I adopted Louie in 1987. I was working long hours at the time and I'd been thinking of getting a companion for our older cat, Bela, but I took my time, waiting to find just the right cat. When I spotted him through the window of a Belmont Avenue pet shop it was love at first sight. Normally I wouldn't advocate buying an animal from a pet store because I think it encourages irresponsible breeding. But Louie was a special case. I was walking along, enjoying a warm day in Chicago when I looked into the shop and saw two young men holding a tiny, skinny kitten with the biggest ears I'd ever seen. When I went inside, the men were talking to each other quietly and the kitten was back inside a cage with his four litter mates. I slipped my hand into the cage and the kitten, smallest of the five inside, walked over and planted his head in the palm of my hand with surprising force for such a little guy. I melted. For a second I was afraid the other two had already claimed him, or were about to. I acted fast, for I knew that this cat and I belonged to each other. I motioned for the shop clerk and simply said, "I want this cat."

I took him home in a cardboard carrier. He meowed loudly all the way home, poking his skinny arm through the airholes of the box as if to say, "What's out there? Where are we going? Let me see!"

Being a nocturnal creature, I named him Louis, after Anne Rice's vampire. But the spelling would cause no end of confusion for the receptionist at the vet.
"Now is his name Lou-EE or Lew-IS? Because they have it spelled L-O-U-I-S here."
"Yes, that's right. It's Louis, like the Sun King..."
Blank stare.
"Louis XIV?"
Blink, blink, blink.
Eventually I gave in and changed it to Louie, reasoning the cat couldn't spell anyway.

A real lover-boy, Louie got along great with Bela and other cats we've had since. He eventually grew into his oversized ears, although he would always be a small cat, never weighing more than about 9 lbs. He was a bit of a mama's boy, some would say clingy, but I adored him. Here was a little cat-person who let me shower him with love and attention and never rebuffed me or asked for anything in return but food, clean litter, and more love! He gracefully dealt with changes, moving house 5 times and even welcoming a second mom and 2 step-cats into his heart.

Louie was a very healthy cat for most of his life. But around 2002 he began having digestive trouble and lost some weight. We found a new vet for him who had experience with geriatric cats but we had only limited success treating him. He developed a number of age-related health problems; arthritis, thyroid and kidney disease, hair loss, hearing loss and he would never regain his fighting weight. But he was still active and engaged.

Then late last summer he took a turn for the worse. He seemed to lose interest in life. It was hard to persuade him to eat. He lost a lot of weight and became lethargic. His vet's efforts failed to help and we tearfully discussed the possibility of his death. But in a last-ditch effort, we switched him to an all-organic diet and began taking him outside on a leash. Much to our surprise and relief it helped significantly. He accepted the collar and leash much more easily than I thought he would and took to the outdoors with confidence. It made me so happy to watch my once house-bound elderly cat stalking and batting at moths and blowing leaves like a kitten. He gained a bit of weight back and for a time we stopped worrying. When the weather turned cold he had a hard time understanding why I couldn't make the sun come out for him. After a while, though, he accepted it and settled in for a long winter.

In late fall I had health problems of my own. My surgery and recovery took the focus off him until February. I knew he needed to go in for a dental, his breath was really bad. And then he started to paw at his mouth so I took him in just before Easter. His advanced age made him an anesthesia risk but I was willing to accept that because he really needed it. We were relieved that he came through it with flying colors but when they told me they'd had to remove 4 teeth, and that one was so loose it just popped right out, I felt terrible. Obviously we had been so absorbed with my health issues that we overlooked a very bad dental problem. When we brought him home he ate ravenously and for a week he seemed to improve. Then he started to paw at his mouth again after eating. I took him back and the vet said it was probably just irritation from his remaining teeth poking into the gums and that would take time to heal. But after another 2 weeks it only got worse and he wasn't eating well at all so I took him back again. This time the vet looked really alarmed when she looked at the side that'd had the loose tooth. She scheduled an emergency dental with Dr. Allard for the next day. The news was bad. More loose teeth had to be removed and the x-rays showed a marked erosion of the upper jaw bone from what had been there just 3 weeks before. He took a biopsy of a growth above the gum line but he was fairly certain it was a very aggressive case of squamous cell carcinoma of the jaw. Sadly, there was nothing we could do but try to make him as comfortable and happy as possible while we awaited the biopsy result.

For four days we watched and wept as he did his best to eat soft canned food and drink a bit of milk but he was getting thinner every day. It was warm enough to take him outside and he did enjoy laying in the sun and marking his territory. But he stayed close to me, sitting on my lap most of the time. His last day with us he only looked at his food, wanting to eat but unable to. And he began to "hide", leaving my side to curl up in the corner under the cat tree. His sister KC laid with him, trying to comfort him. That night he slept on my pillow right next to my cheek and I knew he was ready to go, even if I wasn't ready to lose him. In the morning we made one last trip to the vet where we helped our beloved little boy to cross the rainbow bridge. Louie's brief struggle with cancer ended peacefully April 20, 2005. Joan said that he was probably ready to go for a while and was only waiting for our permission. I think she was right and that it says a lot about how much he loved us. I can't begin to describe the depth of my grief over losing the sweet furry companion who was with me nearly half my life and I know we will carry the pain of his loss for a long time to come. But he had a long and happy life and I'm grateful for every minute we had with him.

Louie is survived by his two Moms and his feline sister, our angel-girl KC, who all loved him very, very much.

Joan, Cyn and KC would like to thank all the doctors and staff at The Pahle Clinic for the excellent care they gave to Louie over the last few years.

The Rainbow Bridge