Hi All! This will be a much different post than my usual offering. Not that I don’t have a few posts that need attending too, but I’ve been looking to do this for awhile. My last post was some time ago, late November. The next day after that post was published, we unfortunately lost one of our cats, Pebble. 2019 has been a bit of a whirlwind. We adopted two cats, got used to living with them, then unfortunately lost one. This post will outline the journey that we’ve had as it’s been pretty much the majority of 2019.
We adopted Pebble in February after lots of research
My friend Leah got her cat Daisy on Dec 28th, 2018. There was so much joy in the experience of searching and finding the perfect cat for her. After we moved into our home in 2018, I was curious about the idea of owning a pet. After Leah got Daisy, my search was set into overdrive. I was actually open to the idea of getting a dog too. I bought books, would spend my time researching about appropriate care, and also stalking adoption agencies. After we decided on a cat (due to our schedules we thought cat would be best), we looked for a long time to find the perfect cat.
We ended up adopting Pebble (originally named Randy) through PetSmart Adoption Weekend. PetSmart always has rescues in at their stores for cat adoptions, but this weekend is when more animals are brought in. At this point, we had been searching for awhile. We had actually been declined by a previous rescue for reasons that weren’t all together clear. The rescue we got Pebble from was pretty loose I’d say. The process was very quick once it was decided. I filled out a very minimal form, paid the adoption fee, and she was ours. PetSmart actually gives you coupons when you’ve adopted through them (or another rescue). This really helped us get set up with all of the items we needed. I’m glad we didn’t purchase everything prior so we could use these coupons.
Pebble took a few days to get comfortable
The first month or so was a lot of learning and integrating. Pebble took about a week before she was ready to leave her safe room. After that she pretty much had free reign on the house. We closed off a couple of sub rooms like the office, extra bedroom (used for storage), and my beauty room.
In terms of personality she was pretty active. She would go NUTS for the laser (which I stopped using after reading a bit more on it) and would have funny intricacies. She didn’t seem like she wanted to really climb and wouldn’t jump up on things higher than the back of the couch. She definitely did some things that I didn’t enjoy like hide under the bed and attack my feet. But she was a cat, and that was definitely to be expected.
We celebrated Pebble’s first birthday in June 2019
Based on estimation of course, we celebrated Pebble’s first birthday on June 23rd. We had invited immediate family to enjoy lunch and Pebble. She was so scared of all the people though and hid in our bedroom the entire time. I made her a hat (which she hated obviously and to be expected), a cake and decorated the house. I’ve definitely achieved crazy cat lady by this point if not already.
Pebble started to calm down and get very snuggley after her first birthday
After her first birthday, we noticed Pebble’s kitten energy died down a bit. She still liked to play, but wasn’t as crazy it felt. She was also very very affectionate. She would be very comfortable being held for long periods of time and being carried around. She was very snuggley and always joined us on the couch!
Enter Max
Enter our second cat Max! We had been thinking of a second cat for awhile, but hadn’t made the plunge with another yet. We were thinking that this would have been the perfect time because Pebble was still quite young. I had done a fair amount of research on introducing cats. I chose opposite gender and a young kitten. Max was just SO adorable, as most young kittens are. When we adopted him he was 2 months old.
Pebble and Max were separated when we learned Max may have FIV
We took Max for his first vet visit. On a whim I had asked them to do the test for FIV. The reason I knew to ask was that they had done the test on Pebble when she had an upset stomach. FIV is essentially the feline version of HIV. It’s mostly only spread through deep bite wounds which makes it somewhat hard to transmit. The cats that are the most vulnerable for this are usually un-neutered male cats who live outside (since they tend to get into more fights). The results were both surprising and shocking. Max tested positive. There is/ was some hope though. Some kittens under 6 months of age test positive as they have antibodies from an infected mother, but this isn’t the virus.
FIV is by no means a death sentence as it once was. Cats with FIV can lead normal lives. Their immune system is compromised which could lead to higher risk of colds or infections, but otherwise pretty the cat is pretty normal. The main concern was obviously for Pebble and the risk of infection to her. FIV positive and negative cats can live together for sure. There was a main issue though.
Pebble and Max did not get along
Even unfortunately up to Pebble’s passing, Pebble and Max were not free roaming together. We followed all the suggestions, used Feliway, and graduated steps slowly. Nothing unfortunately worked. At first it was Pebble that would instigate beat downs where we had to separate. Then it became Max harassing Pebble. It was very difficult to watch and understand. We didn’t know really what more to do. We knew were were going to keep on trying. We thought slowly but surely. The picture above is after some initial fighting before they got really bad and we had to separate them.
Pebble quickly and unexpectedly got sick
To our dismay, we had learned in a single evening the Pebble was infected with a fatal disease called FIP. It started with a bit of lethargy and she stopped eating all her food. Then she had laboured breath which she was taken into the vet for. At first they thought pneumonia, but that usually only affects outdoor cats. They had taken an xray and her lungs were filled with fluid. It was either heart failure or FIP. Due to to the colour of the liquid that was extracted, it was determined to be FIP. It is a rare disease but fatal that comes from a virus that quite a lot of cats have called the coronavirus. For whatever reason, it mutates in some cats to be FIP.
The night before was probably the hardest evening ever for us. The grief was so unimaginable. We had Pebble for such a short amount of time and she was so young herself. She would not have the luxury to grow up.
Then it was just Max
We were definitely glad to still have Max. Max is different than Pebble. He’s much more active and wild. He’s going to be a big boy as well. We’re still not positive on his FIV status. It’s pretty unbelievable that all of this happened in the span of 10 months. Max is still so young himself. He’s younger than when we even got Pebble (Max is around 6 months now, we got Pebble at 8 months).
As I type this Max is literally chewing on my Surface. I’m positive that there will continue to be more hijinx into 2020. We miss Pebble so dearly, but are glad for the time we spent with her.
If you made it to the end, congrats. That was a bit of a ramble, but I wanted to do a cat post for some time. I’m glad I was able to use it as my end to 2019.
Happy New Year all! Here is to new beginnings and continued happiness into the new year.
1 Comment