by Campbell Peterson
FLUFFY
( Fur Ball, Fluff Fluff, Fluff )
Summer, 1990 – March 15, 2001
I can’t remember exactly when he was born. But he was born on my deck in Austin Texas sometime early summer of 1990. I remember he was even special then..this big orange and white fur ball in the litter. As the weeks went by after he was born, he would sit on the edge of the patio with his feet hanging off the railing. I thought that was so cute..years later, he did the same thing wherever he sat. One hot day in Austin ( he must have been 6-7 weeks old ), I went outside and rubbed an ice cube on his belly. Boy..did he like that!!! It was not long after that that I decided I wanted him for the long term. I took him inside and introduced him to One Ton and Toes. Fluffy then became part of the family. They all got along right away. One of things I most regret is I never took pictures of Fluffy when he was a kitten in Texas. The first picture I have of him was taken by Mom on Thanksgiving Day, 1991, in Miami Lakes, FL.
As I look back I remember the most lovable creature I have known. He loved to be picked up..when I held him, his way of saying “ I love you, Dad” was to bite me on the nose very gently. And, he was SO expressive. He knew what he wanted and he would show me. If he wanted me to scratch his chest, he would take my hand in his mouth and pull it toward his chest for me to scratch. And, when I scratched his neck, I wouldn’t have to move my hand. He would move his head to where he wanted to be scratched..back and forth this would go on until he was done. But, ya know, he hated to be brushed with a comb or brush. He would tolerate it but once done, he was gone! I would pick him up and rock him back and forth and sing to him “when the sky is blue..and I love you ..Mr. Fluffy baby..your my Fluffy boy!!“ his eyes would look right back into my eyes..those big green eyes of his!! I hope he can hear me singing to him now.
Fluffy, my deck buddy. His favorite place was outside on my deck wandering around the plants ( sometimes eating them J) . You had to keep an eye out for him because he was an explorer. One second he would be on the deck, the next on the fence ready to make a leap. How many times I had to rush up and grab him..or say “Fluffy..get down..NOW! “. Sometimes he would make a beeline for the door and sometimes he would just look at me like “ make me!” What a riot! And how he loved to lounge on one of the chairs on the deck while I was sitting next to him reading. I will really miss him during the summers being next to me on the deck.
Fluffy, the jumper. Every morning when I woke up the first thing I did was to give him a good morning hug in the kitchen..we both enjoyed that. Holding him, listening to him purr. Then I would set him down on the island in the kitchen. He would sit there, sometimes with a paw outstretched ( scratch me, Dad!!) and wait for the food. Once I emptied the water bowl and set it down on the counter, he would jump from the island to the counter top..Every morning I would say “ Good jump, Fluffy!”. Then he would stick his head into the empty water bowl and lick it clean. I can’t figure out why that tasted so good for him. Once I set the food on the floor, Fluffy would jump down, using the chair as a mid jump..CLUMP..CLUMP..and then there he was devouring his food..SLOW DOWN, FLUFFY!!! God, he would eat fast!
Fluffy, the snorer. Did you ever hear a cat snore? Fluffy did..loudly. Sometimes it would wake me up a night. As I think back, I wonder if that was a very early sign of respiratory problems. But it was always comforting to hear and something I will miss dearly. Or he would lie on his back with a leg in the air ( Fluffy, what’s that leg doing in the air???) and snore away. I could hear him from almost anywhere in the house.
Fluffy, the acrobat. When he was younger ( maybe 1-2 years old ) I could make him do complete somersaults. I would use a feather, drag it along the floor. Fluffy would be sneaking up on it and I would fly it through the air and Fluffy would jump up and follow the feather..doing a complete twist in the air. As the years went by and he got bigger ( no..NOT fatter..just bigger..Fluffy was not fat!! ), he couldn’t perform all those aerial maneuvers anymore. But he would still stalk a feather! I remember one time when we were living in Miami Lakes, he was stalking something on the floor and I came up behind him and goosed him! He leaped 3 feet straight in the air and landed on my lamp! God..that was so funny!! J He wouldn’t come out from underneath the bed for hours. Poor Fluffy!
Fluffy, Mr. Intensity. Boy! Could he be intense. Most mornings he would sit in the kitchen or the doorway into the bedroom and just stare at me. Staring without moving a muscle waiting for me to get up and feed him. Just stare and stare. What a cat! One night when Peggy was over, Peggy woke up in the middle of the night and Fluffy was standing on her chest staring at her with those big eyes of his. His nose was 3 inches from her face. Next thing Fluffy knew, he was a flying cat! Peggy thought it was CC who was going to attack her J
Fluffy, the traveling cat. Fluffy sure did see a lot of places ( Colorado was his favorite, though ). He was born in Austin, then we moved to Miami Lakes, FL, then to Miami Beach ( worst place ), to Ft Lauderdale. Then the big move to beautiful Colorado in June 1996. We first lived in Arvada, then to Littleton and then finally to our own home in Highlands Ranch in August 1997. This was his favorite place. He loved all the sunlight where he could sun bathe on sunny days. And plenty of places to hide to sleep..especially in my closet behind the mirror leaning up against the wall.
