Anubis is dead

On the 30th of December 2016, at 7:14pm, our beloved tom cat Anubis has been put to sleep. A sudden liver damage with no possibility of cure took him out of our life.

After Christmas day, a once full of life cat, had turned into a silent and hide away one. On the very same day of the 24th, he was happy, curious as ever and “normal” as he was always been. But after that day, he didn’t run around as much, was hiding a lot and very silent. He then stopped eating, didn’t drink as much and was very reclusive.
In the first two days, my wife and I noticed that, but we didn’t pay so much attention to it. We thought he maybe has “a bad day”. But after the third day, my wife meant that maybe something is wrong with him. He doesn’t behaved the same as always anymore. To be honest, I hated the thought that something is wrong with Anubis, so I guess I suppressed it to a degree. But seeing him not getting better, we decided to go to the vet with him. It was Thursday, we wanted to have his blood analyzed and hoped to get the results on Friday to learn about his issue just before the upcoming holidays.

At the vet’s table, in bright and cold light, we saw the damage for the first time: a light yellowish skin, very noticeable at his ears. My heart stopped for a second. All the days before, we didn’t noticed this change. The doctor examined him, saying she thinks that the liver is problematic and maybe that there is some sort of tumor in his stomach. But she also meant, that only after the blood test will be clarity.
He got some meds, an injection and an water infusion. We’ve been told to come on the next day to discuss further actions.

At home, we where very depressed. Anubis looked already very tired. He almost didn’t move anymore, only to get to the toilet. After that, he always went back into our bedroom and onto our bed. Then he lied himself besides my wife’s pillow and slept. This night was the first and only night, where he was sleeping the whole night on my wife’s pillow.
The next day, we tried to get him to eat and drink, but he refused it most of the time. He accepted only a few drops of water and a little bit of mashed food. He still wanted only to lie on the bed, being in our closeness. My wife spend that whole day with him in the bed. I had a bit of work to do, so I was not that often with him. After all, I deeply regret this, because as my wife later said: “I think he wanted to say good bye to us, because he knew his time had come.”. Retrospectively I think she was right and I was such a fool to not notice this.

On Friday evening, we again drove to the vet. As we deep inside us already knew, the result was destroying. As he was sat again on this cold table, illuminated by the bright and cold light, his skin was more yellow than the day before. It was awful to see. The doctor checked again on him, he told us that the liver is incurable damaged and that he indeed believes, that a bigger tumor has already grown in his body. The best and only option he suggest would to put him to sleep.

What an shock! We couldn’t believe it. Anubis was never ill in his live, never had any issues. He only went to the vet because of his brother Horus, as some sort of moral support for him.
And now, suddenly he had to go. We always said, we won’t let our pets suffer, no matter what. And now it looked like this time had come. So he lied down on this cold, steel table. The doc took the sleeping syringe. I’m so happy that in this moment I thought of this blanket. I didn’t want him to die on this cold table, so I took his blanked and we lied him on there.

We where around him, talking softly to him as he got the injection. We saw how he got sleepier and how his body was getting saggier. Then he was sleeping. We still petted him, whispered to him ... and we cried. When the doc gave him his death injection, our heart broke apart. This was final and he will never come back to us. We’ve lost a friend, who was with us such a long time.

It’s such a gruel feeling, coming to the vet with a cat in a transporter … and leaving without a cat … only the empty transporter. It’s hard. It’s mind-boggling. It’s not fair.

It was a very sad new year. Left now only with Horus, this is the next festivity that is over shadowed with grief. Our first cat Blacky died on Christmas, Anubis almost on new year … what’s next? Horus dies on my birthday?
A week later, we made our last goodbye at the local animal crematory. Anubis left us in a beautiful cardboard coffin and the flames of unification took over his body.

I hope Horus will live much longer, living better and stronger with the power of his brother Anubis, despite his life-time illness.
Anubis sits now besides goddess Bastet and is waiting for us, to come to him. I too hope, that we all will see us again somehow in another time or dimension. We miss Anubis so very much and we hope to stroke his soft and gentle fur again some day.

Anubis, we all love you so very much and you will always be in our hearts.

Michaela, Roman and Horus