Sadly however, Kaspar passed away a few weeks after I first contacted you.
Kaspar was badly startled by one of our other cats. Shadow is diabetic and was stampeding to the kitchen at feeding time. Kaspar was around a corner; he couldn't hear either the bowls clanging or the approaching feline cannonball. Shadow came around the corner fast and plowed right into Kaspar.
The resulting war was terrible to witness. Kaspar just lashed out at all of the other cats, especially the one who had startled him. All of them were traumatized. Shadow remains a slightly different cat even now.
Kaspar then began refusing to eat. All our many and varied tricks and attempts to get him eating failed. For a while we were able to syringe-feed him but he began vomiting up all food or water.
We took Kaspar back to the wonderful woman who runs the shelter we got him from. She examined him, got some saline solution into him to combat dehydration, and offered to have Kaspar stay at the shelter so she could try and get him eating.
Kaspar was examined by our vet, and after blood work was found to have a liver condition (hepatic lipidosis) brought on by stress, the not eating, and compounded by his being a rather large cat. The shelter tried many treatments from various feeding attempts to reiki, but Kaspar did not pull through.
He was a great cat. We've been wracked by a lot of 'what could we have done differently' thoughts but they don't serve anyone well. We try to focus instead on all the great times we had with Kaspar in the brief period we had him. He was the first cat we ever had who loved, really loved, the vacuum and actually being vacuumed. He loved to chase the laser pointer and a peacock feather would captivate him for hours. He would snuggle deep down under the blankets beside us.
We wish things had turned out differently. Now we continue to live with and love our remaining 5 cats, and think that we won't try to expand our feline family any more, for now.
RESPONSE:
We were so saddened to hear about Kaspar's passing. It is so emotionally heart wrenching to lose a feline friend. And whether it is because of accident, illness or old age, there is always tremendous guilt. Nothing but time will ease the pain. Our thoughts are with you. Smile when you remember Kasper, remember only the good times, and be comforted in knowing that he has crossed the Rainbow Bridge to something wonderful!
