Salvador

Salvador died today. There is so much to say about him. A lot of people would say it is silly to feel so much for an animal. Salvador was more than a cat, he didn't have that vacant stare a lot of cats have. When he looked at you, it felt like you were looking into the eyes of a wise old man. When he looked at you, he looked intently.

He had some funny habits. He loved water. He liked any crinkly object and chewed on plastic bags or anything that made noise. He loved to snuggle into your neck in bed and pur and knead you with his sharp claws. He was so affectionate. he was a beautiful cat with the most amazing bright blue eyes, and a Dali-esque musache.

We got him from a cat adoption at a local pet store. He wasn't what I originally had in mind, long haired, white, and very timid. They told us he was rescued from a drug house. He lost his timidity and showed a wonderful personality. He never seemed extremely hardy, but we were surprised when he was diagnosed with diabetes at age 4, almost two years ago.

J took such good care of him. I helped a little, not always in a good way (long overdose story), with the twice daily injections of insulin. Salvador recovered and then seemed to go downhill. We realized, amazingly, that he had somehow been cured and no longer needed insulin. In the process of checking his blood sugar, we made other important health realizations about our family. We are sure our blood sugar would have gone unnoticed if it weren't for Salvador and having testing equipment on hand. For that, he saved us. We called him "San Salvador" after that.

On his last day, I wasn't expecting to say goodbye. He seemed fine. He started choking and didn't stop, J barely got him to the vet in time and he was given oxygen. It turned out he had heart failure and there was fluid pressing on his lungs. the vet told us a treatment plan that included catheters, extended stays in the hospital with a cardiologist, drugs, etc that would only extend his life a month or two. Salvador hates that stuff, he even has a reputation at Dove Lewis. We wanted to bring him home with us, but he couldn't breathe well outside his oxygenated cage. I went in to see him one last time and he started purring as soon as I pet him. I know we did the right thing, but I miss him. I really don't think there are any other cats like him. We were very lucky to have him as long as we did, but it seemed far too short.

I can't explain who Salvador was without it sounding silly. He wasn't just a cat. But you just had to know him like we did. We miss you Salvador. Thank you for sharing your life with us.