We had to bid an untimely goodbye to Napoleon this week because he passed away. We had noticed him behaving a little strangely the past two months or so. One day in January he didn't lift his head up at all. He walked around looking at the pavement, even when people were petting him. If you are familiar with cats, you know that is very unusual. But then the next day he seemed fine. Then it happened again a little later, though not so severely. Then I noticed him licking things. At first I thought he was licking water out of puddles but then I realized there was no water in the things he was licking. He started limping on his bad leg but we couldn't feel anything wrong with it. Then he became less and less active, sometimes spending entire days in his house, which he has never done before, even in the coldest of weather. Then sometimes as he was sitting, his head would slowly slump down until it was drooping, as if he were falling asleep. But if you know cats, you know that is not how they fall asleep. Poor kitty! Last week he stopped eating and drinking and doing much of anything. The vet told us he had "feline infectious peritonitis" which is incurable and fatal and he died on Friday. We had a funeral and buried him under our grapevine.
Napoleon would have turned five this summer. Here he is shortly after we brought him home with his brother, Hobbes. (Hobbes disappeared his first winter with us.)
Napoleon and Hobbes were Onion Ring's eighth birthday present and Onion Ring had a special bond with Napoleon.
But we all loved him. Here are some of our favorite memories of Napoleon:
Junior: When Napoleon was a kitten we would pull a string that he would chase after.
Eggs on Toast: A few years ago our neighbors got a black lab and one time when she came into our yard, Napoleon suddenly jumped at her, puffed himself up, hissed, and growled, and the dog ran yelping back to her yard.
Buttermilk Sky: Click here to read Buttermilk Sky's favorite memory.
Onion Ring: Click here to read Onion Rings favorite memory.
Me: Sometimes if we were sitting and petting Napoleon he would reach out a paw and lightly touch our leg or arm as if to express his affection.
I also loved how the kids would go outside and call in loud, high pitched voices, "NAPOOOOOOOLEEEEEAAAAAAAN! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE, KITTY, KITTY!" and he would always come running.
Brandon: Click here to read one of Brandon's favorite memories.
Brandon also liked how when he would come home from work, Napoleon would greet him by meowing and walking expectantly over to the shed where his food was kept and then as Brandon would get his food, Napoleon would continually tangle himself in Brandon's feet, walking right in Brandon's way until his food was set down.
One more thing that Brandon liked was that Napoleon wore a path through our grass because he always walked in the exact same place to go hunting. If there was snow on the ground, he would wear a path through the snow in the exact same spot.
Below is the last picture that I took of Napoleon, and it's one of my favorites. It was on the day that Aunt Lori came over (click here) to begin building a tree house with the boys. After they had finished for the day and Onion Ring was up in the branches, Napoleon zoomed up the trunk and and they enjoyed being up high in the tree together.
We loved having Napoleon as our pet. We will miss him.
