One-Of-A-Kind

He was nothing short of amazing. Smart as a whip, friendly as a politician, and a fighter like no other. He was the face of the Commune. Of course I am talking about

ARIES

THIS IS A CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE

2015 - 2022 6 YEARS OLD

IN THE BEGINNING

One August Sunday morning, I sat down at my computer to get an immediate Facebook ping about this little paralyzed kitten that needed a place to go. I said yes, of course we would take him. He was in bad shape. In so much pain that he wasn't moving at all, just sitting there looking at me. I got a couple of my wonderful vets to meet me at the clinic. The very first thing we did was give him a pain injection. Then we did x-rays. They were not good. It is a real wonder this kitten was still alive. Among several pelvic fractures, his bladder was so large that it touched both the top and bottom of his abdomen. It should have ruptured before then. It would come to play a major part in his life, though. The vets recommended euthanasia. I said no. I wanted to give him a chance at life. And if he failed, at least he would know love. We gave him everything we needed to. I carefully squeezed some urine out of his bladder and home we went. During his snuggling that night is when I believe he became my second soul kitty.

A NEW CAT!

Three days later, we had a new cat! He was loud and demanding and happy and playful! He LOVED people! He went to work with me (at the vet) every day, and no one could resist him! The one thing he hated was having his bladder squeezed, but we had to do it. I had Aries in a cage for quite awhile at the sanctuary, taking him out every single night so he could move around and socialize both with me and with the other cats - maybe with Matt just a little, heehee. He was so very playful, and he never met a stranger! He got along with ALL the other cats. I set him up with a puppy playpen, so he could get around more and he loved it! He was still paralyzed in the rear end, so there were limits to his movement, but he never knew it! He would entertain us flying up and down the halls like a speed demon, racing the other cats. He played incessantly right up until bedtime. As he got a bit older, that became time to cuddle with Mama.

Youthful Aries loved the outdoors. Spending time out in our enclosure became his favorite part of the day. I was always amazed at the things that boy could accomplish when left to his own devices! He would often scoot around singing to himself. That's a video I wish I had gotten. I don't think I mentioned above but this sweet boy regained the ability to control his pee and poop on his own!

THE NEGATIVE - I WILL KEEP IT SHORT

Aries lived a charmed life in many ways, but in another way he lived a life of hell. He was absolutely adored by all of you fans #AriesArmy! And I would have absolutely handed him the parts of the world that he wanted on a silver platter.

But Aries' health was a constant challenge, and that bladder, oh that bladder gave us fits. Paraplegic cats are expected to have more urinary tract infections because they are dragging their bits all over the ground, but Aries was cursed from that overstretched bladder as a baby. I just know he was. But he was a fighter. Early on he was named Mini Bad A**, or MBA because he fought so hard to come back from all of his initial injuries and other issues. When he got older, he was still our MBA, just this time as Major Bad A**. From Major Bad A** sprung the small but proud #AriesArmy! Now on to the largest of the many things Aries had to fight in his short life.

1. Obviously he almost died as a 6 week old kitten

2. When Aries was 2, he had a urinary plug. This is a life threatening emergency.
3. 2 months later he had another event with his bladder where he had a urinary plug, somehow blew it out himself; yes it is true because I found the plug in his clean carrier, The strain of pushing the plug out caused too much pressure on the stitches from his bladder stones, so they started leaking. Aries ended up with urine in his abdomen and nearly died.

4. When Aries was 5, he suffered a urinary blockage I think it was in April

5. 3 months later he blocked again and there were complications placing the urinary catheter. The surgeon had to be called in. I agreed that it was best to go ahead and do another surgery at the same time that would open the end of the penis much wider and make it almost impossible for him to have another blockage.

Aries also suffered from a disease called Feline Hyperesthesia. It basically causes seizure like shocks of pain shooting through a given area of your cat's body, making them bite or chew at that area. In Aries' case, he had the worst case I have ever heard of. His area was his left hind leg, He literally tore bloody chunks out of his leg. We had a constant battle to keep bandages on his leg. As soon as we would get it close to healed, he would take the wrap off and we would be back to square 1. He was a pretty good boy for it all, though. It started when he was 4 and went on for the rest of his life. It's not listed above because it was not life threatening.

THE LAST FEW YEARS

At some point during our urinary troubles, I finally put Aries on Royal Canin SO. Unfortunately, I thought at the time, he could have no other food. The only way for that to happen would be to move him into our bedroom full-time and of course move me in there too. I hated taking his outside away from him. It broke my heart to do it, but there are so many little food places out there. I think he was happy up here, though! And he taught us so well!

If he wanted on the bed "mrraw!!" And of course he got picked up onto the bed. If his dry food was empty, it was a demanding look and when he got it, it was "MAAAH"MAAAH" "it's about time! I'm STARVIN here!" He had his own cooler tumbler on my table with his own water in it and a cooler cover to keep it extra cool. If he wanted that he started off polite, "mrow?" followed by a look at the cup. (side note, if I was not here, he went to Matt and did it with Matt and his cup!). The polite Mrow was usually all it took for me - Mama's spoiled boy after all! If I tried to just finish what I was working on, it immediately became a very loud, insistent "MROW!!!!" My favorite, and it was a fairly recent development. He develops all of these completely on his own other than the successes we gave him. Anyway, my absolute favorite, and I am going to cry because I don't remember the meow. He would give a small meow when he wanted to be in my lap and something was blocking him. If I didn't respond quickly enough, he would turn up the volume a little and put his paw on my leg. We were warned early, though! We knew he was a speaker and a demander from the start!

I NEVER EVER turned down or cut short lap time. no meeting or appointment was worth breaking that time. Now if he slid down my leg and was sleeping, I was free to go. For the last two years of his life, my entire world revolved around Aries. And I was so blessed to have been the one to do it. I went nowhere without thinking about how long he would be alone. Don't think I made him stay glued to me every minute, I just wanted to keep an eye on his health. I planned the diets of all of our cats up here after his tastes, making sure (through my dear Matt) he always had enough of his favorite wet foods. We slept with fabric incontinence pads in the middle and across the foot of our bed in case he leaked. That's the one I know most people will think I am crazy for, but given another chance with him, I would do it all over again without hesitation. Those pads made it where he and I could cuddle, and what a reason to have those pads in the middle of your bed.

IN CLOSING

He even traveled with us the past couple of years. He proved yet again that he never met a stranger. Even loud little boys didn't bother him! Not much did. He is a true inspiration that everyone can look up to and strive to emulate. He held his good mood even through all of those hospitalizations. The nurses always told me what a good boy he was. I mean - all of that in 6 years and he kept his wonderful attitude? I know he is one of my heroes for certain. Aries was a beautiful, amazing, one-of-a-kind MBA. I am so blessed to have been his person.

I love you, Sweet Man. I miss your face.

I have more detail to write in a very long blog post. If you have made it this far, you may be able to undertake the blog post. If you haven't made it this far, you probably won't even hear about the blog post. heh! Just letting you all know that it's coming.

I would like to thank all of you for your support and love of Aries in his too short life. I hope you will continue to stay with us. We will never have another Aries, but we do have a ton of other cute cats here!

Aries 2015 - 2022