also, this is the sane Norm

also norm has always had an evil look about him. young or old, those eyebrows give me the shivers.

I imagine "sane Norm" is a very relative statement. I don't think anyone becomes as good a comedian as Norm by being mentally sound.

So very sorry.

That sounds like how my most recent one went -- I heard him yowling, he was almost completely limp, and by the time we got to the vet he was gone. So, much sympathy.

If you can keep nothing else in mind, remember this: in the wild, a cat does nothing but suffer and fear, but you kept all that away from your kitty. And even when it was time to go, it was not a long lingering process. Eight years is too short, but those were eight damn good years and your cat would no doubt tell you that. (And probably did, in many little ways.)

When you feel grief pounding you, see if you can make the choice to be grateful for eight years with a cat like no other.

Thanks, he was a very special cat. It's always hard to lose a pet, but I've never been as close to an animal as I was to this one.

The vet said this particular condition (I can't remember what it was called) is actually pretty common, 'd never heard of it. The chances of him surviving the clot were small and even if he did the underlying condition would make more form and it would just keep happening. There really wasn't any real choice to make but it was really tough. I've never actually seen a vet cry before but even he was tearing up.

I'm really sorry OZ. Norm's cat story and mine are almost the same. I had this cat that had been passed around the entire staff of the movie theatre I worked at. He was basically like the family cat. When someone moved into a place that didn't allow cats, or, in my case, because the original owner had a new kitten, we'd just sort of switch. In the past I was used to temporarily adopting a cat and spending a good two days trying to get it out of the place it was hiding, but nope. Not this guy.. somehow I forgot to tell my wife that we had a cat and she came home and here's this giant black maine coon just staring at her like "what's up" in the middle of the living room.

About 6 months after we had him, we decided to go back to Portland for Christmas, so I got his original owner (also my boss) to take him back for two weeks. The one with the kitten. And she of course accepted. Over those two weeks Remy ate nothing but kitten food apparently. We got back and picked him up, and everything seemed normal. Except that it wasn't. Since it was New Years I had to go to work, and just sort of said "bye" to him while he was just chilling on the toilet seat. About 3 hours into my shift (there's a good 600 people in line for Juno) my wife bursts in cutting in front of everyone in line to tell me that Remy's got this weird pinkish red stuff all over his stomach (I couldn't see it because A.) he's black and long haired and B.) he was in a low position, on a cold surface, which in hindsight makes sense. Anyway she's freaking out, because it's New Years Day. All the vets are closed and the busses aren't running.. and this was YEARS before smartphones, I have to work until midnight, neither of us drive, and it's blizzard conditions outside.

So while working one of the busiest shifts I've ever worked, I'm in the office using the internet (not supposed to) searching desperately for a place that's not too far away that does emergency housecalls. Found a place about a mile from where we lived, so we called a taxi up there at around 1AM. Vet was late. With everything closed and temperatures at about 0 degrees farenheit, we both took off our jackets and covered his cat carrier until the vet arrived. Very nice guy, kind of reminded me of Aziz Anzari, but he looked at Remy for about one minute before looking me square in the eyes and asking "how much do you love this cat?" I think we all know what that means. He had a urinary tract infection that was made worse by eating nothing but protein packed kitten food for 2 weeks. And some other sciency stuff which my brain wasn't really processing because the operation had a 30% chance of success and would cost about ,000. It's not the best analogy I know, but it's kind of like being in a relationship for about 6 months and then deciding whether or not to break up because things aren't going so smoothly: it was good times when the times are good.. but it's not like we knew each other for that long.. things like that were just running through my head. But, we still had our Honeymoon money, about ,000 dollars. So I said "I love this cat, do what you need to do."

After a week at the vet, it was a success. Remy was back to normal and playing, fetching, playing with the guinea pig.. and later that year we decided to move to Portland permanently, with the cat. And it was happily ever after until my ex and I split. The cat chose sides and it was her, and all of a sudden I'm out of the picture even though it was my decision to do the operation instead of spend a few weeks on the Dalmatian Coast, which could've actually saved a marriage that was getting rocky. So if you're out there Remy, you're welcome and I miss you very very much.

If your ex couldn't appreciate saving a cat over going on a trip, it wouldn't have been a good match no matter what you did.

You saved the right thing.

RIP, sorry OZ.

Yeah.. it wasn't just that.. in fairness we both agreed spending the money was the right thing to do; in a way she loved animals more than humans, or at least me, so I'll give her that. We were kind of fucked from the start to be honest. It's like, imagine two Dantes from Clerks getting married: although we both graduated from University, we just continued to work dead-end jobs and talk about the future rather than do anything about it, get drunk every night and bitch about our jobs and talk about the future some more, which was fine, and is a better situation than a lot of people have who are all of a sudden with kids, and it took a pretty big thing to make us realize that we were no honestly no longer happy.. oh well, life it goes on like the cat's, which is much more important than a vacation you have to return from.

Alright IZ lifestory cat story complete, for anyone who's listening. Feels like a ham radio sometimes :)