Monday, September 6, 2010

DJ Cat is dead

The past week has been a sad one for me. If you've ever read my profile you could see that it said I live with two black cats. Unfortunatele that is no longer true. Last friday one of them died. His name was DJ (not a name I gave him by the way). He was not really himself physically for a while and lost a lot of weight in a short period of time. I went to the vet and she told me he suffered from kidney failure. He needed to get medication and he also got a dose of fluids which meant he had to stay at the vets for a few hours. During those hours I couldn't think of anything else to do than to dedicate a spread in my everyday journal to him.


On the left you can see a picture of him in his somewhat younger days. It also shows his character which was all about enjoyment and being cuddled and petted as often as possible. I got him and his sister Mara when they were 7 years old from an animal shelter. They both have been with me for 8 years now and are/were the sweetest of cats you could imagine. The words 'Sweet Trouble' refer to the fact that he was indeed sweet but there was always something going on with him. If a cat got hurt it was DJ, if a cat got sick it was DJ, if a cat found it necessary to mark his territory by peeing it was DJ.

After the visit to the vet things got worse rather fast and last thursday he was so tired and slow that I really started to worry about him. I decided to call the vet on friday, but it was too late. I found him on my living room floor on friday morning. I think his heart just stopped. It was a sad discovery of course, but I am kind of grateful he did not really suffer any pain. I buried him in the dunes and hope nature will claim him soon.

As if on some instinctual impulse I actually made pictures of him the night before. I am not one who often photographs her pets, but somehow it seemed important to do so now. And it turned out that it was. So with the last pictures of my cat I made another spread in my everyday journal announcing his death.


You can see how skinny he became and how his fur no longer had that fullness it always had. He was part persian and it showed.  But, especially on the picture on the bottom right, you can see he still had that mischievous look he always had. He loved to tease his poor sister and me too sometimes ;-)

So, this is not a happy post I'm afraid, but that's life. I will miss my cat and can only hope his sister will outlive him by many many years.