Kaiser kitty Harris Apr 2000 - Oct 2009

Due to congenital heart failure and then kidney failure, I had to put our Kaiser kitty down this morning. We'd been trying to keep him alive for two months, hoping he would make it so Brian could see him one more time. But when he stopped eating and lost huge amounts of weight, I knew it was time to stop the torture.
So though I'm sad, I thought I would share some of our happy memories of the last "baby" to come into our family before Sam.
Brian and I had been married not quite one year. We had bought Cali at Christmas and badly wanted a male cat and a companion for Cali. A coworker of Brian's mentioned her cat had just had kittens. We asked her to pick a male for us and she brought him over late one night.
Brian and I were in shock. The kitten was so small he could fit into the palm of our hand and could still not see clearly. We asked her to take him back to his mother and bring him back later, but she gave us excuses, and it was hard for us to turn away this needy little baby. So, we took him. Since we wanted to honor our German heritage and a love for Kevin Spacey, we named him Kaiser, as in Keyser Soze.

Now we know that Kaiser really was way too young for us to take, and I've always regretted that we didn't know any better at the age of 22. Brian had to try and force feed him wet cat food, when he should have been bottle fed. He was so small, and Cali was so jealous, that for the first week of his life we kept him locked up in our bedroom to keep him safe. At night he would climb out of the laundry basket crib we had fashioned, climb up the bedding, and cry into my face and wake me up. He was so hungry, and we had no way to feed him.

He also had fleas, but was too young for medicines or shampoos, so I would hold him in one hand and run him under the kitchen faucet, then soap him up real good, and then rinse him off, suffocating the fleas. Then I'd wrap him in a washcloth and cuddle him on the couch. He often fell between the cushions, warm and snuggly, and fell asleep. It only took three days to kill the fleas.

Meanwhile we also had to fashion a tiny litter box for him and I literally trained him how to use the litter, showing him how to dig the litter with his little paws. He had no mother to teach him.
Once we thought he could handle Cali's abuse, she took to him and became his substitute mother, for a little while. Kaiser worshipped Cali, and wherever she went, he went. You always knew if she was coming into a room, Kaiser would be right behind her. And if she got up to leave a room, so did he, no matter how comfortable he was.

By the time he was 6 months old, we noticed this almost vulgar pouch hanging from his belly. It literally swayed as he walked. We took him to the vet and we were warned he would "grow into it." Boy, did he. Before he got sick, Kaiser weighed upwards of 20 pounds.

Like no cat I'd ever seen, Kaiser loved to sleep between the blankets on our bed. I learned to be careful before sitting down, because a lump could mean a cat. I always thought it was my wash-cloth naps when he was a kitten that led him to like being wrapped up.

Somewhere along the way, Cali got annoyed with Kaiser, and their relationship was never quite the same. She would attack him with little provocation and if anything went wrong, it was always Kaiser's fault. Oddly she was the one who summoned us to feed them, but as soon as the food was poured, she would bolt and let Kaiser eat first. Never understood that one.
Kaiser was also our social cat. He was so curious, he would sit and watch you build a fire or fix something, with his head tilted to the side, as if taking notes for later. Whenever guests would come over, he was the one to come out and see what all the noise was about. Many of my closest friends have still never seen Cali. He was also brave. When he was a year old he attacked the neighborhood bully cat even though Kaiser was declawed in the front! Kaiser won.

After Sam was born, Kaiser was the first one to give Sam a chance. He was far more patient with Sam than Cali was, and towards the end, he took a real liking to Sam. We gave Sam the responsibility of feeding the cats, and he did a great job. Since Kaiser was always first to eat and right there waiting, Sam would sit with him and pet him while he ate. Kaiser loved being petted first thing in the morning. One morning a few months ago, I actually got up before Sam and fed the cats. Instead of running to the food bowl as usual, Kaiser went back to the bottom of the steps, waiting for Sam to come down.
Kaiser was quiet, patient and curious. He was our playful one, the one who had to explore the snow until he felt it on his feet. Who would bolt out the door if he got a chance. Who would take his medicine without so much as a complaint. I'm so sorry to see him go so much sooner than we expected, and without Brian home to see him off. But we know we'll see him later in Heaven, when he feels so much better. We love you, Kaiser!