Alex 1992-2008

Alex

aka:
Walex
Woo
Willy Woo
Buddy
Boo
Billy Boo
Silly Sue
Killy Koo
Alex the Kitty
Alex P. Kitty

Alex has been suffering from Diabetes for several years. His kidneys have been weakening over the past several months. The confluence of these conditions made keeping his healthy a delicate balance. Our struggle came to an end earlier this evening. I knew that the end was near, but I did not know how long it would be. My worst nightmare would have been needing to take him to the vet to be put to sleep. He hated going to the vet. I didn't want our last moments together to be his least favorite thing in the world. My last moments with Stampy were dropping her off at the animal emergency room. I hated that.

Instead, Alex's last moments were doing his favorite thing in the world: cuddling with me on the couch. After lying together for about a half an hour, Alex seemed to want to get down off the couch. I carried him down to the litter box. He did his business. I then brought him back up. Several times he tried to get away, so I set him down. Was was so weak that he could barely move. After carrying him back to his blanket on the couch (and cuddling a little), he seemed to seize up. I tried to make him comfortable. I could still hear his heart. After a while he was no longer moving. I could no longer hear his heart. He died in my arms.

I named Alex after Alex from A Clockwork Orange. When he was a kitten, he used to stand up on his back paws. I liked to say that he was evolving. He also liked to play rough. I trained him to kill. He particularly liked to kill this one shoestring. I was very reluctant to have him neutered, worrying that he would stop being as fun to play with. When he got back from the vet, instead of being boring (or even groggy from the anaesthesia), he was more playful and more fun. It was like losing his nuts freed him to have fun.

He also liked to eat. Who am I kidding, he was morbidly obese at times. The thing about his eating was that he only really craved dry cat food. He never tried to get people food. He didn't care for wet cat food, either. Plain, dry cat food. He knew how to open doors. He liked to repetitively rub his paws on things just to make sound. He and I talked to each other - call and response. When Stampy was a kitten, when all of the other cats were mean to her, he cuddled with her and protected her like he was her mother. When Azrael would lie on her back, Alex would perform cunnilingus on her. He didn't really get along with Hawkeye or Klinger, but they tolerated one another. He had a cordial relationship with both his sister, Alexsis (aka Alex's sister), and Bunsen Honeydew (his roommate), both of whom survive him. He loved catnip. He hated the laser pointer. He would attack my hair, when I had long hair, and lick my hair when I had short hair. He liked to lick my beard.

I miss you, Buddy.