Simba 2001- January 3, 2016

We got Simba many moons ago, right after the 9/11 attacks on Trade Center. Me and Robin had no kids and had just got married in June. At the time we already had a young cat, Zorro who was almost two years old. When we were stuck in Alaska and the world was seemingly falling apart at the hands of terrorists everywhere, our thoughts turned toward poor Zorro alone in our apartment building at Greentree Condominium in Weymouth where we lived. We decided if we made it home alive, we would get another kitten, a "brother" to keep Zorro occupied when no one was home.

In late 2001, we drove to one of Robin's coworkers apartment and picked out a tiger striped double pawed kitten and named him Simba after the Disney cartoon.

Both cats lived long comfortable lives, Zorro still with us and in good shape although recently has put on a little bulge, eating all Simba's food who was too sick to eat. (video with Courtship of Eddie's father tune is 2001, the video at the sink is 2002.)

  

Some time over the spring Simba began throwing up, randomly. The vets said try changing his diet. We did. Puking continued at an alarming rate, in fact so bad, his puke stained the master bedroom carpet everywhere and we had a floor guy come in and tear up the carpet and install flooring. Then he would slow down-- some weeks nothing; some weeks twice a day. After we got rid of the carpet in the bedroom, he decided to sleep in my office under a partition off my desk. Puking began again. I was constantly cleaning all the rugs. It got so much I just put down newspaper all over my office floor so when he puked I could just change the paper. Late summer we took him to the vet again where they prodded and xray'd. 1200 dollars later, they said he had gastro intestinal issues which were common in older cats and the issues would never go away. They might get better for spells but he would remain sick. By November he had stopped eating and was a skeleton.  However he didn't seem to be in any pain and was drinking small amounts of water (often meowing to be picked up on to the bathroom vanity where I would turn the water on so he could drink out of it) so we cancelled his date to be "put to sleep" in mid November and although knew his days were numbered, we decided to keep him home where he was comfortable and always feel loved.

Simba and Zorro summer 2015

By December I watched him jump off the bathroom vanity and fall flat on his stomach. He just lay around, sleeping. He walked from my office to the Christmas tree and back. That was pretty much it. The boys cried as they pondered his looming death. One of Christopher's friends had said to me that maybe he would be saved by a "Christmas Miracle" which, brought a tear to my eye. "Maybe," I said to him. After we cancelled his termination, I just thought, don't die on Thanksgiving; he didn't. I thought the same thing for Christmas Eve and Day and again a few days later for New Year's Eve and Day. Well he held off until January 3rd, passing away sometime over the night between 1 and 6 in the morning. I knew it too. That night before bed, he was staring into space, not moving and once in awhile his legs would start jerking. It was too late for a vet, too late to take him out into the cold and into the vets office for the needle. He would pass here with those who loved him. I kissed him good night for the last time. The next morning Mathew woke me up to tell me Simba had died. Today will be the burial. Good bye Simba, Love you Rim-Ram, Lim-Lim, Sim-Sim, Slim-Slim, Flip-flap, Flim-Flam and all the other pet names I had for you.