When I first saw Fritz, my husband and I were over his brother's house when they mentioned that they took in this kitten that was abandoned by it's mother. My husband's brother couldn't keep the kitten so he asked if we would like to take him. We discussed it over and decided to adopt him.
Fritz must have been the runt of the litter. He was extremely small. But it was a great advantage for me because I was able to pick him up with only one hand (and this is when he was fully grown.) He also had some kind of condition where he wouldn't breathe correctly. He would always snort or make some kind of gurgle-snoring sound like he was always congested. At first it would drive me crazy, but after awhile, I got used to it.
He adapted well with the other two, Tiger and Midnight. They would always baby him. I don't know if it's because they felt sorry for him or because they were just in a lovey dovey mood. Either way, that's amazing for those two.
Fritz was definitely my cat. He would jump in my lap and I wouldn't even have to call him. All I would have to do is look at him and he would come over. He would jump in my lap and start kneading and sucking on my clothes. I guess when his mother abandoned him, he wasn't weened yet. But no matter. I thought it was cute, even though I ended up with wet spots all over my clothes. Whenever he did that I always felt loved.
Bedtime was an experience for me. I would lay in bed with Tiger between my legs at the bottom, Midnight on top of my head on the pillow, and then there was Fritz, laying on my chest sucking and kneading. I would feel bad if I wasn't comfortable and had to move. Most times though I just wouldn't move so I wouldn't disturb them. Call me "cwazy" but they're my babies and usually they come first. (Either that or they trained me real well.)
One day, in early September 1994, Fritz wasn't himself. He would just lie in a ball in the bathroom and wouldn't move. Even when I took a shower, he didn't move, and usually they all leave when they hear the water running. He wouldn't come for food and he wouldn't really eat anything that we hand fed him. Naturally we were concerned.
My husband and I went to a vet in our area. This was the first time visit to this vet for all of us. The vet looked him over and had told me that he had lieukemia and that he wasn't expected to live much more than a couple of days. Well I was devastated. I knew that he wasn't quite right when we adopted him, but our previous vet had never mentioned lieukemia to us.
If I had known, at least I would have been prepared for this. (Not that it would have made it any easier, but at least it would have been in the back of my mind.) But we weren't and we had no choice but to put him to sleep. We felt it was the humane thing to do so he wouldn't be suffering.
So that's what we ended up doing. I was standing there when he gave him the shot. We were allowed to leave but I couldn't. The first shot was a sedative to calm him. Before the second shot I had to leave. I couldn't bear the pain of watching anymore. For days afterward when I would come home from work, I would walk through the door and immediately start crying. Even Tiger and Midnight knew Fritz had gone away as they were sniffing and walking around uneasy.
Although the years keep rolling by, I still think of him and miss him dearly and we have pictures and memories of him everywhere. He knew how to make me laugh even if he wasn't trying. For instance, Fritz was a nibbler and he especially liked bread. He liked bread so much that we would chew right through the plastic wrap to get to it. We learned quick. We started putting the bread in the refridgerator, so unless he learned how to open the refrigerator door, he wasn't getting any more bread.
Another time my mom was over visiting for the weekend and she brought those orange carnival peanuts. Personally, I think they're gross, but Fritz seemed to like them. We happened to be out during the day and when we got back, we noticed orange cat yak on the floor and orange peanuts nibbled on. I couldn't believe it. Who would have thought!?!
Sometimes it would be the unexpected things that he would do that would make me laugh. We had just moved into our house which includes a screened porch. We would let the cats out on the porch and they would jump up on the ledge so they could get some fresh air and see the outside world while still being safe indoors. Well, none of them were too familiar with the surroundings, but Tiger and Midnight were able to jump up on the ledge without a problem. Fritz on the other hand jumped up and just splatted against the wall. He looked just like Wile E. Cyote in those Road Runner shows when he splats into a cliff. Legs sprawled out and all. Of course I felt bad for him and he did manage to get up (either by jumping high enough or using the picnic bench and table as steps), but the way he looked when he hit the wall was priceless.
My husband doesn't know how I was able to write this. He said emotionally he didn't think he could have handled it. Believe me - there were some tears shed while writing this, but Fritz's story had to be told to inform everyone to get your cat checked out for lieukemia and to serve as a memorial to my baby Fritz.
Fritz, you will never be forgotten.
We love you dearly.
E-mail me with any of your suggestions for my web page, your personal favorite wav files, pics, links or stories and I'll put them on my page. I'd love to hear from you and your cats.
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