Sadly, this morning we had to usher our brave and dear cat, Joxer, west across the rainbow bridge. He was only thirteen but had suffered with FIV (the feline version of the immunodeficiency virus) for over half his life and his poor body was finally breaking down under the strain.
We adopted Joxer as a young cat, he was (like all of our cats) a rescue, and yes, he was named for Ted Raimi’s delightful character in Xena: Warrior Princess, Joxer the Mighty. He was brave and loving and my wife’s dearest dear. We have been with him through thick and thin and, although he was brave and was willing to stay with us for as long as he could, it would have been cruel to keep him any longer. We made sure his last week was full of love and his favorite food, he had been on a restricted diet by not for this week and some medicine to chase away the pain. And for the last week, he was our wonderful boy again, full of life and energy, bright eyed and proud tailed, but by this morning, he was beginning to flag and we could see it was going to be downhill for him.
About his tongue in the upper picture, one of the effects of the FIV requires us to get Joxer’s teeth pulled and without teeth, his tongue would slip out when he was at rest.
The lovely people at our local vet, the Animal Wellness Center of Athens, GA, helped us to see that he crossed over painlessly, with Dr Stacy and Rachel, one of the Vet Techs, in attendance with us as he left this world for the next one.
Be brave and enjoy your new journey and new adventure, my brave boy. We will miss you.
Sea of Stars RPG Design Journal 