It was a dark and wintery night, and there, outside, sitting on a ledge of our solarium window was a tiny unknown furry object. We brought him in and gave him a good forever home. He weighed all of three pounds, was all white with beautiful golden eyes. I asked Ed to name him and he was christened Bubba. Sounds like a big name for such a cute little ball of snow white fur that could fit in Ed's hand. As time passed, he grew into his name topping out at a very healthy 14 pounds. (Could Ed be prophetic?)
Bubba took no crap from the dog that outweighed him by four times. He and Shelby would chase each other around the house (Bubba was like a lightening streak, so fast and agile), and Bubba would ambush and pounce on Shelby whenever he had a chance. They were the best of friends. We often called him Bubba-Tut, implying that he was the King Tut of the house, which of course, he knew he was.
The first time Bubba saw Shelby he arched his back and looked just like a Halloween cat, except he was white. I was fortunate enough to even capture it in a picture. It is one of the best. He was very photogenic and simply beautiful to look at. I have a lot of beautiful pictures of him. This is Ed’s favorite picture of him. Now I ask you, is that a beautiful Bubba-Tut or what? I have posted an album of
Bubba pictures here.
Ed spoiled that kitty big time. Every morning before he left for work there had to be some treats on the floor for him. If they weren’t there by 8:00am, we heard about it as Bubba could become quite verbal. He would walk in between Ed's legs and make him almost trip to be sure he had Ed's attention to remind him not forget about the kitty treats. And he was always at the door when we came home to greet us.
Bubba loved to curl up in the bathroom sink to sleep, which posed some problems for getting ready for work in the mornings (mostly for Ed though, I would leave him there). Sitting in a window watching birds was his favorite pastime, and he loved when we had open windows and could hear them too. It all helps when your stalking ya know.
Last Thursday-Friday he stopped eating and became very lethargic. Things just weren’t right all weekend. Monday it was off to the vet, who could not really find anything wrong during an exam except for his dehydration. They took blood and would call the next day with results. We went home pumped with fluids and some high calorie, sweet and yummy cat food that he was sure to love. Wrong.
The next day came to call he had renal failure (a fancy pants word for kidney failure). His bad blood count (or whatever the proper medical term is) was almost off the charts. Nope, he had not eaten anything poisonous that we could find, he never went outside. Kidney failure is very rare in a cat only 3 years old it is more common in older cats, not mine. He went back in to the vet’s immediately and was put on an IV and closely monitored.
Sparing the gory details, after two nights at the vet hospital he was not getting better, and was in a lot of pain as the toxins were backing up in his body. I had to make the call today to let him go. If you are still reading this I am sure it is because you are a pet lover too, and you know how hard this is right now. I know all will be well soon and it only hurts when I think about him.
I will post this and go now to clean out his litter box, put his food away, throw away the uneaten cat grass, and pick up all the little fuzzy mice that are hiding all over the house. Ed said it well when he said that God gave us a beautiful gift. We loved him and he loved us. He had a great home, and we will miss seeing him in the window as we pull into the drive. Now, if you were a little fuzzy mouse where would you be?
I do not find it amusing or cute when movies have talking animals. Although I am very much an animal lover, I really think that making them talk in movies is a bit too cutesy and, just well over the top of anything necessary. (Too harsh yet?)
