The Big Kahuna died today at the age of 18.
He had been struggling with arthritis and had an appointment for his next treatment tomorrow, but his appetite failed and the appetite stimulant drugs weren't working. Yesterday I woke up to find him hiding in a closet. That was unusual. My heart sank.
He stayed in the closet most of the day, only eating a little milk and a squeezable kitty treat even though I spent most of the day preparing tempting food to wave in his face. At night he rallied and came out for cuddles; I played a Billy Strings concert for him. He always loved guitar noodling. Whenever I'd livestream a concert he would be right beside me, curled up listening. He enjoyed one last concert, then he limped back into the closet. I followed him, covered him up with blankets and lay there beside him talking to him for a while. I woke up well before dawn this morning but when I went to check on him he was gone.
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| I saw this scared little rescue kitty on Petfinders and had no idea he was a giant |
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I needed to get some professional photos taken anyway, so I dragged him along to the photoshoot and got some memorable pictures. He was around his top weight of 35 pounds here.
 | | This is my favorite picture of him from that session. I have a big print hanging on my wall. |
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| With his pal at Cat Safari, where he would stay whenever I went out of town. |
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| They loved him at Cat Safari. |
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He had a lot of presence and charisma in addition to being huge, but he was also a very reserved, shy creature. I thought about trying to make him an internet celebrity but both of us were way too introverted for that shit, so he spent most of his life as a private citizen.
 | Sometimes I would get him to shill for my books
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He liked to make me smile, and usually did a good job
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| Most nights he slept in bed with me |
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| He wasn't very fond of hot weather |
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Throwing a room party at the San Jose Worldcon
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| He spent a lot of time in his banana bed |
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Such a noble profile!
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| His super-penetrating attention-getting stare |
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One of those "first thing after waking up" photos
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| It's going to be tough going to sleep without his presence in the house tonight |
“My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today.”― Richard Adams, Watership Down
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3 comments:
He was a magnificent cat, and I can't imagine how much this loss hurts.
I will hold space for Kahuna as he crosses over the rainbow bridge. What an enormous hole there has to be in your life right now, holding space for your grief and a celebration of his wonderful life with you.
Thanks. I'm hanging in there, found a grief therapist, slowly vacuuming up all the shed floof. He was a very special creature and I'm glad I could give him a comfortable life.
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