Thursday, August 6, 2015

8 Years of Fluff (A Biography on the Best Cat Ever)

   Fluffer the Kitten 
   I was 9 when we found stray kittens in our yard in a tree.  A short-haired all gray one, and a short-haired gray and white one.  We took the two kittens into our smaller garage in our yard to take care of them.  We gave them milk and bread.  (Not knowing that giving milk to kittens is actually bad for them and causes them diarrhea).  A few days later Smokey took off so we went to go looking for him and found two more kittens instead in the cemetery across from our house.  Another all gray kitten we called Ender, and a little chubby gray and white long-haired cat (If you haven't guessed already, that one was Fluffer.)  We then had three kittens living in our small garage, and everyday I would walk down and check on them, or feed them.  Watching three kittens was kind of a big deal for a 9 year old.  It still probably would fill me with so much joy.  The other cats seemed shy compared to Fluffer, and because of this Fluffer seemed to get most of the food.  We referred to him as "Bully" for a little while.  Fluffer would also be the only one who would survive out of the kittens.  The kittens seemed to be abandoned because they had been sick.  (Pretty sure Fluffer was healthy, or overcame his sickness.)  I think I checked on them once before going to school, to find that one had died overnight, Ender.  Someday during this time my dad let us put Sammy, and Fluffer in the house, after supposedly hating cats, and wanting no part of them in our house.  Fluffer, and Sammy had gotten pretty dirty from living out in the garage so my mom decided to wash them in the bathtub.  Sammy ended up going into shock after she had been taken out of the bath.  She would continue to get worse after the bath and end up dying that night.
(Sammy)
 Since the other two kittens had died, we didn't really think Fluffer would live very long either.  But he would.  From being in the garage, Fluffer was moved into our basement, then we convinced my dad to let him be able to roam the house, and keep him in the basement at night.  We then bought cat things for him, and it was all done after that.  Fluffer was officially apart of the family after that.



Wait Fluffer was Skinny?
  Believe it or not growing up,  Fluffer was actually pretty skinny.  My mom used to joke that he looked like he could actually be a weasel.  During his skinny period of life Fluffer wasn't a nice kitty,  If you made him mad, he would chase you around the house, and if he didn't want to be held anymore, he'd cling onto your arm with all fours and hang there or scratch you.  Then like boy cats do he began spraying, so we decided to go in and get him fixed.  This is when Fluffer began to pack on the pounds.  He no longer was athletic enough to chase you as well, all though he could move really fast if he wanted to.  He no longer tried to be mean either, he kind of just chilled out.  Earlier in his life he was more of an outside cat, he absolutely loved being outside.  After he got fixed though, that all changed.  A cat that looked super similar to Fluffer roamed the cemetery across the street for a couple of years, and we guessed that had been the mom of Fluffer's litter.  She would have more kittens and a little old lady would stop by the cemetery everyday at a certain time to put out food for the cat and kittens.



He's Diabetic? 
  One day Fluffer wasn't getting around really well and just kind of laying around so we decided to take him to the vet for some tests, and found out that Fluffer was diabetic.  He lost a lot of weight for awhile because of this.  The vet put him on meds and that seemed to make him improve.  (We're starting to wonder if it was never diabetes afterall, and the pancreatic cancer had been slowly eating him away until now.)  My friend Jeremy also had diabetes so they became diabetes friends.
He's So Fat????
  I would tell people that Fluffer was big, but most people wouldn't actually believe me until they actually saw them and have mini freakout episodes.  Saying things like "That is the fattest cat I've ever seen" or "That's a big cat"  His size made him a very good cuddler, and a comfort for a bad day.  Even people who didn't like cats couldn't help but find Fluffer adorable.  My mom would even sing a song when he was younger "Kitty kitty two by four, can't fit through the kitchen door."  One of my friends, Christian really didn't like cats so he wasn't too excited to meet Fluffer, but then he did and Fluffer turned into a cat he actually really liked.  (My dad secretly liked him, even if he was in denial throughout Fluffer's life.
   When I cuddled Fluffer, he would sometimes cling onto my arm, as if he were giving my arm a hug, and it was probably one of the most adorable things ever.  (He actually did it at the vet's office the last day I saw him, when I held him for the last time.)  Also if you were talking Fluffer would put his paw on your mouth.  I guess he liked his quiet time.  

The End!? (Warning this part is sad) 
   On Sunday August 2nd 2015, we woke up to a very sick Fluffer.  A Fluffer that wouldn't eat, hardly moved. and was breathing weird.  We took Fluffer in for an emergency visit on Sunday, even though the vet's office was closed, the vet came in anyways to help.  The vet took an X-ray on Fluffer and noticed one of his lung lobes was filled with liquid.  She said that it would most likely be pneumonia since the liquid was in the lungs vs. outside the lungs which is a sign of cancer.  They took Fluffer overnight to inject him with steroids and antibiotics to see if he would get any better.  We went home that day, all confident he would get better and that he just had a cold.  It wasn't just a cold.  After more tests it showed Fluffer was not getting any better, and had cancer.  We wouldn't be able to bring him home.  My dad took my brother and I to the Vet's office on the following Tuesday, and we said our final goodbyes to Fluffer, and cried quite a lot.  He was very lively when we first got there, but then slowly started moving less and less.  That evening they put him down.  My mom picked him up the next day and we buried him in the yard, while telling stories about him.  
    There will never be another kitty as fluffy, or as cuddly as this kitty was.  He was a legend, and without him my arm strength will slowly become less and less without a giant kitty to pick up everyday.  :P 


1 comment:

  1. Sorry for your loss. I still miss Sherlock! He was a special member of our family. He would sit on my keyboard while I was trying to do homework and I would tell him that he needed to be on the mouse!

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