Last Cat Standing Has Passed

This is an old picture of Kitten. She was a lot younger then...werent we all. She was rocking on 18 years old this year so she lived a very long time considering most cats dont live past two years of age these days..whether it be getting out and getting hit or getting into fights. Cats have so many diseases and infections that can kill them. Kittens name at first was Sabrina. We found her on the side of the road in Riverdale. She would have most certainly been hit if I had not picked her up as she was at a very busy intersection.

When we first got her, she did something strange. She would turn in circles, it was like some kind of inner ear or neurological disorder. She didnt do it all the time, and it went away soon after we got her.

She was always an indoor cat. We tried putting her on a harness and letting her walk around in the back yard, but she never took to the outdoors which is probably just as well.

She was a friendly social cat, always loved attention, never wanted you to stop petting when you started.

This past Summer she suddenly went blind. It was there one day, gone the next. It was very scary for her. We had to confine her to the bathroom with all her ammenities in place where she could find them easily. She has a nice warm bed, litter box, waterer, and always had access to her food. It took a while but she adapted and was not so scared.

Around the middle of December she had an episode, she began pacing and circling. Not all the time at first, but after several days it became constant, she would not stop until she was exhausted and just couldnt walk.

Something was neurologically going wrong. Her eyes were slightly jerking back and forth in the sockets. I put her in a basket with blankets and sat with her in the living room. I thought this was the end. She was panting and meowing. She would tense and then slowly relax. She couldnt control it, but she urinated on the floor in the bathroom as she couldnt get up, she couldnt walk anymore. As I sat there petting her, talking to her I thought she would be passing soon.

But this was not what happened.

With me helping her to drink and eat and then placing her in a basket, confining her to rest..and boy did she rest, moreso than a cat usually does...she slowly recovered. Believe it or not, she was fine, would eat, poop, pee, walk, meow, everything, fine, she was still blind of course, but she had adapted to that before.

A few days ago, it started again. The pacing, sometimes, but not all the time. Then it got worse. She couldnt stop, she just walked and walked, walked in her food, in her water, pushing things out of the way, going around them once pushed out of the way. I confined her again after helping her eat and drink last night.

About ten last night I went in to check on her and put her in the litter box if she needed to go and let her eat and drink. (I wouldhave to hold her in place while she ate and drank).

She had pushed her way out of the covered basket and I found her on the floor...passed away.

So she lost her battle with whatever was going wrong last night

There is a sense of relief. Once I saw it coming back again I knew it would just keep coming back to torture her, so I am glad she passed. She was old and it was time. We will miss her, but I am glad she is out of her misery. She lived a good long life.

Here is a picture of Phoenix and her, just before she went blind.

She would tolerate him. She never would hurt him. She would let him drink and eat from her bowls.

She was the last cat. We have had many over the years...but she was the last.