Goodbye Festus

The better part of two decades ago, JJ Baskin asked me if I would like a cat. JJ had given the cat to his brother and sister-in-law the previous year, but she developed allergies and they could not keep him any longer. I agreed to take him, and Festus entered my life. A Russian Blue, Festus had a very regal air about him. He acted as if the whole world was his domain. He was not a lap cat by any means, but night after night he would always curl up at my side (after we got married, his preferred spot was by Anne’s legs). He loved to climb, and when I was in Austin I’d leave the door to the balcony open so that he could come and go as he pleased. When I moved into Buell Court I tried to replicate this be placing a 2×12 with rope wrapped around it between the balcony and the tree to serve as a cat bridge (it sometimes served as a raccoon bridge). In his youth he was an avid hunter, regularly bringing birds and squirrels to me.

Festus had been losing weight for several months before Anne & I started dating, and my vet didn’t really have any answers, so I took him to a new place: The Cat Doctor. Dr. Caroline Oeben determined that Festus was suffering from Lymphatic Plasmasitic Stomatitis, which caused inflammation in Festus’ gums and throat, making it difficult for him to eat. Through her dedication and care, Festus was given a new lease on life.

When Anne & I were married, I brought Festus to live with us…and Casey, Anne’s ten-year-old yellow lab. Casey was very curious about Festus, but Festus wanted nothing to do with her, and let Casey know that in no uncertain terms with lightning-fast bops on the Casey’s nose (but never with his claws extended). We had an uneasy truce for a while, but eventually they grew to at least tolerate the others presence (at least as long as Festus stayed away from Casey’s food bowl).

On New Year’s Eve 2008, Festus woke up from a nap and had lost most motor control of his head: he held it at an odd angle, and it would rotate counterclockwise. We spent the evening at the emergency clinic, and the next several days tests were done on him, but they never really determined what went wrong. His head returned to normal after about six weeks, but a lot of his former energy was gone.

Over the past couple of months, his appetite shrank more and more, as did the time between his required injections. He spent most of the day asleep on the sofa or in the front yard, watching the kids play across the street or the birds that would come and eat his food. He got to meet Kate on Monday when we brought her home from the hospital, and that evening he ate more than he had in months. But he didn’t eat anything on Tuesday, nor on Wednesday. He was fighting a cold that had come and gone for a while, and Wednesday night he didn’t even have the energy to jump on the bed. Today we took him to Dr. Oeben for one last visit, and she helped us say goodbye by making him comfortable and relieving his pain. It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, but it was the right decision.

Goodbye, buddy, my boon companion. Festus was the bestus.