Me and my husband purchased our first kitten together 18 years ago. He was meant to be when we saw him, and we call him our first baby. We went on to have children together 9 years ago.
Ollie is a British Shorthair, he was calm in nature. Not a clingy cat and really good with children. Having a flat face he was susceptible to eye infections from a kitten to aged 2 years. He also suffered from a urinary track infection when he was 5 years, having to go into the vet for an overnight stay. We got a drinking fountain to encourage drinking water.
As Ollie got older and just before COVID we noticed a change. He was 17 years old but he wouldn’t clean himself. He had a mass on his cheek. We had the mass drained and due to his age they did not want to put him under for an operation. The mass would sometimes leak, and over the course of 3 years it did get bigger. It didn’t seem to cause him any pain, but we did notice his eyes seemed foggy and at 18 years he lost his hearing.
The Vet told us it was a tumor, and because of his age we just wanted him to be comfortable. At times he had the spark of a new kitten. His body did succumb to the cancer at 18 years. But we had 18 wonderful years with him. He was not in any pain when he died and I was able to comfort him. He was the most wonderful pet and we have shed many tears over him. I have never seen my husband so upset having to tell our children after school, he was beside himself. My son has his ashes kept safely on the top of his shelf. He was one very special and loving cat.
Both with the vet and as a family we made the decision early on that we just wanted him to be pain free with the cancer, and as long as he was happy and content we were happy. We didn’t want invasive tests.
Seven months has passed since his death and we have a little black British kitten joining the family in the last week in December.
