DISNEY

Ten days ago I lost a faithful friend. My precious cat Disney passed away from stomach cancer at just 16 human years old.

We rescued Disney from the SPCA when he was just a kitten. He was super tiny! He was always a bit wild and we suspected that he came from a wild background and that he got separated from his Mommy too young. Despite that he grew big and strong on good IAMS food. He used to suck on my ear as a kitten but slowly grew out of this habit reserving it for occasions when extreme soothing was required, such as a visit to the vet.

Disney was pitch black with a single small patch of white fur on his chest. I liked to call him my panther. Later on he had many ‘grey hairs’ peppering his sleek black coat.

I loved the differences between my cat Disney and Michelle’s cat Billy Bob. Bobby is quite the clown and loves lots of attention but he can also be quite moody. Whereas Disney remained aloof and preferred his own company. He didn’t like strangers in his home and would take off if there were too many people around. And he didn’t really like men, even my brothers couldn’t hold him! But he always knew I was his mommy and I could hold him anytime. As he grew older he mellowed out a lot. He would let guys pick him up and when I moved to Cape Town he became very attached to my Dad. In later years I would be the stranger to him.

I have many fond memories of Disney such as the time he got stuck up a tree as a kitten (true story, his first week at his new home!), the time he went walkabout as a young cat and disappeared for two weeks before finally returning home extremely thin, the feathers and bones love presents he left for me on my bedroom after a night on the prowl, the time he meowed like crazy outside the shower door after I had stayed out one night and left him at home, the swipe he gave on our dog Benji’s nose the first 5 minutes of being in his new home and forever altering the pecking order of pets in our household, and many many more.

In about October last year my Dad called to say that Disney was not well, he is throwing up and losing weight and he is taking him to the vet. After a few days in the hospital at the vet Dis came home a new kitty. But in January he started again and wouldn’t stop. We had him at the vet several times and had blood tests done and everything came back clean every time. The most recent and last visit to the vet he did a sonar scan of Disney and found that he had stomach cancer. The cancer was too advanced and because of Disney’s age it was not a good idea to operate. To save him he basically needed a stomach transplant which is impossible. We had no choice but to let him go, it wasn’t fair to let him to suffer anymore.

Disney, you were an amazing cat and a faithful loving friend. I am extremely sad to have to let you go. It was the most terrible choice to have to make but I know it was the right one for you. I am glad you are not suffering anymore. A friend told me you have only left your earth suit and gone to a better place. Thank you for spending your time on earth with me and my family. I love you very much! You will always be in my heart.

It was only when I was looking for pictures of Disney for this blog did I realize how few pictures I have of him. Most of them, including when he was a kitten, are on film from back in the day when that was all we had. Epic fail!

In other sad news, Justin’s previous boss at PRDW, Jo Dresner passed away two weeks ago. He had been fighting brain cancer for 3 years now. Jo was an amazing person and will be sorely missed. Why do bad things happen to good people? We are thinking of you Heather and family!

In happier news, we recently booked a long weekend trip to Venice in May! YAY! We get so few public holidays here compared to SA and they are all clustered around Easter. We really want to try and make the most of them this year! And we are busy finalising our USA trip plans with Justin’s parents for September. Watch this space!!

Hope you are well and having a good week!

x 

Disney shnoozing

Disney and Bobby shnoozing. They would often curl up together and snuggle (Oct 2010)

What a big cat! (Oct 2010)

An early morning snuggle (~2002/2003)

His favourite place, on Dad's lap, but where he still has a good view of everything around him (Dec 2009)

One of the rare times he came to sit by me on his own accord (Dec 2009)