I got Rudy from a shelter back in 1993. He was a kitten in a cage full of kittens. He walked right over and chose me. From the start, he was different. He loved belly-rubs, sleeping between my feet and spending alone time in another room. He never got very big. I was always waiting for that last growth spurt where he looked more like my other cat (Gordon passed in 2006). He never got the “meow” thing down either. Instead he chirped, unless he was calling from across the house. Then he mooed like a cow. A very strange, little boy.
3-1/2 years ago, he began to lose weight and I took him in to see the Vet. It seemed Rudy had developed diabetes along the way. So for the last 3+ years, he’d get his shot twice a day. He was never an easy cat to regulate glucose-wise. He was always too high or too low. But he put the weight back on and never seemed to miss a beat except to slow down a little each year.
In 2007, Rudy got two new brothers, though by now he was more the grumpy, slow uncle. Of course, they all loved Rudy’s expensive diabetes food. OY! Around this time, he could no longer get up on the bed, and he couldn’t quite figure out the pet-steps I’d gotten him. So he slept downstairs. But he somehow managed to get up on the couch every evening and sleep between my feet.
In time, he had the look of a well-loved stuffed animal. His hair was always disheveled, even after I brushed him and especially after his brother Jake would give him a bath. Since I work from home, he spent every day laying at my feet and every evening curled between my legs on the couch or curled up next to me like a third hip. By now, Rudy had to take a few hops to get up on the couch, or I’d pick him up and put him next to me. Every once-in-awhile, I’d just want the couch to myself and I’d tell him “no.” I’d give anything to have him laying next to me tonight.
Near the end, he began losing weight again, though he ate constantly. I would literally follow him around the house with a bowl of food. Soon, he began to lose control of his bladder, so that I had to put puppy pads under him all of the time. And bath him every few days. He weighed about 6 lbs when we decided it was time. Banfield doctors and staff were so gracious and kind through the whole process. Supporting all of my decisions and knowing I was struggling to make the right choices. Rudy and I were in every few days. Sorry, it wasn’t his favorite place.
I kept hoping I would come down one morning and he would have passed peacefully in his sleep. The morning of the day we took him into Banfield, he stood waiting for me at the foot of the stairs when I came down. He chirped a greeting at me and I talked to him about how he would feel better soon.
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