Goodbye Alexander

Today, we said "Goodbye" to my beloved cat.

His Royal Highness, Alexander the Cat

May 31, 1995-May 19, 2010

As a tribute to his life, I am repeating part of the post I made in honor of his birthday last year.

*********************************************************************

Alexander entered my life nearly 14 15 years ago. I found his mom hiding in the stairwell in my condo building. She looked like a small kitten herself, but she had her four tiny kittens with her. I contacted a local rescue organization to see what could be done. I didn't care much for cats, but greatly preferred dogs, so I had no intention of keeping one. I did agree, however, to safehouse them until they were old enough to be adopted.

At the time I found them, the vet estimated they were about 10 days old, so their birthday was calculated to have been May 31st. The mama kitty tested negative for major diseases, so the kitties were assumed to be healthy too. Alexander nearly didn't survive his first few weeks. While not exactly sickly, he was not thriving. In fact, none of them were exactly thriving. I've always assumed it was because the mama kitty was still just a young kitten herself. She must have been someone's pet though, because she was litterbox trained from the beginning. She trained her kittens as well, lucky for me.

Anyway, given their weak start in life, we gave them strong names. Mama kitty became Cleopatra. The two make kittens became Alexander and Sampson. The two female kittens became Allegra and Reina.

Once they were weaned, it was time to hand them over for adoption. I had grown extremely attached to all four of the kittens and found it quite difficult to let them go. Cleopatra was not as difficult. She was not a friendly kitty, and was not an especially good mama to her babies. I ended up adopting Sampson and Alexander myself. I couldn't keep four of them in my condo. I didn't want to separate them, either, so I kept both of the boys.

Alexander and Sampson were with me through my divorce. They moved with me to my new home. They were with me when I remarried, and when we moved into our new home. They were with me through the birth of our daughter, Princess E.  Sampson died when Princess E was just a year old.  Alexander searched for him for well over a year.  Watching him grieve for his buddy was terribly sad. 

Alexander spent his final years as an indoor/outdoor cat. In the winter, he stayed indoors most of the time. In nice weather, especially during the spring, he preferred to be outside. 

Just yesterday, Alexander was curled up with me on my bed, purring.  But, I knew something was wrong.  He hadn't been eating much for about a week.  I didn't think a lot of it at first, since he would occasionally go through spells when he would barely eat for a couple of days and I also knew our neighbors had been feeding him as well.  I've kept him indoors completely, so I could watch him more closely.  This morning, I took him to the vet, because it was clear he was miserable and becoming sicker.  After examining him, the vet diagnosed him with late stage kidney failure.  We agreed that the most humane option was to end his suffering. 

I called for my husband to join us.  When he arrived, we spent a few minutes saying goodbye, and then were able to hold him as he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  We brought him home, put him in his bed and buried him with his bowl and toys. 

 

My heart is heavy and I am terribly sad.  I miss my Alexander.