KitKat came to me unexpectedly August of 2004 at 3 weeks old. My best friend lived near a feral cat colony and one of the cats had a litter of kittens on her back patio. The mama cat disappeared leaving 3 kittens behind. My friends dad was planning to take the kittens to the shelter. I was afraid they'd be out down so I offered to take them. When we got to her house there was only one kitten. I immediately scooped her up and took her home. Her first several weeks with me she stayed in a box on my bed and I bottle fed her every 2 hours. Even once she weaned and had full access to the house her favorite spot was on my bed.
Whenever I was struggling with things she was always right there and she had this 6th sense where she knew when I was feeling anxious and she'd immediately lay on my chest and calm me down. She was the one constant in my life for nearly 18 years.
In May of 2020 while were in the process of moving she developed a UTI that kept coming back after completing antibiotics. Finally in July she seemed to be back to normal but had developed kidney disease. Then about a month ago I noticed that she wasn't eating as much in the evenings, several days later she had almost completely stopped eating and then went 24hrs without using the litterbox. We went to the vet and she was diagnosed with a UTI and given treatment. After treatment she still wasn't eating so we tried her on an appetite stimulant and she was treated for constipation. She began to eat but was only interested in treats and had to be hand fed. A couple days later she began to stumble on her back legs and I knew it was time. All along I feared that this may be the end but she didn't seem to be in pain so I held out hope but seeing her struggle to walk was too much and she didn't deserve to suffer. We said goodbye to our sweet girl on March 23rd. This was the first time I've had to make that difficult decision and it was heart wrenching.
I have so many wonderful memories of KitKat and I've really tried to focus on those over the last 2 weeks. We also adopted 2 kitties over the weekend and while I've had moments of guilt and feeling like I replaced my sweet girl, they have already brought me such joy. I see little bits of my KitKat and each of them and I like to think that she helped bring them into my life.
Whenever I was struggling with things she was always right there and she had this 6th sense where she knew when I was feeling anxious and she'd immediately lay on my chest and calm me down. She was the one constant in my life for nearly 18 years.
In May of 2020 while were in the process of moving she developed a UTI that kept coming back after completing antibiotics. Finally in July she seemed to be back to normal but had developed kidney disease. Then about a month ago I noticed that she wasn't eating as much in the evenings, several days later she had almost completely stopped eating and then went 24hrs without using the litterbox. We went to the vet and she was diagnosed with a UTI and given treatment. After treatment she still wasn't eating so we tried her on an appetite stimulant and she was treated for constipation. She began to eat but was only interested in treats and had to be hand fed. A couple days later she began to stumble on her back legs and I knew it was time. All along I feared that this may be the end but she didn't seem to be in pain so I held out hope but seeing her struggle to walk was too much and she didn't deserve to suffer. We said goodbye to our sweet girl on March 23rd. This was the first time I've had to make that difficult decision and it was heart wrenching.
I have so many wonderful memories of KitKat and I've really tried to focus on those over the last 2 weeks. We also adopted 2 kitties over the weekend and while I've had moments of guilt and feeling like I replaced my sweet girl, they have already brought me such joy. I see little bits of my KitKat and each of them and I like to think that she helped bring them into my life.