Remembering our cat Oliver
Oliver died today. It just came on so fast. I'm writing this on Sunday and we first noticed an issue on Wednesday night. He threw up after dinner Wednesday evening, which is unusual for Oliver. Lily throws up all the time for no particular reason but Oliver? No sir. If he throws up, we know something isn't exactly right.
All day Thursday, Oliver didn't seem to feel so good. He was moving slower than normal and wasn't eating. We thought he just wasn't feeling well and it would pass. He stayed up stairs, under the guest bed all day Friday, which is where goes when he's not feeling good. Friday evening, he went out, which isn't unusual but he didn't return all night. He was gone all day Saturday too. We thought he went to find a quiet place to die.
The back porch camera recorded him coming home, very slowly Sunday morning, a bit after 1 a.m. We took him to the emergency vet as soon as we were able to. The vet thinks his diabetes got out of control and all his systems just got too out of whack. She felt it was unlikely that he would be able to recover so we asked the vet to put him to sleep.
And so, that's how Oliver died. He was laying on a stainless steel table, wrapped in a blanket with two people who loved him. I hope he knew that we loved him very much. Can cats know that?
We got Oliver as a stray while we lived in Nashville. He had a clipped ear so it seems he was captured and neutered as some sort of stray capture program. I always had the distinct impression that Oliver really appreciated being off the streets and being an inside cat. He was the best sleeper of any cat I've ever had. He often slept on his back, with his feet in the air, in a very cute fashion. He was often hanging out on the couch with us, unperturbed by Rachelle's phone laying on him. He enjoyed sleeping on the patio furniture out back and he would spend all day out there on nice days.
If the bedroom door was left open, he’d sleep at the foot of the bed. It was like having a little bowling ball on the blankets. Even when we’d shift him around to roll over, he stayed perfectly content. Most mornings, he had a routine—he’d come over for his morning scritches while we sat on the sofa drinking our coffee. Then he’d settle in for his first nap of the day.
His companionship enriched our lives. I hope he felt his was enriched as well. You will be missed Oliver. Rest in peace buddy.
Please enjoy these photes of Oliver.
