After Chris died, I read the book I wrote about him for the first time since I published it over eleven years ago. I’m embarrassed to say I found a lot of errors, most of which were commas. I feel I am a much better writer today, but commas are still my kryptonite. Either I don’t put them where they belong, or I put them where they don’t belong.
I went through the book and corrected the mistakes I found without changing the story. I also updated the backmatter with information about my current books. In addition, I changed the cover. I was never entirely happy with the cover. I don’t know why I didn’t change it years ago.
I decided to offer the corrected version for free today through Saturday. Unfortunately, it is only available on Kindle, so you can’t get it as a physical book. Maybe someday I’ll look into doing that. To get your free Kindle book, click here.
As always, writing a review of any of my books would be very helpful and I would appreciate it.
When the vet came in to tell me what was wrong with Chris on Saturday, I called my wife so she could hear it, too. She was in Tampa preparing for a cruise with her managers. The vet said they had removed some of the fluid from around Chris’s lungs and had him on oxygen. She said there are two main causes for that condition: cancer and heart disease. She mentioned a number of tests that could be done to determine which is the cause.
“So, you would do the tests, and we will take Chris home and wait for the results?”
“Oh, no. Chris needs critical care. he would have to stay here and be admitted.”
“So, what would his prognoses be then?”
“If it’s cancer, there’s not much we can do. If it’s heart disease, medication might extend his life three to six months.”
That is about how the conversation went, although I may not have the words exactly right. My wife thought he suffered enough. She thought going through all of this treatment for little or no benefit would be something Chris would despise. I had to agree with her considering on top of his current problem, he also had kidney disease, a perpetual ear infection, and arthritis. So, we made the decision to let him go.
After a little while, they took me to another room. This room had a bench seat big enough for two people next to a window. I sat on the end near the door. A women took my credit card information, and I paid the over one-thousand-dollar bill.
She left and came back with Chris wrapped in a towel. She put him on my lap, and I petted him for a little while. I saw part of his fur was shaved and he had a tube sticking out of him from somewhere. He then got up and walked to the other side of the bench and looked out the window.
At that moment, I thought he looked normal. He didn’t look like a cat in need of critical care. My first thought was to tell them I changed my mind and get the hell out of there with him. I then considered the possibility that the vet might know more than me. What if I brought him home and he had another episode where he had trouble breathing? What if he were to die while not being able to get enough oxygen and lying in his own urine like that morning?
I made the hard choice. I picked up Chris, put him back on my lap, and pushed the call button.
Monday night, I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept going over that moment in my head. I convinced myself I made the wrong choice. I thought the vet probably over exaggerated his condition like a weather forecaster before a hurricane. I thought I should have brought him home and let God decide his fate. I’m not qualified.
Are these feelings normal? The last time I was involved with euthanasia was with Abbey about twelve years ago. Then my wife was with me which made it easier but still, I felt grief, but I didn’t feel like we were doing the wrong thing. What do you think?
I want to end this post on a positive note so here is one of my most recent photos of Chris.
As most of you know, we lost Chris Saturday afternoon. We knew his time with us was limited but we still hoped for at least another year. I at least thought he would see his fifteenth Gotch Day in November.
I am grateful to the many people who reached out and offered prayers when they learned Chris was not doing well, and condolences after he passed. As most of you know, losing a beloved pet is very difficult but knowing there are people who really care about you softens the blow.
I would like to thank Ann from Zoolatry for first creating this graphic when she learned Chris wasn’t doing well.
A few hours later she made this beautiful memorial for Chris.
I thought this would be a good time to take a stroll down memory lane, starting with the first two known photos of Chris taken October 3, 2009, when I talked my wife into coming into the shelter where I volunteered to meet Chris.
Chris meets RoseChris at adoption center with Rose.
We didn’t adopt him then. We had a cruise coming up in October and then Rose had to go to a managers meeting. In the meantime, Chris was adopted by someone else. He annoyed his first adoptive parents so much that they returned him the next day. The fact that a five to six-month-old kitten could not get adopted was unusual and lucky for us as well as Chris, because I don’t know many people who could have put up with him in those early years.
