Catblogging - Duncan, in memoriam

Duncan was 11 years old. I got him as a kitten from the no-kill shelter where I worked once a week. He came there with his mom and litter-mates from the pound, and he was the last holdout for getting adopted. He still would have been my first pick. He was so loving, and I never heard a cat purr so loud. His purr was legendary. You could hear it from the next room.

I brought him home to be a buddy for Henry, and it worked out perfectly. Those two have been inseparable ever since. Duncan was a very silly cat. He'd meow loudly during the night, but he wasn't crying, I believe he was singing. Either singing or running through the house acting like a nut. He would land on the bed at all hours of the night and announce his presence with a loud MEOW followed by licking your face. He was impossibly cute and lovable... and silly.

His heart always seem to beat loud and hard against your legs when he'd sit on your lap. I always mentioned it to the various vets, but none ever found anything wrong with him. He was healthy, if a bit overweight, and that was Duncan. I didn't know that he had a heart condition until this past November when he almost died from congestive heart failure. I was completely surprised! I had no idea that he had a heart condition, but I have learned many things since that day, and one of the things I learned about his condition was that very often the first symptom of it is sudden death. I happened to be there when he had that first attack, so I was able to rush him to the vet and postpone the inevitable. It was inevitable because not only did he have the chronic heart condition (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy), he also had failing kidneys. Treating the heart and kidneys require sometimes opposite treatments, so we were never able to stabilize his condition. He died at the vet today, April 12. He got very stressed on the trip there, and was unconscious when he arrived. They could not revive him, but then there was no saving him in any case. He was too sick.

I am really glad that he survived his November attack, so that we could appreciate his situation, and try to enjoy every minute with him, giving him extra TLC. We are those people who think that these furkids ARE our kids, we don't have any offspring, so it is something that really hurts. I don't feel like it is my fault though. Everyone has assured me that this condition is genetic, and it's very hard to detect. We did everything that we could for him.

I've posted some of my favorite pictures of him below. They have been featured on this blog going back to 2005. He was well-loved for his whole life.

(Above - Duncan is the one facing us)

To pull up the most recent posts on Duncan, click here or on the "Duncan" label at the bottom. Older posts that won't be found that way are listed here (they all are set to open in a new window):
Office Space
Most Favored Seat
Still Cute with bad habits
Cute with bad habits
We belong together
Love me no matter what
Kitty cat troll booth
Peek-a-bamboo
Love/hate relationship
Cats write a letter
Duncan and new drinking songs
Duncan gets a clean bill of health
Two cats too cozy
Friday furball


Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at Books 4 Isreal - Cats - Catblogging -