|
In April of 2006 I received a call from animal control saying that
they had a beautiful long hair cat that was 16-18 years old and would I
take him. Always finding it difficult to say no, of course I said yes to
PITTSBURGH, a longhair tiger who looks like a sighted version of Attaboy.
It turns out that the new volunteer at animal control probably felt so
sorry for this cat, that she misrepresented his age, for the vet thinks
that Pittsburgh was only about 12 years old at the time. In any event,
even at the age of 12, since he was owner surrendered, he likely would
have been put down as unadoptable. Thus, Pittsburgh came to join our
clan. He spent some time in the main house, but being intimidated by
Gladstone, we felt he would be happier in The Magoo Room. He now loves
to sleep on my office chair and is as polite as could be, quickly
surrendering his favorite spot to me when I have to work at the
computer. What a smart boy he is! He loves to be near, loves attention,
and generally prefers only a quick visit to the courtyard. It is very
obvious he prefers human companionship to that of other cats! Toward the end of June 2010 I found that Pittsburgh was no longer walking up and down my desk in front of the computer monitor to capture my attention. He rested on the floor, sometimes staring at the wall. He seemed to have difficulty eating dry food, and ate only a little moist food, very slowly. I knew something was wrong and took him to the vet for additional blood tests (his routine blood tests had been performed 5 months earlier.) The blood tests revealed that his red cell count was way down, his white cell count was way up, and the ability for his bone marrow to make more red cells was insufficient. There was nothing that could be done, even short term, to make our Pittsburgh feel better. This sudden decline was a surprise to both Dr. Wyatt and I, but regretfully we did what had to be done. Pittsburgh is buried in our backyard with our other precious Whiskered Angels. He had years with us that he would not have had at Animal Control. I am so grateful to the volunteer who called us to take Pittsburgh. |
