My fiance and I rescued a little kitten from a lady at work who had found him on the road next to some other dead kittens. He was sooo tiny and sweet... gray and fuzzy with a few tiger stripes around his face and neck. The lady that found him named him "Lucky" because he was lucky to be alive... when we brought him home, James and I affectionately called him "Roadkill" because of his circumstance... but then we changed it to a more dignified "Dusty" because he was gray and silver and white, and looked like he was covered in dust.
Dusty would meow and cry like crazy the first few days we had him. It was so pitiful how he would stick his paws and his nose under the crack of our bedroom door at night because he wanted to be in there with us so much. But he quickly adjusted, and our couch became his bed, his resting place, his home. He would come sit on our shoes and look up at us when we did the dishes in the kitchen. We were amazed at how quickly Dusty learned to use the litterbox, and how wonderfully he appeared to be thriving. It was really cute how he would even follow us into the bathroom when we were getting ready, and just wait on a towel on the floor and stare at us until we were finished. I took Dusty to the vet for his kitty shots and fecal tests, because I saw a worm drop from him when he jumped onto the computer keyboard one evening. The vet just couldn't believe how GOOD he was... How sweet he was... and how funny it was that he sat on my shoulder like a parrot.
Dusty was a needy and dependent boy, though... He cried and cried when he wasn't sitting on my lap, and when he finally crawled on he would just sit there and be good. He NEEDED affection like I've never seen a cat need before. The first bath we gave him was rather torturous, because he was scared and completely covered in fleas, but the second one proved to be much better. I bought him a brush and some of the good Science Diet cat food, and that's about the time we noticed something was wrong.
By the end of the second week, our new kitty was becoming increasingly lethargic and void of energy. I noticed that he was eating less and less, and that all he ever wanted to do was sit on the ground, balled up, close to something that might provide him with heat. Usually the fridge vents. James and I thought that we should get him some syringes and force feed him cat formula, since he was still so young, but before we could do anything he took a turn for the worst. Wednesday night after we fed him, he balled up next to the fridge vent again, and when we left the room he just stayed there. I returned to pick poor Dusty up, and his eyes looked bad. I began to think that he might be dehydrated at that point, because he kept licking his lips and it sounded like he really needed some fluids. I picked him up and set him down on my lap as I searched google for "cat loss of appetite and lethargy." He was practically sagging at that point, and couldn't keep his head up. I set him down on the floor to see if he could walk, and he took a few wobbly steps before balling up again. I picked him up and brought him to the couch next to James, and we knew then that our boy was dying. It was happening so fast and without explanation, that even if we had taken him to the vet there wouldn't have been time to change anything. Dusty's face took on an expression of emptiness during his last moments, and his limbs lost their warmth. He cried a few times, and we just stroked him and tried to comfort him as best as we could.
I feel SO bad that we didn't take him to the vet when all of this started. Even sInce he died, I've been coming home from school and work still expecting to see my "sweet little ball of dust" greet me at the door. He was only with us for two short weeks, and I am astonished to how quickly I grew attached to the little guy. He was the most loving cat with the way he would nuzzle my face with his moist little nose and look into my eyes as if to say "thank you for bringing me home, I love you." Strangely enough, I haven't been able to cry about it... I just feel a profound sadness whenever I think about him and what happened to him and how much I miss him.
It's so crazy how things can come into our lives that enrich us so, and then disappear without a trace. I wish I could reach into Dusty's realm and give him one last hug, and tell him thank you for all the joy he brought into my life.
Dusty would meow and cry like crazy the first few days we had him. It was so pitiful how he would stick his paws and his nose under the crack of our bedroom door at night because he wanted to be in there with us so much. But he quickly adjusted, and our couch became his bed, his resting place, his home. He would come sit on our shoes and look up at us when we did the dishes in the kitchen. We were amazed at how quickly Dusty learned to use the litterbox, and how wonderfully he appeared to be thriving. It was really cute how he would even follow us into the bathroom when we were getting ready, and just wait on a towel on the floor and stare at us until we were finished. I took Dusty to the vet for his kitty shots and fecal tests, because I saw a worm drop from him when he jumped onto the computer keyboard one evening. The vet just couldn't believe how GOOD he was... How sweet he was... and how funny it was that he sat on my shoulder like a parrot.
Dusty was a needy and dependent boy, though... He cried and cried when he wasn't sitting on my lap, and when he finally crawled on he would just sit there and be good. He NEEDED affection like I've never seen a cat need before. The first bath we gave him was rather torturous, because he was scared and completely covered in fleas, but the second one proved to be much better. I bought him a brush and some of the good Science Diet cat food, and that's about the time we noticed something was wrong.
By the end of the second week, our new kitty was becoming increasingly lethargic and void of energy. I noticed that he was eating less and less, and that all he ever wanted to do was sit on the ground, balled up, close to something that might provide him with heat. Usually the fridge vents. James and I thought that we should get him some syringes and force feed him cat formula, since he was still so young, but before we could do anything he took a turn for the worst. Wednesday night after we fed him, he balled up next to the fridge vent again, and when we left the room he just stayed there. I returned to pick poor Dusty up, and his eyes looked bad. I began to think that he might be dehydrated at that point, because he kept licking his lips and it sounded like he really needed some fluids. I picked him up and set him down on my lap as I searched google for "cat loss of appetite and lethargy." He was practically sagging at that point, and couldn't keep his head up. I set him down on the floor to see if he could walk, and he took a few wobbly steps before balling up again. I picked him up and brought him to the couch next to James, and we knew then that our boy was dying. It was happening so fast and without explanation, that even if we had taken him to the vet there wouldn't have been time to change anything. Dusty's face took on an expression of emptiness during his last moments, and his limbs lost their warmth. He cried a few times, and we just stroked him and tried to comfort him as best as we could.
I feel SO bad that we didn't take him to the vet when all of this started. Even sInce he died, I've been coming home from school and work still expecting to see my "sweet little ball of dust" greet me at the door. He was only with us for two short weeks, and I am astonished to how quickly I grew attached to the little guy. He was the most loving cat with the way he would nuzzle my face with his moist little nose and look into my eyes as if to say "thank you for bringing me home, I love you." Strangely enough, I haven't been able to cry about it... I just feel a profound sadness whenever I think about him and what happened to him and how much I miss him.
It's so crazy how things can come into our lives that enrich us so, and then disappear without a trace. I wish I could reach into Dusty's realm and give him one last hug, and tell him thank you for all the joy he brought into my life.