That which Rolls

Iggy's favorite napping location

We lost our cat Iggy last night. We’ve had her and her litter-mate, Maude, almost since we moved in together 12 or 13 years ago, or maybe it’s been 14 or 15 years at this point. It’s hard to keep track. After we took the cats outside yesterday she was panting and wheezing like her lungs were full of water. We have no idea what triggered it to happen right then, but she had had a heart murmur for years, which resulted in a severely enlarged heart and eventually, heart failure. As soon as we saw her breathing this way I called the vet. It was 5 o’clock, they were just closing. We rushed her over there and they did the best they could, but suggested that her best chance was to get her to the emergency vet up in Rochester. We headed up there as fast as we could but we didn’t make it in time. It all just happened too fast, which probably means that even if we had gotten her there quicker, it was probably just her time to go.

We feel really lucky to have had her for as long as we did. Though, I’ll be honest, I’m feeling mostly just sad right now.

She was a really sweet cat. She wasn’t always good… but she tried to be. There was that time she pulled a whole ham steak off the table on to the floor, but she was too excited to be casual after the fact. So she got caught. She’s nabbed a lot of sausages over the year too. She would only sit on your lap if there was a book or magazine there so she wouldn’t get human cooties. She would demand to be petted by grabbing your hand with her paw and pulling it across her face.

I feel like I should think of more to say but I haven’t written a lot of cat obituaries. I’ll just embed a little slideshow of the photos I have. I know there are more to add but I can’t find them for some reason.