Kit
Kit was a beautiful blue eyed Ragdoll. We took her in as a foster cat.
Her owner had been hospitalized due to a heart attack and had been in a
nursing home for 5 months when I met him at Tri City while I was there with
my elderly cat Sashes. John Patterson saw my Sashes and then told me how sad
he felt about his cat being alone in his apt. during his absence. A friend
had taken her home but was told he couldn't have the cat. Kit was extremely
stressed when we, along with John, went to the apt to get her. The care she
had been given by the friend was neglectful to say the least. Kit came home
with us. For two years she wouldn't come out of the room we had her in and
would chase out any of our other cats, as intruders. In June of 2004, we
returned from vacation and Kit was on the outside of the child safety gate
we had in her doorway. She had decided to become part of the family.
At first we brought John to our house for visits which helped both of them.
Then when his health worsened we took Kit to the nursing home to see him.
They had a magical relationship. She'd climb up on his belly and lick his
face while he cooed and talked to her.
During July of 2002, Kit developed fatty liver disease, or that was the
diagnosis. I was worried about John knowing she could die so did my level
best to nurse her back to health with forced feeding and IV fluids. After a
week or two I called to talk to him and found out he was in the hospital
again. I could not bring myself to tell him, fearing that he'd give up and
die. Finally, he was out of the hospital and Kit was also doing 75% better
so I took her to see him. This way he could see she was okay and I could
tell him the story.
On Sept. 17th, 2002, John died of a massive heart attack. Kit remained in
our household of course. She developed mammary gland cancer last year.
Kit was a great cat but never let the others pass by her without hissing or
striking just to "protect" her space. She was rescued by John as a kitten
from a family who fed the kittens cereal. When two died of malnutrition John
asked if he could have Kit and she was handed over. He took her to the vet
and got her a course of better nutrition and a better life. She wasn't used
to other animals or people so it was a very hard adjustment to come into a
household with 8 other cats and two humans. John was her love.
So this is her story.
Joan and Howard S.
