RIP, our beloved cat Chester - Democratic Underground

flamingyouth

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Fri Jan-09-04 02:38 PM
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RIP, our beloved cat Chester

We are sad to announce that Chester passed away in our arms at 9:55 am PST today. Last week he had oral surgery and some abscesses removed from under his tongue. He never bounced back from the surgery, and the past 10 days have been a real emotional roller coaster.

In fact, Chester actually died on Wednesday night at 6 pm. The vets did CPR and tried to revive him but failed. They then called us and told us he had passed. Miraculously, 10 minutes later we received another call that he had started to cough and breathe on his own. We immediately drove to the hospital to see him, and he was actually doing better and improving yesterday. We truly felt we had seen a miracle. None of the five doctors at the hospital had seen a cat come back the way Chester had.

During an ultrasound on Wednesday, the vets discovered a tumor in his intestinal tract. Now that his organs had started to shut down early today, they suspect that it was malignant, and that the cancer had spread to his liver and pancreas. Today he didn't recognize us and was barely responsive. We knew we were doing the right thing by euthanizing him, as hard as it was.

I've written about Chester here a lot, so please bear with me while I do it one last time. I found him on Aug. 21, 1999, in a vacant lot near my parents' house while I was walking from the bus. He came right toward me, out from under a tree. He had been abandoned for a long time, and he was missing much of his fur and had a horrible case of pneumonia. A lot of love and good medical care later, he became a 25-pound gorgeous hunk of long haired love.

Sadly, his time with us was filled with medical troubles. He had severe asthma, digestive problems and heart trouble. Despite everything, he was the most loving creature we have ever had the pleasure of knowing. His cardiologist told us that he had "large heart," although we always joked that we didn't need to pay him to tell us that! Through his work with the Delta Society he visited many disabled and elderly people as part of their Pet Partners program. I have no idea how many lives he touched, but I will tell you that there wasn't one dry eye in that vet hospital when he passed this morning, after he had been there for six days. He loved everyone, and everyone loved him back.

Chester had a funny habit of chewing on the covers of paperback books. It used to drive me a little crazy, but now I cherish each and every one that holds his teeth marks.

Chester was called The Miracle Kitty at the hospital since Wednesday. Even though he is gone, the real miracle of him continues to live on; it was a blessing and a true miracle to share our lives with a creature of pure love and beauty. He had a good life with us, but ours is a thousand times richer for having known him.

Thank you to all of you here at DU who have given me support through this, especially demman, who recently lost his beloved Sebastian and who has been so incredibly thoughtful.

Here's to you Chester, our special angel. We will love you always.