Kittysaurus Rex

She cried at our door for two weeks straight. I kept thinking she would go home if we didn't let her in. I was wrong. The darn cat was adamant about coming inside. The stray striped tabby came to the back door every evening and meowed until I shut the door. If I tried to shoo her away, she wouldn't go.

But then a couple days before Halloween the weather forecast was 34 degrees for the overnight low. don-E said we couldn't leave her outside. I picked her up and put her in the garage with a towel, water and a little food. She scratched at the door for a while but settled down and slept. The next day I put her back outside. The next night she came back in the garage to stay out of the freezing. It was then that I realized she was hanging out in the yard during the day and not really going back home, wherever that was.

Somewhere along the way, I can't recall the chronology, a friend came over and checked for a lost cat on Craigslist and Human Society. Oh, hadn't even thought of that. I kept thinking she would go home. I took a picture and posted it. I had talked to my neighbor across the street and found out a family one street over was missing a cat. The little girl and her friend came over to see the cat and said that they didn't think it was her cat and it was too skinny. DUH. She's been outside for two stinkin' weeks.

So, we decided to let her in and keep her. It was the week of Thomas' birthday and he really wanted a pet since Sam had a gerbil now. We agreed and gave him naming rights. Thus, we had a new cat named Kittysaurus Rex, AKA Kitty Rex.

No more crying from Kitty Rex. Just a sweet, mellow cat who even allowed Thomas to carry her up the stairs without a flinch or a fuss. Thomas picked out a black collar with pink flowers for her and we got a laser engraved name tag for her. We had marked our territory and she was a part of the family now.

Turns out Kittysaurus wasn't just skinny from being outside for two weeks. She was sick. Very. It wasn't FIV or feline leukemia so we didn't have to worry that Apple might get sick. But it was serious. Probably FIP, which is expensive to diagnose and incurable. Given the results of the blood work, her prognosis was guarded to poor. We opted for steriods and antibiotics in case it was one of the lesser illnesses. She slept at the foot of my bed and liked to be pet. But she didn't meow once or even purr while inside with us.

On Sunday morning, day 4 of meds, she was hiding from me. She was done. She hadn't eaten in over 5 days, probably more. Sunday evening she slept in the cat box. Weird. And after we went to bed, she let out a big cry. It broke our hearts.

The boys said goodbye to her on Monday before they went to school. Sam tried telling Thomas she would be alright and we had to tell him that she wouldn't. I took her to the vet and stayed with her. (She had bruising which meants she was bleeding internally and her liver had quit.)

Kittysaurus was adamant about coming inside and being with our family. I truly believe she knew she was sick and didn't want to die outside alone. She wanted to pass with dignity and love. I'm glad she found us. Rest in peace, Kitty Rex.