Ivan

Most of you know before Rich had me he had two cats: Ivan and Sheba. Ivan he's had for quite a few years, Sheba for about 4. Before Ivan was with Rich he was a stray, and Rich took him home on a "trial run" from the vet. The woman he got Ivan from at the vet is still working there and has been a big help with advice over the years. When Ivan was on his trial, Rich was sleeping and he heard a flitting around in his bedroom. He woke to see a bat circling overhead in his room. Rich is petrified of bats. Ivan leaped to his rescue, and killed the bat. From then on, Ivan was his.

Ivan was given meds last week for a urinary tract infection and he seemed to be doing better. The vet called yesterday with more news from his test results. Ivan has cancer. We could spend a bunch of money putting him through uncomfortable testing to find out what kind it is, only to have to put him down, all the while he is in pain. We made the difficult decision last night to have Ivan put down asap to minimize his pain. We made this decision around 1am, and I called the vet this morning. On the way to work, I took Ivan up to the vet. He got out of his kitty carrier, and although he normally cries a lot in the car, he was quite calm as he got on my lap and lay down. This morning I saw Ivan and Chewie, lying reasonably close together, facing each other, not terrorizing each other. This has never happened. At 9:45 this morning Ivan was put down.

It was one of the hardest things I've done. A lot of you know I am a dog person all the way. I hated cats. I hated cats until I met Ivan. He had more personality than any cat I've seen and I really did love him. I know we did the best thing for him but we miss him.

Rich always said he would keep him forever. Some of you know we've been looking for a home for Ivan and Sheba as Rich's allergies have really been bothering him and we thought they could get more attention elsewhere. It seems God allowed Rich to keep his promise and we kept him right till the end. We love you Ivan and we'll miss you. I'm sure in kitty heaven you are being indignant and turning your nose up at the other cats.