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Bart, best kitty boy

Discussion in 'In Memoriam' started by fuzzy1, Jan 17, 2013.

  1. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I moved this to a separate memorial thread, so it doesn't become a burden on a good FHOP cat humor thread.

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    Bart. Born ~March 2005, rescued May 2005, died January 15, 2013. You will always be in our hearts.

    Like many stray kittens turned in to the local shelter, Bart arrived too young to be put up for adoption. He and his sisters came to our home to grow up to adoption age and weight (8 weeks, 2 pounds), and to gain better socialization with humans, before being neutered and adopted out. The shelter lacks the space and staff to do all this itself, so it cultivates a fleet of volunteer foster homes.

    The shelter assigns temporary names, not expecting adoptive families to keep those names. But as Bart stole our hearts and tried to claim this as his permanent home, he also learned his shelter name so quickly that we were unable to change it. We just had to keep him after the foster period was over, and the shelter agreed.

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    Mom shares her pillow with kitten Bart.

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    Adult Bart shares his pillow with mom.

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    A brother makes the greatest pillow. (The Siamese is really a step-sister, adopted later from a slightly younger litter.)

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    As foster brother (and sister) to a new batch of foster kittens. Sister grew up into a wonderful foster mother cat. Bart did some foster dad duty, but mostly remained aloof from kittens. He greatly preferred people, all people, except loud kids.

    Additional pictures in an album at Bart Memorial.

    ------
    After nearly eight wonderful loving years, Bart died suddenly last night. Normally a very physically affectionate and loud purrer but generally nonvocal cat -- accidentally step on his tail and he wouldn't screech -- he was napping in one of his favorite spots in the adjacent room from us. Suddenly he let out a very distressed howl. We immediately realized he was in extremely critical condition (outstretched arms from a seizure, completely limp, loss of bowel control, glazed unresponsive eyes, and very difficult breathing) and headed for a 24-hour veterinary ER. We arrived ten minutes from the first howl, with him howling all the way in the car. As we carried him through the door, the staff could see he needed immediate CPR. But after two shots of epinephrine and fifteen minutes of work, they never saw any respiration.

    Cause? Unknown without a necropsy, but most likely he 'threw a clot'.

    It turns out that sudden death of what seem to be healthy cats, at any age, is not uncommon. There are numerous causes.

    The most common is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the same genetic heart condition that strikes down young human athletes with (often) no warning. Apparently there is some limited treatment, but not cure, and it is very difficult to detect in the first place. In most cases, the first symptom is sudden death. Genetic tests have recently been developed for some of the variants in a few breeds, but are useless in other breeds. Absent a family history of it, other screening appears pointless. Of course, rescued pound cats come without a family history.

    Parasitic heartworm seems to be the next leading cause. It is possibly worth screening for if it is prevalent in local dogs, but the feline version happens at a much lower rate, 1-5% that of dogs. But asthma and several other conditions and infectious diseases also cause sudden cat death.
     
  2. GrGramps

    GrGramps Active Member

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    Bart was very fortunate to have such loving parents. So sorry to read of your loss.
     
  3. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    Sorry for your loss. Thanks for providing a great home for Bart. I'm sure he appreciated it.
     
  4. Chuck.

    Chuck. Former Honda Enzyte Driver

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    Thank you for the story....wish Bart was still with you.
     
  5. NaptownPrius

    NaptownPrius Getting Greener....

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    Sorry to hear about your loss. Hopefully another will steal your heart.

    This is our "stray" Subway. Found near a Subway sub shop.
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    dogfriend likes this.
  6. ucmenhvn

    ucmenhvn Junior Member

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    I just stumbled upon this thread. I'm so sorry for your loss. I am a pet lover and have a female cat and male dog. The cat "oreo" was my oldest sons and now mine and the dog "toby" was my youngest sons and now is mine. Toby was a very young puppy when someone found him at a Home Depot parking lot in june 2011 on a very hot summer day on asphalt. I was aprehensive to take him for my sons birthday but i did and now he is in my heart forever. I am grateful that you took care of and loved Bart. He looked very happy in the pictures. Thank you for giving him a home and helping him and the other animals you take in.
     
  7. ccdisce

    ccdisce Active Member

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    Sorry for your loss,
    A year ago my daughter brought her cat over for me to adopt. The cat immediately attracted the two neighborhood strays that drop by for food and a nap. I have named the black and white one Tux and the charcoal one Chaco who I estimate is about 8 years old and was neutered in is early life and released.
    I had to take Chaco to the doctor for stitches to his paw and rabies shot last week I figured that since he comes around daily he should be checked for Lukemia and AIDS also.

    Here he is sleeping on the trunk of the Mustang resting his head on the rear spoiler, a bit of a change from sleeping in the peppermint patch, don't think that he will like the basil, a catnip patch would add variety.
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