Scampers.

I went over to my dads house last night to see my kitty (and by kitty I mean a 16 year old cat). He is extremely sick. Even more so than my previous post about him. He has lost so much weight that he is only skin and bones now. He has lost a lot of his hair and a few of his wiskers, which means he loses his balance pretty easily. I laid on the floor with him for about an hour just crying wishing I could make him feel better. He no longer meows and rarely stands up. I felt like he was in a lot pain so I couldn't pet his body like I normally do. I just sat there rubbing his head. I had to lay on the floor with my head next to his so he could see me, because he can't lift his head very high anymore.

Obviously he is not going to live much longer. My only worry is that I don't want him to live in pain. I knew this day would come but I just wish I had another 16 years with him. I know it sounds crazy and most people would say he is just a cat, but he is almost like my child. I have known him pretty much my whole life. I knew that Jake was the one for me because I loved him more than my cat! Scamps is obviously pretty high on my love list! My dad suggested that we put him to sleep. He took him to the vet this morning to see what the doctor would say. He has a tumor on his back, a heart murmur, and most likely cancer. Because of how large the tumor is, it is pushing on his liver causing him pain. If we don't operate to remove the tumor most likely he will die of liver failure in the near future. The only problem is.....he most likely won't survive the surgery.

He has been such a good kitty to me. He had his own personality and thought he was king of the household. I remember he loved sleeping in my bed with me at night. Even though I'm allergic to him I would let him! He would sprawl out on my queen size bed and literally push me towards the edge of the bed so he could be more comfortable. In the summer time he would go outside until the middle of the night. He knew where my window was, so he would jump down in the window well and knock on my door until I woke up and let him in on my bed. In the rare situations when he would stay inside at night he would come knock on my door until I let him in. Needless to say I always slept with my door open.

We all loved him so much. He was probably one of the most spoiled cats in history. We had a stocking for him at Christmas time that would be filled with kitty toys and treats. He even got to the point where for a while he would only drink Evian water. Someone always had to walk him to his food to make sure that it was full. If the bottom of his bowl was showing even a little, he would look at us and meow until we filled it. He hated being alone. When we would go on vacation he wanted to get back at us for leaving him there so he would leave a little present for us on the carpet! Usually Whitney would have to clean it up because I would claim I'm allergic! That line came in handy sometimes. haha.

The first mouse he ever caught he brought it home to show us because he was so proud! It was so cute! He also had an attitude. If you ever made him mad he would let you know. Our dog that was like 10 times bigger than he was, was scared of Scamper! Whenever our dog Tommy came too close to Scamper, he would hold Tommy by the nose with one paw and then smack him in the face with his other paw. Immediately Tommy would run away. It was so hilarious to see! During the 5th grade I brought him to school for show and tell. Everyone loved him! At that point in his life he was probably 10 to 15 pounds overweight. His belly would almost hit floor when he walked. We even brought him to our family pictures. We were all wearing black so he matched us perfectly! He sat on my lap for the pictures. The only bad part was when we saw the pictures I realized he blended in with my dress so the only thing you could see were his eyes. It was almost creepy in a way. He sat there the whole time like a good kitty though. I think he liked getting his picture taken!

I have so many memories of my kitty, I can't even describe how much I am going to miss him. I don't think I am ever going to get another animal. It is just way too hard when they get sick. I definitely can't go through this again! I keep telling myself Scamper is off to heaven and I will go play with him when I get up there. Heaven needs a little mischief that Scamper can provide!