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In February of 2005 I had a nervous breakdown and fell into a deep depression. I quit my job, started therapy, and went on anti-depressants. I had been waiting tables in a very posh restaurant for many years and had amassed enough money to be able to take as long as I needed to get better. Things improved somewhat in a couple months, and in order to keep busy, I offered to volunteer for a local cat rescue group. It was very rewarding. I put in a lot of hours. Early in May I was given a litter of kittens to bottle feed.
There was a little orange one, a smokey black one, a beautiful tabby, a calico-tabby mix, and a gray tabby. I had just lost my cat Slater a year back, so I knew I would end up adopting one of them. I really liked the beautiful tabby, but I was also aware that these kittens were fosters, and the point was to adopt them out. It was unlikely that I would end up with the “best” one, so I waited to see what would happen.
A month or so later, I lost two of them to panleukopenia, leaving only the smokey black guy, the beautiful tabby and the grey tabby. I took a liking to the grey tabby. He was very cute, especially silly, and the easiest to feed. One day I layed down for a nap and I decided to bring one of the kittens in with me. I knew it would be safe since I was only planning to snooze lightly. I chose the grey tabby. He seemed the most agreeable. After stumbling around for a couple of minutes he settled down next to me and used my thumb as a pillow. I named him Aniki, which means “big brother” in Japanese.
A week or so later, Aniki got sick. Panleukopenia. I rushed him to the vet. The doctor said that as soon as I left him there he took a turn for the worse, but that they would do everything they could.
I awoke the next morning with a heavy heart. Before I could get out of bed and call the vet to check on Aniki, the phone rang. It was a woman from the rescue group. She had just dropped a few cats off there and had seen Aniki. He was doing well! Very well! She said he was bouncing off the walls of his cage!
I picked him up that night. A few days later I noticed he was having some difficulty walking. Turns out the high fever he suffered at such a young age damaged his brain, and he would have motor coordination issues in his back legs for life. So much for adopting him out. I decided right then and there he would be the one I adopted.
I made the right choice. Aniki turned out to be a loving, goofy, happy cat. He was also incredibly cute. Huge eyes. He looked like an illustration in a child’s book about cats.
My resident cat, Zak, hated him, but Zak hated all other cats. After I lost Zak, I adopted a timid little female maned Cozy, and a year later, an incredible tuxedo named Rico. Aniki and Rico became fast friends. In the beginning, they were inseparable. I used to see Rico following Aniki around the house as if Aniki was giving him a tour. That played and slept together. Cozy fell in love with him but because of her incredibly nervous nature, she would sometimes strike out at him. This gave him some pause, but he tolerated her affections anyway.
Aniki grew up to be a permanent kitten. The neurological damage left him very clingy and I suspect a little bit developmentally disabled: he never lost his kittenish habits. When he was happy, he didn’t hold his tail straight up, but plastered it against his back like a kitten. He was never aggressive with any other cat and didn’t seem to be the least bit territorial. He was a delight.
He loved his little mouse toys and went crazy for aluminum foil balls. Anything that rolled. He loved the sunshine and although he couldn’t jump onto windowsills, he could scramble up the six foot cat tree in less than ten seconds using mainly his front legs and as he got older, vets would always remark about how muscular he was.
He was an expert snuggler and would spoon with me every night. His favorite spot was my lap. He was truly my little baby boy.
I lost Cozy to cancer a couple years back, and Rico in 2020. After that, it was just Aniki and me. I did not want to get another cat…I wanted Aniki to have all of me to himself. In January of last year, he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. He did well for a whole year. He even liked his k/d food. But eventually it got the best of him.
Aniki died at the vet’s yesterday at 3:34. He went peacefully and amazingly, I have very few regrets.
As I’ve told him many times, I have never loved any animal more than him. I can still feel his presence inside me and I know I always will. If you’ve read this far, thank you! His memory is very important to me!
There was a little orange one, a smokey black one, a beautiful tabby, a calico-tabby mix, and a gray tabby. I had just lost my cat Slater a year back, so I knew I would end up adopting one of them. I really liked the beautiful tabby, but I was also aware that these kittens were fosters, and the point was to adopt them out. It was unlikely that I would end up with the “best” one, so I waited to see what would happen.
A month or so later, I lost two of them to panleukopenia, leaving only the smokey black guy, the beautiful tabby and the grey tabby. I took a liking to the grey tabby. He was very cute, especially silly, and the easiest to feed. One day I layed down for a nap and I decided to bring one of the kittens in with me. I knew it would be safe since I was only planning to snooze lightly. I chose the grey tabby. He seemed the most agreeable. After stumbling around for a couple of minutes he settled down next to me and used my thumb as a pillow. I named him Aniki, which means “big brother” in Japanese.
A week or so later, Aniki got sick. Panleukopenia. I rushed him to the vet. The doctor said that as soon as I left him there he took a turn for the worse, but that they would do everything they could.
I awoke the next morning with a heavy heart. Before I could get out of bed and call the vet to check on Aniki, the phone rang. It was a woman from the rescue group. She had just dropped a few cats off there and had seen Aniki. He was doing well! Very well! She said he was bouncing off the walls of his cage!
I picked him up that night. A few days later I noticed he was having some difficulty walking. Turns out the high fever he suffered at such a young age damaged his brain, and he would have motor coordination issues in his back legs for life. So much for adopting him out. I decided right then and there he would be the one I adopted.
I made the right choice. Aniki turned out to be a loving, goofy, happy cat. He was also incredibly cute. Huge eyes. He looked like an illustration in a child’s book about cats.
My resident cat, Zak, hated him, but Zak hated all other cats. After I lost Zak, I adopted a timid little female maned Cozy, and a year later, an incredible tuxedo named Rico. Aniki and Rico became fast friends. In the beginning, they were inseparable. I used to see Rico following Aniki around the house as if Aniki was giving him a tour. That played and slept together. Cozy fell in love with him but because of her incredibly nervous nature, she would sometimes strike out at him. This gave him some pause, but he tolerated her affections anyway.
Aniki grew up to be a permanent kitten. The neurological damage left him very clingy and I suspect a little bit developmentally disabled: he never lost his kittenish habits. When he was happy, he didn’t hold his tail straight up, but plastered it against his back like a kitten. He was never aggressive with any other cat and didn’t seem to be the least bit territorial. He was a delight.
He loved his little mouse toys and went crazy for aluminum foil balls. Anything that rolled. He loved the sunshine and although he couldn’t jump onto windowsills, he could scramble up the six foot cat tree in less than ten seconds using mainly his front legs and as he got older, vets would always remark about how muscular he was.
He was an expert snuggler and would spoon with me every night. His favorite spot was my lap. He was truly my little baby boy.
I lost Cozy to cancer a couple years back, and Rico in 2020. After that, it was just Aniki and me. I did not want to get another cat…I wanted Aniki to have all of me to himself. In January of last year, he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. He did well for a whole year. He even liked his k/d food. But eventually it got the best of him.
Aniki died at the vet’s yesterday at 3:34. He went peacefully and amazingly, I have very few regrets.
As I’ve told him many times, I have never loved any animal more than him. I can still feel his presence inside me and I know I always will. If you’ve read this far, thank you! His memory is very important to me!
