Tiny and Junior
As I get older my memory gets a bit fuzzy. This is Tiny's and Junior's story. Summer of 2001 my doorbell rang. This was not a usual occurrence. I opened the door and there was a neighbor's child holding this tiny precious buff colored kitten. She told me it was born under her porch and her parents were threatening to get rid of it. OK she already knew I had cats probably 4 or 5 at that time. So Tiny joined my crew. He was about 5 or 6 weeks old. Not even weaned. I thought her story about a mother cat just having kittens under their deck sounded fishy. Actually it was true. I was to wind up with 2 more kittens from this semi wild mom. Tiny (whiny) was always a bit small for a male cat. He weighed 10 pounds in adulthood. He was smaller than my other male cats. I had him neutered and he became part of my cat family. He had this thing of making biscuits in my hair. He also slept on my head. Literally he used me as a pillow. As he grew older he came to love the outdoors and spent more time outside than inside. He loved to hunt and would eat what he caught. Junior came to us the following year. He is Tiny's half brother. By now the people have moved away and the house was vacant. I also have their half sister from another litter that same year. I found homes for Junior's siblings and kept a female kitten named her Misty. She later was hit by a car. She came to me in spirit the day after she was killed to say she was sorry. That was very strange, but very real. For the most part all was well with my cat family. Oh sure they would get the occasional upper respiratory. Tiny seemed to always have on and off have a cough. Nothing too severe. I later thought he may have had asthma.maybe not. Fluffy was the king of this family and I so miss him. I lost him last February to osteo-sarcoma. We are now in the year 2006. A week later I found an older cat on Petfinder in a shelter not far from here. My husband went and got this big old tomcat his name was Lionel. He sprayed the house as soon as we got him home. He was injured in a fight with a raccoon and the wound took forever to heal. The same day we got Lionel a coworker gave me another yellow longhaired kitten named Pumpkin. In April Junior was hit by a car. I found him hiding on my back deck, He had a split pallet and a broken jaw. He was tested for FeLV at that time and was negative. Hr spent a week at the hospital and came home still not eating much. I took him back for hydration the following Monday. My husband Eric for some reason found another kitten at the same shelter and brought her home this is Daisy, She was about 8 weeks old. You can never have too many cats. The time line here may not be quite accurate, but I think the respiratory infections started in May with Tiny. He coughed so hard he would knock himself off his feet. I took him to the vet and got antibiotics. Then Lionel got sick. Also coughing a lot and somewhat violently. Just as one cat was getting better another was getting sick. It was Junior's turn then Pumpkin's turn. These 4 cats got sick the other 7 cats did not get sick. I later took Junior back to the vet because he was not feeling well. He was anemic and was treated for hemabartenella. Then Pumpkin started acting lethargic. Too many cats sick. I did not realize Pumpkin wasn't really eating, just pretending to eat. By the time Pumpkin was taken in to my old vet he was anemic and jaundiced. He was sent home with antibiotics, but taken back after the weekend. He was put on IV and baytril He had seizures and was not responsive I had him euthanized. I am dealing with two veterinarians, because my regular vet was not available when Junior was hot by the car. OK I now know something is wrong. So I take Junior back to his vet. He was running a temp of 106.5. he did not even look sick! They kept him for the day. He was still anemic and they wanted to test him for FeLV. I knew then what the answer might be. After he tested positive for FeLV. I had to get all the cats tested and vaccinated. This whole thing was a nightmare. Lionel was in the first group and was positive for Felv and FIV. I suspect he had the FIV when I adopted him and caught FeLV later. I had him euthanized as he was not doing well. Tiny was in the next group tested. He too was positive. He and Junior were isolated together. They do not like each other so this was interesting. Tiny seemed to be the healthier of the two. No symptoms after the initial URI. They both went on immunoregulin. Junior got another URI and uveitis. I hope for the best. Junior finally got better from his URI. Now Tiny had a slight respiratory infection, but still playful and was eating up until his last day. Christmas day, I spent doing nothing. I decided Tiny was not feeling well so we sat on the sofa and I changed channels on the TV. He normally doesn't sit with me but I saw something in his eyes. I now know he was saying goodbye. I stayed with him for about an hour and a half. Got up to check email and check on Bandy. I had just finished sending an email to one of the vet techs that took care of Junior. Saying all was well. I hear a commotion in the living room. I knew he was violently coughing and retching. I could see he wasn't getting air. He was already turning blue. One of Eric's oxygen tanks was in the living room. After fooling with it and finding it empty I went to get the portable tank. Got back and could see he eye were fixed and dilated. He was still breathing but very blue. And that was the end. It maybe lasted two minutes. I don't think he knew anything after a minute. This was about 5:00 PM ET. I found a box lined it with a towel and Tshirt and went outside in the dark and rain and buried my baby. Tiny was a special gift. I was so lucky to have him for 5 years. I thought Junior would go first. Junior will still be fighting the battle. Life goes on for me and the rest of the kitties. I am saddened by everyone's losses. I sometimes think it is hopeless, but I treasure the time I have with my babies as you treasure your babies. If you got this far, thanks for reading my ramblings. Sally, Junior, Ittle Bitty, Grey and White, Lily, Daisy, Little Black, Speedy, Spike, Silver (joined us a month ago)
