The cat sitting in his chair at the dining room table. My adult children flood the family group chat with memories and photos. How nice it would be to come home from work to a litter box full of cat shit. Since the cat’s diagnosis, I’ve spent most of my time researching enough cat-related medical information to qualify as a first-year veterinary resident. I stroke the cat’s back, hoping that the cat’s spinal column will send nerve impulses to contract the walls of his colon while I’m at work. I stare out the window, seeing the first glimmers of the day. I briefly wonder if losing a pet is like having chicken pox. But then again, I’ve never had a pet before the cat. The cat puts his gray paw across my chest. “Would it really throw the cosmos out of whack if you sent some archangels to manually extract feces?” I pray to God, more fervently than I have in half a century. I watch the cat breathe in and out, the little cat snores telling me he still lives. I have lain wide awake, becoming good friends with the ceiling, the cat nestled close by my side. Over the past week, the cat teaches me how to sleep like him, an hour or two at a time, with one eye open. If God can give cats megacolon, then I can give them butter and cream. He laps at the bowl of cream a time or two before returning to his chair. The cat’s eyes light up like they did when he was a kitten, when the world was green and new and full of promise. ![]() When I put the plate in front of him, he gives me a sly smile, then licks the yellow squares into oblivion. I smile at the memory and cut three paper-thin slices from a cold stick of butter. He has stolen pancakes off my breakfast plate, just to get in a lick or two. We have three hours together before his last veterinarian appointment. It’s an embarrassing way to go out, he says. “I agree, my love,” I say, scratching him under his chin, tears running down my cheeks. They sound less like a complaint and more like a stoic acceptance of a hard truth. His meows now come in a much lower register. He looks at me and meows, but this meow does not sound like his typical sort of vocalization. Frustrated, he leaves the litter box and jumps up onto his favorite chair. The cat now teaches me that being tenacious at a fruitless task can quickly become a fool’s errand. Surely if he tries again, all will be well?īut the blockage in his system prevents him from excreting. The cat tries to defecate again, carefully scratching through the Fresh Step kitty litter as if it were a sand mandala. What happens when things that have always worked suddenly don’t? This puzzles him as he hasn’t been sick one day in his whole 15 years of life. God can take the blame for the rest.įor the hundredth time in a week, the cat valiantly tries to poop in his box and cannot. ![]() Redeem your Paw Points® for feline-focused rewards, or donate your Paw Points® to help your local cat shelterįor help setting up your Paw Points® Rewards account or to learn more about the program, visit the Fresh Step® website (.I have fed the cat butter and cream before he dies.ĭairy is terrible for a cat’s gastrointestinal tract, but then again, so is abnormal dilation of the colon. Earn even more Paw Points® with fun activities like adding a photo of your cat to your profile, putting favorite rewards on your Wishlist, adding a preferred cat shelter and moreĤ. Snap a picture of your Fresh Step® receipt and upload to add points, or enter codes from boxesģ. Sign up as a Paw Points® Rewards program member right from the app. Purr-worthy prizes: Enter to win the Fresh Step® Monthly Multi-Sweepstakesġ. Kitty funtime: Redeem Paw Points® for free kitty litter, cat toys, condos, coupons, and more - Share the love: Donate Paw Points® to your favorite cat shelter Make tracks: Keep track of your Paw Points® progress Scratch the surface: Browse the Rewards Catalog and add items to your Wishlist Cool as cats: Enter codes from purchases from anywhere-online or in stores-using your mobile device Feline fantastic: Upload a photo of your receipt to quickly enter your Paw Points® The Fresh Step® Paw Points® Rewards App makes it easy to earn points for all your Fresh Step® purchases and redeem them for cat litter, coupons, tantalizing cat toys, and even help for your favorite shelter.
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