In 2000, I got home from work on Friday at around 6:00 pm. I lived in Houston at the time. I already had 3 kitties at home waiting for me. On the doorstep was this cat, not kitten, that was bleeding and laying down. He had to climb 2 sets of stairs to lie at my apartment doorstep.
I scooped him up, put him in a carrier and rushed him to an afterhours emergency vet. Apparently he had been hit by a car and had several broken bones and had to have his jaw wired shut. Before the vet treated him, he had to make sure he didn't have FIV or FLV, he didn't. Then he asked me his name,, I just looked at him and said, "Izzi", because I was wondering Iz zi gonna make it?
So that is how Izzi came into my life. I got him neutered and got all his shots. Later his eyelids started to turn under and I was referred to a feline eye specialist, she fixed him up and told me it was likely the result of a virus incurred during birth, most likely herpes. A year went by and I took him in to get his shots updated. When I took him home, he got really sick and I honestly thought he was going to die. I called the vet, took him in and now he tested positive for FIV.
To make a long story short, I loved Izzi, I gave him a better home than he could have ever of dreamed of, I got him off the mean streets of Houston.
Izzi had a chronic bladder infection for the last 6 years or so, so eventually he got his own room. It was a nice room with all the accoutrements a cat could want, I couldn't stop him from peeing all over everything, so this was a compromise. Other cats would go in and visit Izzi. About a week ago he quit eating his food, so I started giving him the best junk kitty food and he started eating again. About 4 days ago he lost his voice, then last night he quit eating altogether. When he wouldn't eat his cheese I knew it was over. I took him to the vet this morning and he had a golf ball size tumor in his throat. Izzi was between 18 and 21 years of age, he had a good run, still the house is quite empty without him.
Hug your furry friends close and send some positive thoughts to ease Izzi's transition on his next journey. I can not for the life figure how to get a pdf of this handsome boy to post in this diary.