Early this afternoon Larry, also called Big Larry, Mister Larry, Larry the Gentle Soul, Larry-Berry, Larry Faithful, and Loyal Larry, passed away peacefully at the pet clinic with his adoptive parents present.
Larry was adopted from the Humane Society along with his childhood playmate Moe on Memorial Day weekend 2007. I honestly thought they were littermates but before I left I was told Larry was three weeks older. Anyway, they got along so well together and they came home together the following Tuesday, where they proceeded to prove that they were not only loving kittens, they were also wild animals.
Larry really enjoyed his pets and was fiercely loyal to his daddy. His favorite stunt was to wait outside the downstairs bathroom door and then ambush me for a pet on the way out. He also enjoyed chewing cardboard, shredding toilet paper rolls, destroying shoelaces, and taught me a very important lesson: it's all about the simple pleasures. Whereas Moe had a serious outlook on life, Larry just wanted to enjoy the most out of it and get lots of lap time with his daddy, as did Moe. He had a loud purr, was well behaved though very playful, and had running fits for the first 13 years of his 14+ year life.
In May of 2020, he had a noticeable weight loss, and he was taken in for an exam. They couldn't find anything but a snoring type of breathing was noticed. It got to where I had to clean his nose frequently, gave him steroids to keep his appetite going, antibiotics which didn't seem to work, and by October a noticeable lump in his face was emerging. A specialist determined it was a non cancerous cyst, which as time progressed became a tumor, and kept growing. His running fits had stopped, but not his desire for getting attention from me. With the WFH situation I was able to have him on my lap a lot more often and enjoy his purring and his company.
His last month wasn't pleasant, yet he kept soldiering on. As recently as this morning he was still wanting attention from me, which he got. But he was noticeably weaker this morning, with him having lost his ability to jump up on the couch as recently as Saturday morning. He ate up a storm on Saturday afternoon, but that was his last full meal. He wouldn't touch his food yesterday morning, and I had my mind made up that I was going to call the vet first thing this morning.
We weren't sure he was going to make it to this morning. He was more withdrawn, aside from the 15 minutes of cuddle time that he wanted. He was weak and was having trouble walking, and I wasn't sure he was going to make it to the vet in time.
His final appointment was at 1215. I had seen the procedure before. First the anesthetic. Then the euthanasia. It's as peaceful as it can be made out to be. I have never seen a cat die (I left the room when Moe had his done) because I was afraid of that being what I would remember the most. With Larry, I had resolved to be there with him at the end. Sheila was there too, and the last words he heard were "your daddy loves you".
This was hard on me. He had been a loyal friend for over 14 years. He was there for me when I was having some rough times. I was going to be there for him. After ten minutes the sobbing and weeping stopped, and it was time to go. I ended up taking the rest of the afternoon off.
A strange thing happened after I got home. I fell asleep in one of the living room chairs. I then felt the shoelaces on my right foot being attacked by a full grown kitten. I shuffled the foot to run him off, and it was Larry down there. The shuffling of my foot woke me up and startled Sheila. I told her it was Larry attacking my shoelaces.
So was Larry sending me a message from Heaven telling me that he had made it all right, and was having fun? I have no sure way of knowing one way or the other, but as loyal and as dedicated to me as he was he would have done such a thing if the Good Lord had allowed him to.
This has been a hard day for me. I am continuing on, though with a heavy heart as I deal with this. Grief is not only natural, it is also necessary, and it must be allowed to run its course.
We will eventually adopt again. I don't know if it will be a puppy or a kitten or one of each. I believe that our animals are a gift from up above and we must cherish these gifts and give them all the love that we can. We will get that back many times over. I am not wise enough to tell you who will get the better end of that deal. But I can tell you that the deal will result in better animals, and better people.
