Livia R.I.P. April 16 2000 - January 3 2013

Hi Peeps.

2013 hasn't opened at our house as joyously as we'd have liked.  Yesterday, Jan. 3, 2013, MomKatt had to help my Blue Aby sisfur, Livia, to the Bridge.  Livia was 12-3/4 and would have been 13 years old on April 16 of this year.

She'd not been well for some time (either chronic IBD or, like my brofur, Feisal, intestinal lymphoma - MomKatt had had Dr. L give her steroid & cortisone shots, which had eliminated any possibility of a definitive diagnosis because she'd lost so much weight that MomKatt chose not to put her through any more invasive procedures such as biopsies, etc.).  But she was still her cheerful, lively self, never knowing a stranger, always wanting love & food (not necessarily in that order), still running back and forth on the kitchen counters and, in general, being the most loving cat Mom or DadKatt have ever met or known.

But things got a little worse New Year's Day.  Basically, Livia was starting to be unable to control her poops which were merely liquid anyway at that point, and if Dr L's office had been open that day, MomKatt would have taken her in then.  But he wasn't, so she & DadKatt waited to see if this was going to continue and, long story short, found yesterday morning that things were not getting any better, nor would they.

She consulted with Dr. L the day after New Year's (Wed.), and he said that, at this stage, there was nothing further HE could do from a medical standpoint.  So, yesterday morning, after getting up & finding that Livia had "lost control" on an old throw pillow on their sofa, she showed the pillow to DadKatt & he agreed it was time.

And it was.  Livia was not enjoying life as she should have been.  Her butt was sore from the diarrhea, and she often sat, hunched, over the floor heat vent in the dining room until she felt she could put her butt on the floor.  But she never complained, never cried out - she was a brave little soul who still wanted you to pet her & pay attention to her.  Usually when you petted her, she'd rise up to meet your hand.  For the last two days, she hadn't done that.  She didn't do it yesterday morning, either, when they would pass by her & pet her through the morning as they were both getting ready for work.  We suspect it was because she just didn't FEEL like getting up, once she'd found even a semi-comfortable position in which to sit.  

Basically, she looked miserable.  And we're sure she was, though as you know, we cats mask our symptoms pretty well.  But there was no masking that expression on Livia's normally VERY expressive little face.

SO ... another angel goes to the Bridge.  This is way too soon after Sharif last September, but MomKatt says she did the right thing.  She is 100% comfortable with her decision and she didn't have to get up this morning & see Livia looking so sad and uncomfortable.

So please purr for her.  She had a safe, quiet trip to The Bridge.  As she lay in MomKatt's lap (for the entire time), Dr. L gave her the sedative shot first and, of course, it stings a little & she hissed at him (VERY unlike her!) but soon she was relaxed in MomKatt's lap, where she stayed while MomKatt said goodbye.  (DadKatt had said his goodbyes that morning, he was unable to get off from work to join her at the vet's office.)  Then, as MomKatt softly read to her a passage from the end of  Hamlet which she loves ("Now cracks a noble heart - Good night sweet prince[ss] / and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest"), Dr. L administered the final shot and she slipped peacefully into her tenth life, where Feisal, Torrie, Sharif and Kukla were waiting for her.

It is the passing of an era, and attention must be paid.  She was the first Aby that Mom&DadKatt ever got (Kukla was second, Feisal third) and with Livia's departure from this life, they no longer have any Abyssinians and are broken-hearted.  They've both grown to love the breed a great deal, especially MomKatt.  She & Livia's breeder both agree:  there is NOTHING like an Aby.  She spoke with Mike Cox, their breeder, last night and night before last, and they agreed, that, perhaps someday in the near future, I'll have another ruddy Aby brofur or perhaps a Blue Aby brofur, like Livia.  That would be nice.

Livia was a sweetheart, the most giving kitty we've ever known.  Her like will not be seen again.

We're taking the weekend off from the blog & from the Internet in general.  Too many visits from the Dark Angel in the last few months for our family, both hooman and feline.  MomKatt journeys to Rocky Mt., NC, today to spent time with her mother-in-law (our cat sitter can't make it, so DadKatt's staying behind to take care of all of us kitties) so I hope the trip helps her in her grieving.  But I'll be glad when she returns Sunday.  

For my part, I spent last night in MomKatt's lap and up against her butt on the sofa after she'd fallen asleep.  I was keeping vigil, making sure she was alright.  Peppers took over once they went to bed and she awoke this morning to him nose-nuzzling her face.

A noble heart indeed.  This quote from Hamlet, MomKatt has decided, is Livia's epitaph, and I cannot agree more with her choice or the fitness thereof.

Sad purrs,
Selina