilized and began eating proper cat food again. But turkey was still important to her. She would demand it any time someone one was in the kitchen. One time she was pestering a plumber working in the kitchen for it.
Carly didn't mind being at the vet. In fact, she always ate heartily there when she was refusing food at home. But she didn't like the car ride to and from the vet. She complained the whole time on the drive there, but was really quiet on the trip home until we hit the exit. She always knew the exit and would start the complaining again.
At the beginning of this year, three of the cats were on medication and I found that it went a lot quicker if the pills were wrapped in Braunschweiger. There were times near the end where Carly didn't seem interested in her wrapped pill until Kiefer came over. Then it became a competition for her. No way was Kiefer getting her treat!
Then last week, Carly went off her food. We took her into the vet 6/24 and it was finally diagnosed as lymphoma. We started a regimen of medications. But Carly's bad hip began to fail her. She would roll over on it when she tried to walk. Then the problem affected her back legs so she had to drag herself around. But she was determined. She was constantly on the move and we would have to look for her. Thursday night, she made it up the stairs to be with us and down the stairs later in the night. We're not sure how. After those first days with us 10 years ago, she never gave us any problems with using the litter box and she made sure she kept going to it during these last few days. Though one time, she got all but one leg in, figured she was in the box and let go. But she was in it.
Unfortunately, the paralysis continued to take her over. By Sunday she couldn't move around any more and soon couldn't lift her head. DH would prop her up so she could watch us and on Monday morning, we gave her some leftover pork tenderloin which she devoured with her old lust for food.
It was time for her to leave us. There would be no recovery as a meningitis-like paralysis had taken over. So on June 29, 2015, we took her to the vet one last time and said goodbye.
Carly was the most people-focused of any cat I have had. She was totally into everyone. It is so quiet now in the house. I thought my house was chaotic because I had four cats. It was chaotic because of Carly. Here is Carly at mealtime with Aoibhe and Kiefer.
We will miss you sweet Carly girl. Don't tell the others, but you were our favorite.
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That's a wonderful tribute to your spirited girl. Carly was full of love and loved very much in return, so it's no surprise that her absence is so apparent. Those of us who followed her ups and downs over the past two years are always going to think of Carly whenever we see sliced turkey and remember what a fighter she was, surviving those first rough years and injuries and then managing her final illness for so long 
You made life so much richer for your loved ones.
