It is with a sad heart I must report that my beloved cat of 16 years (to the month) passed away in my arms on June 5, 2010 at 1:00am.
It has been very difficult for me to write a special article on Piewacket, not because I cannot think of anything to say—on the contrary, I have so much to say about my little boy. I miss my little boy so much.
I still remember the day I found Piewacket on Lackland AFB’s Medina Annex. I was working for the 341st Recruiting Squadron and my co-workers pretty much knew how much I loved animals. I’ve rescued a hummingbird that got trapped in one of the offices and a mouse trapped in a sticky trap; so it wasn’t surprising when a co-worker asked me to look at a little kitten trapped between the grass and the sidewalk in the parking lot. I believe it was June 1994, a Friday, and the temperature was supposed to be in the 100s for the next three days.
When I found this little Siamese kitten, a little tiny bundle of white fur with just the cutest brown nose, I noticed his fur was just crawling with fleas. It looked like he had only one little blue eye.
I took the little guy in and he just barely meowed in protest. I just knew if I did not take him in, he would have died a slow death wedged between the grass and the sidewalk. Back then, I really had a great boss that let me go home for the day, so I promptly took little Pie (named after the cat in the Bell Book and Candle story) to the vet.
The vet examined the little guy and exclaimed he was probably the runt of the litter and was dumped in the parking lot because of his eye problems. Pie was given intravenous fluids and vitamins. Overall, his health was excellent, except of course for all the fleas and his eyes. Pie had his first flea bath that night, and when I bathed him, there were so many fleas on him that the bath water turned red from the blood loss.
Pie quickly settled into the apartment routine sharing a home with two other cats, Baby (female) and Sassy (male) – ahhh, my three little musketeers!
When Pie turned 12 months, it was off to the vet to get him neutered. A few weeks later, Pie met his animal eye care specialist. After a series of surgeries, Pie had vision in both eyes. Granted, it was not 20-20 vision, but the vet was able to open up his left eye socket, create eye lashes, and essentially give him the ability to see close-up. Sadly, Pie was susceptible to eye infections due to his allergies. Like his mamma, Pie suffered from spring and fall allergies.
Pie was my best little buddy and the only kitty I allowed to sleep with me at night. Pie always slept on his side of the bed, never waking me up in the middle of the night. He did not pounce on my face when I slept or prowled around the room making noises during the night, like my other cats. Little Pie actually SLEPT through the night and was ready to leave the room when it was time to get up.
I called him my little football (he was about that size) as I would carry him like a football tucked in my arms each night on the way to bed. If I forgot to get my ‘little football,’ Pie would stand outside my door and cry and cry and cry until I let him in. He always sauntered into the room as if nothing was amiss!
When Pie was diagnosed with cancer in the mouth in 2009, I was devastated. After his first surgery to remove the mass from his mouth, I noticed Pie started losing some weight. I had hoped the cancer mass would not grow back in his mouth, but sadly it did about four months later. After Pie’s second surgery to remove the mass, Pie lost a lot of weight. He was put on special food to help him retain some of his weight. By that time, Pie started to lose some muscle mass as well.
For eight months, Pie remained cancer free. Then, last month, I noticed the mass growing back. Pie lost so much weight; I think he weighed about the same amount as when I found him as a kitten. Pie was a fighter. During this time, he still consumed a can of food each day, along with his dry food, and the occasional dog food pieces which he stole from the dogs. Pie loved food and his illness did not keep him from eating.
I knew his time was short, but I guess I just wanted to believe he would get better, maybe put some more weight on, so he could undergo his third surgery. I even went to the vet to buy him the special food that helped him put on some weight after his last surgery, the day before he passed away. That day, Pie enjoyed ½ can of the special food—he ate with such gusto I truly believed he had a chance to live a little longer. I know it sounds selfish, but I just wasn’t ready to let him go.
Pie died in my arms and it was the hardest thing in the world to watch as he slipped away from me. Piewacket was an extraordinary kitty and he will always be in my heart. I miss him so much and it will be a while before I stop making a special dinner plate for him each night. I will see Pie again in Heaven some day. As I told him during his last few hours on Earth, it will only seem like a moment that we are separated (from his prospective in Heaven) while from my prospective it will seem like forever before we are reunited. I just hope Pie recognizes me when he sees me again as I will no doubt have changed much in appearance!
On Piewacket’s last evening, Blessing (cat), Who-dini cat), Rex (dog) and Endy (dog) stayed with me and Pie in my bedroom. The elder animals slept around Pie’s makeshift ‘bed’ keeping him company until his final moments when I asked the animals to leave the room. When it was Pie’s time to go, he cried out to me to let me know that it was his time to say goodbye. Saying goodbye was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I was glad he said goodbye at home and not at the vet clinic.
So, I will conclude by saying Piewacket was a most beloved animal who came into my life on a warm June morning and left my life 16-years later on another warm June morning. One thing my boy always had was timing. Pie kept perfect time. God Bless Piewacket’s Soul into Heaven. I will love him always.
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