He had been diagnosed with lymphoma at the end of November this past year. He had started limping in early November, and at first we thought he had just injured himself. He was a big guy (21 lbs) and we figured he jumped down and hurt himself. His limp got worse, so we wound up consulting with a veterinary neurologist, who made the diagnosis.
He had been doing pretty well, although his right front leg was paralyzed. He spent most of his time either in his carrier, or under our bed, but was eating and responding to attention. (He always did love to be petted and held - he was a major attention hog.)
Yesterday morning, my wife had given him his breakfast, which he ate, as usual, then suddenly made a little noise and crawled under the bed and died, just like that. To say that we are devastated is an understatement. He was absolutely a huge part of our lives, and the center of our household. He loved to lay in front of the stove while I made dinner, and followed me around the house like a dog. Cosmo was just shy of his fifth birthday at the time of his passing.
To make matters worse, he was also found to be FeLV positive, as was Nicky, one of our other cats. (They were best buddies, and groomed each other constantly.)The other two are FeLV negative, and have been immunized. but we still have to make a decision on what to do with Nicky, as he still presents a danger to the other two.
The day we brought him home from the shelter, age 4-5 months or so:
Cosmo and I bonded instantly at the shelter. When I was looking at his cage mate, he got up from the corner, yawned, stretched, and walked over and sat in front of me, and looked up as if to say, "About time you got here! Lets go!"
His favorite toy as a kitten. He used to drag it up the stairs so we could play.
His first Christmas: (2005)
He loved to help around the house:
He especially loved the outdoors, and would spend as much time as we allowed in the yard.
Not too fond of Winter, though...
The cat on the foreground, Sydney, had to be euthanised due to a lung tumor, at only 1.5 years old. We suspect that was how the FeLV virus was introduced into the house, although they all tested negative at the time of adoption.
Cosmo was also my best model. He was quite photogenic, and his pictures always got numerous complements.
I now know what it feels like to have your soul ripped from your body. The house just seems so empty without him. I still can't believe he's gone. His sudden death came as a real shock, since he was doing so well, but at the same time, we are both relieved that we didn't have to watch him deteriorate, and have to make the agonizing decision of when to have him euthanised.
He had been doing pretty well, although his right front leg was paralyzed. He spent most of his time either in his carrier, or under our bed, but was eating and responding to attention. (He always did love to be petted and held - he was a major attention hog.)
Yesterday morning, my wife had given him his breakfast, which he ate, as usual, then suddenly made a little noise and crawled under the bed and died, just like that. To say that we are devastated is an understatement. He was absolutely a huge part of our lives, and the center of our household. He loved to lay in front of the stove while I made dinner, and followed me around the house like a dog. Cosmo was just shy of his fifth birthday at the time of his passing.
To make matters worse, he was also found to be FeLV positive, as was Nicky, one of our other cats. (They were best buddies, and groomed each other constantly.)The other two are FeLV negative, and have been immunized. but we still have to make a decision on what to do with Nicky, as he still presents a danger to the other two.
The day we brought him home from the shelter, age 4-5 months or so:
Cosmo and I bonded instantly at the shelter. When I was looking at his cage mate, he got up from the corner, yawned, stretched, and walked over and sat in front of me, and looked up as if to say, "About time you got here! Lets go!"
His favorite toy as a kitten. He used to drag it up the stairs so we could play.
His first Christmas: (2005)
He loved to help around the house:
He especially loved the outdoors, and would spend as much time as we allowed in the yard.
Not too fond of Winter, though...
The cat on the foreground, Sydney, had to be euthanised due to a lung tumor, at only 1.5 years old. We suspect that was how the FeLV virus was introduced into the house, although they all tested negative at the time of adoption.
Cosmo was also my best model. He was quite photogenic, and his pictures always got numerous complements.
I now know what it feels like to have your soul ripped from your body. The house just seems so empty without him. I still can't believe he's gone. His sudden death came as a real shock, since he was doing so well, but at the same time, we are both relieved that we didn't have to watch him deteriorate, and have to make the agonizing decision of when to have him euthanised.