Here is a video of him when we brought him home. We didn’t do what we should have done and introduce him to our cats slowly. Instead, we let him loose and he immediately took over. As you can see, Chris was not a shy cat.
I believe this is the first photo I have of him in our new home.
Chris on adoption day, 2009.
Three hours later he cozied up to Rose on the sofa.
Early picture of Chris and Rose
He quickly became friendly with our other cats. Our black cat, Flash, is not in this picture, nor do I have a photo of him with Chris. It’s too bad because he died the following April.
Chris would often insert himself where he wasn’t invited.
Chris disturbs Abbey’s nap.
While he could be highly annoying to both cats and people, he was also funny and entertaining.
Now it’s my turn!Abbey annoyed with Chris.
He could also be very cute.
What stood out the most about Chris was his affectionate nature. He was always a very touchy-feely cat. He was the only cat I ever knew that liked to be hugged.
This is Chris on my shoulders, doing what he has done since the day we met.
Of course, there were plenty of things he did to earn the name Bad Cat Chris.
Bad Cat Chris tries to catch birdChris on kitchen babinetDid I mention the closet?
Chris was with us for almost fifteen years. There is way too much to remember in one post. I will post part two soon.
Frankie jumped up into a tree the other day. I assume he was chasing a squirrel I never saw. Apparently, he is giving the squirrel a raspberry, although, since he missed the squirrel, it should be the other way around.
Chris seems to be doing well since being diagnosed with a kidney disorder. He doesn’t sleep as much and seems to have more energy. He gets up and down from his perch easier and has more desire to go outside.
The bad news is I’ve seen this before. I crudely weighed him this morning on our bathroom scale and he’s about 16 lb. He was between 20 and 21 lb when I took him to the vet.
Our cat Abbey had a similar issue with her kidneys. She started losing weight and her energy level went way up. I wasn’t sure if I should be concerned since she seemed to be doing better. When her weight kept going down we took her to the vet who told us she was in decline. It was difficult to accept since she was only 8 years old. The weight kept coming off and too soon we had to say goodbye.
I am giving Chris a special food for the kidneys as well as an herbal supplement. Those options weren’t given to me when Abbey was sick. I’m hoping we can keep this terrible disease at bay for a while longer.
Something changed a little over a month ago. Look at the photo below and see if you can tell what’s different?
Did you figure it out? They are all wearing collars now. Specifically, they are wearing Seresto collars.
My wife always pushed to have flea medication put on our cats, but I resisted because I thought putting poison on a cat might not be healthy. I was usually able to extend the treatment to once every two months or so but then one of them would scratch an itch and we would suddenly need to prepare for Armageddon. Finally, someone told my wife about Seresto flea collars, and she was all in. My boss also uses them, and she agreed that they are a great product.
Since our cats never wore collars (except during moves) I wasn’t sure how they would react to them, but they accepted the collars without much complaining. They are not cheap, $81 for two collars, but they last eight months. Our other flea treatment was way more expensive, even when used only every other month.
Does anyone else use Seresto? What do you think about them?
My wife and I were invited to a cookout at my boss’s house over a month ago. As I was looking through pictures today, I came across one from that day. I meant to post it then but forgot.
My boss has three cats. Bill hangs out on the pool table near where I work. He is very friendly. Sampson will sometimes meet me outside when I get to work and then come in with me. He is also friendly, but I only see him occasionally. Delilah is usually outside in the back yard where I almost never see her. Since we were hanging out in her territory that day, she had no problem coming to me for attention.
Chris has been spending a lot of time on his cat perch. It is good that he is still able to get up there but it is also concerning because I almost never see him holding vigil at his food bowl waiting for someone to put fresh food on top of not-so-fresh-food.
The fact that he is losing his appetite worries me.
Bad Cat Chris 