12/17/2024
Hey y’all, for those of you who didn’t know the story of the second-ever black feline Easton resident named after our friend and predecessor, Mitch, here it is in a nutshell: Mitch (the cat, not the vet 😊 ) came to us with a different name, and was dropped off by his *owners* pet sitter with a five day old, necrotizing neck wound which was about to kill him. As we performed additional diagnostics, it was determined that Mitch was severely hyperthyroid, in mid stage kidney disease, experienced nightly focal seizures, and was unable to jump without excruciating pain due to what was likely a birth defect which could have been surgically repaired when he was young, but at 12 years old, it was too late.
His *owners*, who were on vacation and unable to be reached in a timely matter, were upset that Dr. Dan had gone ahead and performed what was life saving surgery. At that point, we advised them that they didn’t need to worry about paying us, but we would be keeping this incredibly sweet boy, and ensure that he be properly cared for and loved for the time he had left.
So our little puma served a brief stint as our *hospital cat* before Dr. Dan quickly agreed that Mitch needed our company at night. So, up we moved the litter box, and after that we started feeding Mitchy upstairs, and of course he joined our pack at night ~ and before we were even aware of exactly what happened, this sleek and shiny feline just basically stole our hearts quickly and with such skill! Ifykyk, and I know boatloads of you do 🥰 !
Mitchell needed lots of medications, which he so easily took. During his multiple blood rechecks, he was sure to let us know that he’d be opening up the proverbial can of whoop a** if we didn’t move quickly 😆. In the beginning, Mitchy divided his time pretty equally between our desks; this guy made SERIOUS effort to distribute fairly the attention we were constantly seeking from him. Fam: we fell HARD for this guy.
Mitch was so affectionate; he’d stretch out his long front leg whenever one of us passed him just to wrap his little paw gently around our fingers-just like a baby! He lavished us with kisses and comforted us with his incessant purring (truly a soothing sound). We even enjoyed daily outings in the field with our courageous puma, constantly amazed by his curiosity, commitment to living his life to the fullest, and ability to just fill our hearts with so much darn joy!
While we knew Mitch was on borrowed time, we started to naively think he’d be in our lives for at least another year-if not more! But, sadly, his decline recently accelerated, and we knew we didn’t want our boy to suffer any more than he had in the 12 plus years before we had known him. So, with grief stricken hearts, we said goodbye to this most beloved friend of ours on Friday night.
We’re still upset that he didn’t come to us sooner, but then we’re reminded of so many of our wonderful Easton vet peeps who adopt older friends, perhaps ones with pre existing medical conditions, or who come with all sorts of trauma. We are so very fortunate, truly, to be surrounded by such incredible people whose hearts are soft and kind towards animals. Y’all are the ones who’ve reminded us that love isn’t finite, and whether we have the privilege of sharing our lives with dogs and cats for a month or 18 years~the love is just as powerful. And also, these friends of ours~ even when they’re with us for too short of a time~leave our hearts bigger: always.
So, just again want to remind our fam of how very much we appreciate you. Please hug all those floofballs extra tight, and know that if you’ve experienced a recent devastating loss of your own, we’re keeping you in our hearts 💕
