RIP Misha + Zuki
A hugely impactful event that occurred recently was the passing of both Misha and Zuki IN THE SAME WEEK. What are the odds of that, really?
Zuki was the much older cat, around 19 years old. Matt had her since he was in grad school and she stuck around for much longer than he ever expected. For the last few years, she definitely started slowing down. She went completely deaf a couple years ago…and in the last year or so, she was slower. While I was away on a business trip in London mid-May, my parents flew in to help Matt out. After a day, my dad realized he hadn’t seen Zuki and asked Matt where she was. He started looking at could not find her. He honestly thought she probably ran away like many cats that are ready to go do…but then he noticed Misha was just sitting next to our bedroom window and wouldn’t leave that position. So, he took one last look under our bed and there she was. It was sad but Matt had been expecting her time to come soon, so it wasn’t a big surprise. It was definitely shocking for me to hear about all this while I was in London. That was on Thursday, May 15th.
I returned from London on Saturday and Matt mentioned to me over the phone that he noticed Misha seemed really depressed and not eating much. When I got back, he looked like a completely different cat from when I left. He was significantly thinner and limping around the house. It was shocking that he wouldn’t eat anything or drink water (and he used to drink water like it was going out of style). It freaked me out and I scheduled an appointment with the vet for the next day. He did not look good and his movements were shaky. I took him to the vet on Sunday the 18th and they took him to the back to take his blood to diagnose his issue. Before I knew it, the vet rushed back to me to tell me he had gone into cardiac arrest and CPR was being performed and that I should go back to say goodbye. Just as I stepped back, his heartbeat came back on his own. He was barely breathing and his heart was weak. 10 minutes later, his heart stopped again and miraculously after a bit of CPR it came back again. At that point, the blood results came back indicating complete kidney failure. The vet then recommended immediate euthanasia. I broke down and called Matt who rushed over. We said our goodbye and he was euthanized.
Misha’s death was definitely shocking and unexpected. He was technically a senior cat but, compared to Zuki, we thought we had a couple years left with him. We have no idea what caused his sudden deterioration. It could have been something he ate outside or just natural cause. I’m glad that somehow, he knew I was out of the country and hung on until I returned. I was devastated and would shed tears for awhile. I had him for over 10 years and he was always there for me.
Friends have asked if we plan to get another cat. The answer is no. We agreed long ago that when the cats eventually pass, that we were going to take a break from picking up poop, human or feline. We have at least 2 more years with Andrew…but after that, we welcome that break, lol.
It took us awhile to adjust to the cats not being around. So much of our behavior revolved around the cats…such as always closing the doors to the bedrooms to prevent Misha from entering (he was constantly spraying on carpeted areas)…or subconsciously checking the back deck before we head up for the night to see if one of the cats wanted to be let in.
They were excellent, loyal companions and we will miss them so much.