We let our sweet funny Sam a month ago on Dec 23, 2023.
He was 17. I waited a month to post
Sam's tribute. It has taken me this long to process
losing two cats
to cancer a few months apart.
First Callie in July and then Sam in December..
Sam with his mom and siblings
Sam began having dental issues few months ago.
We changed
vets to get another opinion. They
d Sam was responding to the treatment.
But he also had unregulated thyroid even on the
highest dose of Felimazole. This usually
means some form of thyroid cancer. His kidneys began
to fail during his last week with us.
We were giving him subcutaneous fluids daily but it
was not enough. We could no longer keep
him comfortable.
Sam or Sam Sam, Sam I Am as we called him, was a quiet,
independent, feisty boy. He hissed at everything new.
He even hissed at me sometimes but he never bit o
scratched us. When he was still feral, he lost weight
and I trapped him to bring to the vet. Turns out he had
parasites so Sam lived on our enclosed porch in
large dog kennel so I could administer his meds
for 2 weeks. That may be why I got hissed at so much.
Sam lived his life on his own terms. He was not a playful
cat, preferring catnip and catnip toys to other toys.
He did like boxes or kitty cubes. He liked his alone time
when he was not napping in a pile with his buddies.
He was a cat's cat, preferring to be with his cat buddies
and litter mates than with people including us..
He slept with the other cats, and ate with them,
rarely leaving the group.
He would slowly worm his way into a cat pile to nap.
Sam preferred Snowball and Norm's company
as a young man cat. Sam liked his food, catnip and
cat company. He grew to be quite a handsome
and good sized boy.
Sam's siblings were Georgie, Woody, and Norm.
He was named after Sam on Cheers.
This group was the second litter for his mom Lily.
And he was the last of his litter left with us.
Sam was the only one of our cats who had his ear tipped.
We had seven white cats
at one time so it helped to know who was who.
The others had some distinguishing
characteristics but Sam did not.
This way I knew who was Sam.
Sam spent the majority of his years in the cat shelter
with his white siblings and Albert.
The building had a large screened porch and
an indoor area that was heated. He could go in
and out through the cat door. When Woody passed in 2021,
we brought Two Spot, Sam and Smidge
inside the house with us as the cat numbers
had gone down considerably.
Hissing Sam.
Of course he hid under the bed in his new place
and hissed but eventually decided it was not so bad.
He loved sitting on the screen porch, or on the beds.
He never became a lap cat but did enjoy
lounging with us on the sofa.
He adjusted well to frequent
vet visits and liked the open top carrier
so he could check out the scenery.
When we took Sam to the vet,
we usually took another cat
with him to have an exam at the same time.
When we let Sam out of the travel cage he would
invariably go in the carrier with the other cat.
Safety in numbers maybe?
His cancer caused him to drool down his chest and front
feet so we began bathing him every few days.
We thought it would upset him but he loved the
attention and grooming. He relaxed and chirped
and purred. He even enjoyed the blow dryer.
He really mellowed out in the past two years.
Sam spent a lot of his last weeks snuggling with
Two Spot. Two Spot sat with Sam's body
for the longest time when I brought him back from the vet.
I am glad Sam was able to experience living in the
house during his last years. He was a
tiny little old man cat in the end but much mellower.
On his last day,
he came out to the kitchen with the others
for breakfast but refused food.
Instead he went to the office
sitting the sun for a
good long while by himself. He seemed to be
savoring
the moment. I knew it was time.
At the vets, we held him in our laps
and he seemed to slip away once they gave
him the sedative. I am sure he was
met by all of his siblings and cat mom to ferry him
to the Rainbow Bridge. Sam was buried next to
Callie on our land with catnip sprinkled over the
rainbow and unicorn fleece blanket that we used
to wrap his body.
I placed a bouquet of a single bright yellow
Gerbera Daisy
with evergreens on his grave. This flower and color
symbolizes the loyal love and friendship
he had with his cat family.
It was a wonderful pleasure for us to be
able to keep Sam and his
cat siblings together for all of their lives.
We will have a marker made at a later date.
We will love and remember our one of
a kind Sam forever. Give our love to our cat
family at the Rainbow Bridge. We will see you all soon.
