Goodbye Mr. Peeps

Goodbye Mr. Peeps, originally uploaded by Hotash.

Mr. Peeps meowed at the back door yesterday afternoon- too weak to push through the kitty door.

Chris let him out. He sat on the porch for awhile then headed off.
Chris had to go back to work....Mr. Peeps did not come home last night.

I have checked his spots around the house...and under the porches...down by the river...he has taken himself somewhere else.

In the past two weeks he has continued to weaken and not eat much and I knew his time was near this past week.

I have to admit that I feel very bad about not being with him...but I can assure you that he would not have wanted to be kept indoors and he was most content doing his own thing...it was probably best I was not there to bother his death process.

He will be greatly missed as he was a very friendly, loving kitty, who always wanted to be near you on his terms. His most amazing feat was his ability to jump from a sitting position directly in front of you, to your chest and then to your shoulders without ever once scratching you. He also loved to sleep on top of you, your highest spot was his perch.

Mr. Peeps was picked - scratch that - he picked us up at the local pound. He had been living there for well over 6 months. He had been left abandoned (along with another cat who I believe had been adopted) in an apartment. He came home with us back in 2005 and he was never happier than when we moved to the country house (aside from the ride there) where he could hunt and stay outside until he wanted to come in.

We will miss his happy voice around the house.




Texture by NinianLif

The End of Night

The End of Night, originally uploaded by Hotash.

Mr. Peeps getting his daily Subcutaneous fluids

I have moved downstairs to be closer to him-he chooses to sleep in our spare bedroom on the foot of the twin bed.

Peeps has not eaten a single thing for at least 6 days.
He goes out every day and comes back each night.
We see him in his hunting grounds, patiently waiting- we could only hope that he was successful. But as his body thins we know he is not eating well enough.

Some of you may remember that a few days back Bramble brought in a mouse (fresh dead) - at this point it had been a number of days since I had been successful in feeding Mr. Peeps. I decided to offer him her mouse (she doesn't eat them yet) - he ravenously attacked and ate the mouse!!!

I was amazed to be honest...as he has a tooth that is in bad shape on his right side, but this is not why he is not eating. He is dying from kidney failure.

He has lost all the weight he put on back in September - He is down to around 4-5 lbs. He is still walking, jumping, drinking and coming and going on his own. He is still using the cat box but is sometimes missing now....

I have been giving him IV fluids everyday now to ease the effects of dehydration. I continue to offer many different foods...from dry to disgusting canned food, he will take nothing...except that mouse from Bramble.

So....I made a decision to go buy him some mice. I had to think long and hard about this- but I made my decision in the end. Chris went with me and we drove to a neighboring town

to the only decent pet store we have in our county. We were met with honest help and suggestions. We left with 6 'feeder' mice
.

I'm sorry if this offends you...but it is the most natural way for a cat to eat and I'm tired of Mr. Peeps not eating. Starving to death is no way to die.

When brought into the bathroom with the mice in the same room he became very animated - amazing as he is so poorly right now....he lunged at the box. I put one mouse out and he attacked swiftly, the little mouse life ended and Peeps ate-not on his good teeth side but on the right side!!!

Two days and three mice later he is having bowel movements again and has perked up rather well. I don't have any false ideas of what is happening here-but I do hope that his final days are happier - and I thank the mice and they are well cared for until the end of night.

Mr. Peeps is aged: 13-18yrs or nearly 90 in his years
He deserves care.

He is living a humble life, without the indignities of our human mis-conceptions of care and exaggerated ideas of a drawn out life by masking symptoms with pills or surgeries.

He is comfortable.

"I'm leaving you!!!"

"I'm leaving you!!!", originally uploaded by Hotash.

I kept him inside last night as he is refusing food and loosing much weight.
It's very cold at night and I was hoping he would have a bit more of an appetite in the afternoon.

Nope.

He woke me up howling at the kitty door.
I got some cloths on and decided I would go for a Mr. Peeps walk with him.

I seriously think he was running away from home!!! He headed straight out the door and lic-kitty split down the driveway (not a normal turn of events for him) - He is so anemic that he is pretty weak so he wasn't going far fast. He reached the bridge and sat down. He decided he was done with his "look bitty, don't lock me in anymore" bit and turned around and headed back to his river.

Thank you Bramble

Day 3's catch, originally uploaded by Hotash.

soooo,
Peeps has hit a wall this past week.
His appetite has dropped off dramatically.
He has even taken to refusing his most loved quail.

Peeps has always hunted, even though I don't find him eating his catch often, I'm sure that he does just fine.

Tonight, Bramble brought in a dead mouse. Mr. Peeps hasn't eaten anything in well over 24 hours. I decided (as he often would steel from Jester early on) that I would offer him her 'gift' after she was done.

It worked. She is happy to have brought in the mouse and he was, dare I say, excited to eat...the entire thing. I may be onto something here.

At any rate, at least he had a small meal and all thanks goes to the evil black cat Blackberry Bramble.