Poirot

 

Our last black & white cat, the intergalactic Poirot, passed away a couple of weeks ago. He was 15 years old, had a bad heart and since April we had been taking him to a specialist every 4 weeks to have his chest cavity drained of fluid. For the first time in his life, he learned to take pills and, in an effort to put some weight back on him, eat wet cat food.

Finally, the chest taps would not work any longer. So we made an appointment with our regular vet and helped Poirot across the Rainbow Bridge before his suffering worsened or turned into a stroke or something equally awful.

I was surprised that he left the world in this way. I always thought his spaceship would come back for him someday.

He was singular and zany, and Velcroed himself to both of us. Since the original alpha cat, Bob, died 7 years ago, Poirot has occupied my lap anywhere and everywhere I sat down in the house. Lately, as he felt worse and worse, he would drape himself across his dad's chest, from arm to arm, for a comforting snooze as dad typed up his daily blog.

It has been incredibly dull around here, even with 7 dogs and 3 other cats. Here is a photo of Poirot on one of his last days as I tried to keep his skin and bones warm while waiting for a new furnace to be installed at our house. He did love that fire for a few days.

This is the first time in probably 20 years that I have not been owned by a black & white cat. Every B&W I have ever met has possessed a wonderful, friendly, quirky personality. I'm not in a position to add another pet to our household, but if I was, it would be a B&W, in a heartbeat.

Poirot's dad writes about him here.

Comments

[Vicki Small]

I can't believe I missed this, but surely I would have commented!

Our Kat has not yet become a lap cat, but we sometimes think he may be moving in that direction. I'm inclined to think he will be more inclined, when he's older, although we still don't really know how old he is. But he does love his belly rubs and chin/head rubs, not to mention the head butts.

I'm so sorry you lost your sweet Poirot. Have you brought in another B&W, yet?

We lost Hoagie two weeks ago, tonight, and it came as a total surprise. He was still so active that we figured he'd be around another year, anyway. I gave him his thyroid supp' in p-nut butter around 6:40 p.m. He had eaten supper, he licked all the p-nut butter off my finger and neighboring fingers, too, just to be sure; he ate the few pieces of kibble that I gave him, after the pill. And then, apparently, he went to sleep and just didn't wake up. Over the next couple of hours, and then some, we were variously at our computers or exercising, and then showering. When I finished my shower, I went to the kitchen to get my snack ready, stepped into the dining room, and there he was, sleeping (I thought) in his favorite corner. Except he didn't wake up. We had both noticed the smell of a dead animal, but we figured it was something Kat had brought in. We were stunned. Totally taken aback.

But after the shock, I have to say it's better than watching them suffer and then watching them die. I just felt bad that he was alone, but if he was asleep....