Ollie has Passed Away

 Oliver, the 18 year old cat we adopted right before New Years Eve, passed away overnight. 

He had been sick for about two weeks, suddenly refusing food, or nibbling at it without much enthusiasm. A weight loss was noted, and Lisa bought him liquid meal replacements for cats, designed for weight gain. For the last week I've been feeding him with a syringe each night. A few days ago one back leg began to fail him; on Cinco De Mayo both back legs stopped working. 

While affectionate, he was not overly fond of *requesting* affection. That night, on the 5th, he demanded to be petted and cuddled and even nipped my hand when I stopped for too long. It was clear he knew the end was coming, and he was afraid. It broke my heart. 

On the 6th he tried and failed to get off the bed and use the litter box, and Lisa, sadly, made the right decision by scheduling a euthanasia for 11am the next day. 

She let him remain on the bed tho, throughout the day he would shift from one spot to another, sleeping almost the entire time. When I went to bed for the night, on the couch, he was twitching in his sleep. 

Lisa returned from an overtime shift at about 330 or 4. He was awake and alert, and she spent some time petting him before drifting off to sleep.

At 5:30 AM she woke me up. "Danny, I think he's gone." I went and checked on him and rigor mortis had already set in. He had avoided the euthanasia appointment by seven hours, and died at home on the bed next to Lisa, some time in the 90 minutes after she returned home. 

In my mind, I know he waited for one last goodbye with her. He loved spending time with Lisa. 

Smiley buried Oliver in our backyard shortly after six, with most of the house still asleep. 

We had Oliver for only 129 days (12/30/24 - 5/7/25) but I do not regret adopting him. He was a loving cat that was loved in return, and brough a lot of happiness into our lives in that short time. Man, it was good to have another gray and white cat in the house. 

RIP Ollie. You were grand. 

Ollie

Ollie-Ver

 Some pics of Oliver, taken January 9th. 

Introducing Oliver

So I adopted a 17 year old cat today. I was at MAADC, the Milwaukee pound, as I'd given LuLu a ride to pick up her kitten post-neutering. I'm not saying I knew I would be adopting a cat when I went with Lu, but I'm not saying it wasn't a possibility. 

  I had seen, online, a cat named Oliver, age 17, and a hefty 13 pounds. So I asked to see him in person, and, while Lu waited in the car with her kitten, Junie and I were introduced to Oliver. 

He was as big as advertised, very chill, friendly (but not a purr-er, at least not yet) and spry for his age and size; twice the volunteer stopped him from leaping atop a filing cabinet. He had been a stray in 2009, when he was adopted and spent the next 15 years in the same household, coming back to MAADC after his owner's death. He had been front-declawed, something we would never do nowadays, but was common a few decades ago. 

 I had mixed feelings, knowing that at 17 our time together would amount to a few years at best, but in the end I said yes to taking him home. 

And then, as I was checking out, a family came in saying they were there to see Oliver. Perhaps, I thought, a family a little less chaotic would suit him better.  So I approached them and offered to let them skip the rest of the line and meet Olivier; if they wanted him, I would pass on him and wish them the best. In a burst of introspection, I also wrote this in the family chat: 

I'm also in a depressive episode right now, and I want to make sure I'm acting rationally [by adopting Olivier] and not out of a need to fill a void. 

A few minutes later the family came out and said they did NOT want Oliver; he was too old! Why ask to see a 17 year old cat if his age was an issue? 

I took it as confirmation from on high that I was making the right decision. I adopted him right there, on the spot. 

We ran some errands before heading home, and he kept popping his head out of the cat carrier, like a little furry tank driver

Once we were home, Kahuna was NOT having the new addition.  

Quoting Junie: 

Airplane ears. Mad as hell. Side eye. . . but she started purring immediately after being taken upstairs and thrown onto my bed lmao

So far the dogs have been ok with Olivier. Sawyer has honored the warning hisses and kept a distance, while frankly Huckleberry seems afraid of him LOL I'm sure they'll be a dustup eventually, as Sawyer will want to test him out, but Oliver seems to have a been there/done that attitude that I hope will end the matter quickly. 

I don't know how long he'll be with us - I hope a few years - but we hope to make the final chapters of his life good ones.