Fluffy, the hider. When we moved from Austin to Florida in August, 1991, we stopped at Mom and Dad’s in Zephyr Hills for the night. I brought all the cats ( Toes, One Ton, Fluffy and CC ) into the house. The next day when I was ready to leave and push on to Miami Lakes, Fluffy was nowhere to be seen. I thought that he had sneaked out when someone was coming into or leaving the house. There I was out side for a couple hours wandering around the neighborhood. When I couldn’t find him, I left for Miami thinking that I would never see him again. How depressed I was!!! Two days later, I got a call from Dad saying that he had seen an orange blur go from one room to another! Somehow he had managed to hide away somewhere ( we looked everywhere in the house before I left ) for a couple of days until he decided it was time to eat. So the next morning, I took off to pick him up ( a 4 hour drive! ). It was so good to have him back in my arms again!!! I only wish I could have him in my arms right now..give him kiss on his nose. God, I miss him!!!!
The beginning of the end came during the week of March 5, 2001. I noticed that Fluffy wasn’t coming out for breakfast in the mornings nor for dinner at night. He was resting behind the mirror in my closet. Even calling his name several times didn’t give him enough incentive to come out and eat. It might have been Tuesday night, I was sitting in my chair in the kitchen, when all of a sudden there he was standing next to me. I didn’t think of it. All I said was “it’s about time”. But he his behavior was changing and he was becoming much more sedentary, sleeping behind the mirror all day. On Thursday, I noticed that he was breathing heavily, as thoug he was having trouble getting enough air. So, on the morning of March 9, 2001 I called the Rocky Mountain Small Animal Hospital and got him an appointment for 4pm that day. He did well all day and took him to see Dr. John Vickers. John took his temp which was normal. However, there was so much respiratory noise, he could not hear Fluffy’s heart. So he wanted to do an X-Ray of Fluffy’s chest. When the X-Ray was developed it showed a massive dark area in his right side covering almost all of his chest cavity. Thinking that he may have had fluid in his lungs, the Doctor told me they were going to take a sample from a needle and that he wanted Fluffy to stay overnight. About an hour later after I got home, John called and said that they fluid was a mass. Since Fluffy was resting comfortably, he told me that I could come pick him up. That night, Fluffy and I spent some time on the deck..his last.
The next few days Fluffy did really well. He was still having problems breathing but he rested comfortably for the most part. I was getting up 3-4 times per night to check on him, give him food and water and just trying to be there for him. I had to pick him up, though, to take him upstairs to the kitchen. He would eat and usually drink lots of water, the go downstairs to the kitty litter. Then back up in his chair to sleep.
On Monday, the biopsy results came back and they were inconclusive. It was either respiratory pneumonia or cancer. Since the results were inconclusive, John said let’s treat the treatable. So I got Fluffy some antibiotics the next morning. These were horse pills and had to cut up into pieces. And..Fluffy didn’t want any part of swallowing this stuff. He absolutely freaked when I tried. So the next morning I called John and he prescribed a liquid antibiotic. Which Fluffy didn’t like either.
I noticed a change one night in the middle of the night when I took Fluffy upstairs..it must have been in the early hours of Wednesday, March 14. He wouldn’t eat or drink..and when he bolted back to his chair downstairs, he was in a lot of respiratory stress. His mouth was stretched wide open, gasping for air. His rate of breathing was terrifying. After about 10 minutes of this, he settled down, laid down in his chair and got comfortable. I stayed with him for another 30 minutes or so petting him and rubbing his head and sides. Once I felt he was doing okay I went back to bed.
That morning, he ate well and drank a lot of water. I went upstairs to shave and when I came back down, I found him lying in his kitty litter box. That’s when I called John. He finally called me back late afternoon, March 14. I described what happened during the night and that morning. He suggested that we may as well do a blood analysis and ultrasound to see if we could help narrow down what was wrong. He suggested that I bring Fluffy in the next morning, March 15. That afternoon, March 14, I gave Fluffy some of the liquid antibiotics again. He started going into respiratory stress again but not as bad as the other night. I stroked his head and rubbed him and after a few minutes, he was fine and resting. The rest of the day and night went well and uneventful.
The morning of March 15, he ate well, drank lots of water and was sitting on the window sill downstairs enjoying the sun. I thought he may be getting better. After showering, I got his cage and we drove over to the hospital. He did really well..like he was actually enjoying the drive with the sun shining into his eyes. We got to the vet’s, I dropped him off about 9:45am for his blood work. As I walked in the door back home, John called and said that Fluffy was in stress and that they put him on oxygen. They were going to put Fluffy in a room to settle down while they did the blood analysis. I got worried, called John back and asked if I could be with Fluffy while they waited for the results. He said that would help and I said I would be there in 10 minutes. As I approached the hospital, I started to cry. When I got inside, they said that John would be out in a minute. About 5 minutes later, he came out, said that Fluffy had arrested but they had his heart beating again but it was weak. The situation was critical. I went back to the operating room to see him and they were working on him again as his heart had stopped again. I started to cry and begged the Drs. to let him go. I took Fluffy’s head in my hand and held him. I felt his paws and how warm they still were and put my head on his chest. I felt so helpless and lost. Fluffy was gone and a part of me went with him.
Fluffy and I had such an incredible bond. He shared his life with me and I shared my life with him. When the chips were down, I could always count on getting a hug from Fluffy. Now I must live life without Fluffy…”life without Fluffy”. How?? I don’t know. Time will bury the hurt and pain I feel, but the love and his memory will always be right here. I want him to know how much I loved him and how much I cared for him. I am sorry for not being there with him when he left this world and I will always feel a regret for that. He was a really good boy and a joy to have around. How will I really live life without good ole Fluffy???
I will miss you, Fluffy, for the rest of my life. God Speed, Fluff. I am happy you are not suffering now. Go now and find your new journey.
Always,
Your Dad
March 16, 2001