JIFFY

(Born 27th June 1999 Put to Sleep 19th November 2009)

Jiffy was born under my daughter Carey's bed.  We had been searching for his mother, Gizmo, all day without success.  Carey thought she heard a noise under her bed (the one place we had not looked).  Sure enough there was Gizmo and four new born kittens.  Carey said they looked like black slugs as they were still wet.  I must admit that she did have a point.

Jiffy grew up to become second in command to Syddy.  This position of course meant that he had the second best places to sleep in the house.  Occasionally if the others annoyed him he would have to remind them that he was a higher ranking cat, but in the main he got on very well with the rest of the gang. 

Unfortunately as he got older he put on a lot of weight.   Mr. Ashworth, the vet described Jiffy as being too fat but having beautiful teeth.  He was not a greedy cat and did not eat a great deal, so sorting out his weight problem was rather difficult, especially as there are 10 cats in total in the house.   He liked to eat hia dental biscuits, so his teeth continued to remain in first class condition, but he didn't lose much weight. 

A short time ago he started to lose some weight.  At first I was pleased as I knew the vet would be pleased.  However, within a very short space of time the weight loss was significant.  Outwardly he appeared a picture of health with glossy coat, sparkling eyes and a nose just as it should be.  He was eating and drinking normally.  Then he started to do something unusual and would not use a litter tray.  I took him to the vets.  He was given a thorough examination and tumours were ruled out.   She did not think he was diabetic and thought it might be an over active thyroid.  She asked me to take him in after the weekend for a fasting blood test as we had missed the courier for Friday and she did not want a sample hanging around all weekend.  When I took Jiffy for his blood test I expressed concern over his health which I thought was deteriorating.   The nurse asked if I would like him kept in and put on a drip for the day.  This seemed a good idea and the vets hoped that they would have the results of the blood tests by the time I returned.  They tested him for diabetes whilst I was there and this was ruled out.  

I brought him home that night, but was asked to take him back the next day to go back on the drip and remain so until the weekend.   He had not eaten in the vets.  The blood test revealed he had acute kidney failure. I managed to get him to eat by warming food and hand feeding him.  He sat with me all evening, but when I went to bed, he went and hid himself away in the cupboard in my bedroom.  I made him a comfy bed and he settled for the night there.   I took him back to the vets, and later that day the vet rang to say he seemed much better.  He was eating and seemed settled and was not distressed.   He was taking the tablets for his kidneys without any problem.  I was going to visit him after work the following day and went to work feeling quite optimistic and looking forward to the weekend and bringing him home. 

I had only been at work for about 15 minutes when the vet rang to say when they had arrived at the surgery, Jiffy was much worse.  He was not interested in coming out of his cage and it distressed him to be moved.   She gave me the terrible news that in her view he was not going to pull through.  He had apparently also had a "turn" of some sort.  I left work in tears and met Carey at the vets.  As soon as I saw Jiffy it was immediately obvious there was not going to be any happy outcome.  Although he purred like mad and was very pleased to see us, he made no attempt to move or stand up.   We spent some time with him before telling the vet we were ready to let him go.  After it was all over, the vet said we had made the right decision.  There was no way he would have recovered.  She had been concerned that his breathing was bad and said this was nothing to do with his kidneys and obviously something else was going on inside.  

The house is now quiet and seems quite empty.  Well meaning friends say ‘How can that be? You have lots of cats, you cannot possibly miss one!’ How little they know.   They are all family members.  Each one has his or her own personality just the same as any son or daughter.  We feel his loss very greatly.  He is sadly missed, but we know that we shall all meet again one day.

Goodbye my lovely boy.  Sleep peacefully until we meet again.  Love Mummy and Carey and all your family xxxx 

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