My Kitty is Dying *UPDATED*

[Myantek]

It's too sudden and it's not fair.

On Sunday I thought it was a little weird that Mort was spending so much time lying on the bath mat in the lower washroom.  Then he missed the litter box and urinated on the floor.  I thought it was a message that the litter needed changing.

On Monday I thought it odd that no one had seen him so on Tuesday my husband spent hours looking for him, only to find him curled up under our bed.

On Wednesday, my husband took him into the vet hospital and we were told that the cat was dying.  They've found that his body is riddled with tumours.  His kidneys are swollen, his chest is filling with fluid, his intestines have growths.  He went from a healthy, vibrant cat to one that I'm not sure will live until the morning.  It's 2:45 am and I've just gotten off the phone with the vet doctor, essentially telling her that I want my kitty to live until the morning so my 6 year old can say good bye, but to take no heroic measures if he enters cardiac arrest.

He was such a great cat.

He was a stray that followed my other cat home.  Mort came into our lives because he looked so much like our cat, Marvin.  People had found a cat begging for food at their door and called to let my husband know where our cat was.  He went to get him and picked the cat up.  It was then that he discovered people were complaining about the wrong cat.  We took him in, tried to find an owner but this kitten was unclaimed.  He settled comfortably into our home and, once Marvin established that he was top cat, the two were quite willing to share.  Mort often tested Marvin's dominence but was always quickly shut down.

The two would often have what we called "lick wars".  The top cat would be the one that got to lick the other's head.  Mort always lost these contests and suffered Marvin's grooming.  The only time he won was when Marvin was sleeping and he managed to sneak a head lick in as he passed the chair.

Mort was my kitty.  He gravitated toward me.  I saved him when he found himself trapped under a neighbour's stairs.  He forgave me when I accidentily amputated the tip on his tail in the door.  He snuggled me every night.  He was the first to feel my oldest move in the womb.

Mort liked to lay on my belly.  When I was pregnant he often got a quick kick to the butt when he took up his position.  It didn't stop him though.  He was always there to snuggle on a cold winter's night, or when I wasn't feeling well or when I had a headache.  He was my snuggle kitty, my nurse kitty and my friend.

I'm going to miss the little meow he would give me before he jumped into my lap while I watched television.  I'm going to miss the purrs and the whole body flop he gave me when he was happy, or he wanted food.  I'm going to miss waking up to purrs and the touch of a wet nose.  I'm going to miss my Mortimer.

UPDATE:

He made it through to this morning and we all went out to say good bye forever.  My 6 year old understands, my 3 year old does not.  I hope that being able to say good bye helps them.  While I was alone with him he lifted his head, meowed and let me know he knew I was there.  I stayed with him while he was injected and as he died.  I know it was for the best.  He wasn't responding to treatment and he was in pain.