ODAAT – 219 of 366 – Goodbye my friend
Today’s picture is of Inky, formerly known as Mr. Pitts by the humane society over 12 years ago.
Inky passed away last night while he was sitting on my lap. This past year has been really hard on him. He has had gingivitis for as long as we can remember, this in a cat is not a good thing as it resulted in him losing most of his teeth. From all those tiny little teeth in the front, on top and bottom, to losing almost all of his canine teeth.
We had switched him to wet cat food because dry cat food was too difficult for him and he had lost quite a bit of weight. Once we switched, he gained it back. But then we noticed last month that his balance was really starting to go. He would fall off things when he’d get into a really deep sleep. In fact, one fall caused him to “break his tail” – I had heard him fall and then cry out. He limped for a few minutes, then seemed fine. It wasn’t until the next day we noticed he wasn’t moving his tail like he normally would. I felt kind of dumb knowing he was so hurt and didn’t notice, but the next day his tail was fine again.
Well Carl and I were preparing ourselves for the worst, we tried to prepare the kids that any day Inky could be gone. But it’s really hard to prepare anyone for that when you just don’t know. Well the past few days Inky become really lethargic and just slept more than normal. Anytime someone would sit down, he would climb into your lap and fall asleep. Well last night was no exception. I was watching TV with Carl and Akasha climbed into my lap and fell asleep. Inky joined a little while later and also fell asleep. Well then Akasha decided she was hungry, so she got up. I didn’t think anything of it. Inky when he falls into a deep sleep becomes extremely heavy, like a dead weight. I am used to him doing this, so I adjusted him so that I knew he wouldn’t fall out of my lap, but that was when I realized he wasn’t going to wake up. Normally if I move him, he yells at me. Well he didn’t yell at me and he never will again. 
We got Inky over 12 years ago when we were still living in Nebraska. I got him from the humane society when he was 9 months old. They picked him up at the age of about 5 months old or so. Someone had tried to shoot at him because he had a bb pellet stuck behind his ear. They called him Mr. Pitts because he had white air under his arms and on his belly, but we changed his name to Inky. We used to laugh because if we said the name Mr. Pitts to him, he literally glared at us like we were never allowed to utter that name in his presence. He quickly became Carl’s cat. He was a total Daddy’s boy. He was such a sweet cat, very friendly and extremely talkative.
It already feels weird not having him in the house, it’s quieter. I’m going to miss him, a lot.
