Sunny

Sunny was a determined little guy who leaped around the house, scaled the 7-foot patio fence and slept on the mantle. We think he was part Siamese. That breed in particular likes high places, and we were always discovering him atop the fridge or hall cabinet. It seemed he could fly. He was so beautiful with his pure white and orange fur. He had a brightness to him and seemed to radiate from within, not unlike the sunshine we named him after. His eyes were blue-green. It was love at first sight when we saw him at Petco in San Francisco. He was placed there by a rescue group and was 10 months old when we adopted him in April. All our cats are rescues and we feel strongly about giving these animals a loving home. So although we already have 4 cats, we realized we had room in our hearts for yet one more. He purred in my arms when we brought him home, as if to say “thank you for getting me out of that cage”. He was so mellow with our other kitties, and we thought we’d have our little friend with us for a very long time.

Sunny first showed signs of illness in early August when I noticed he was sleeping more than usual. I thought that odd behavior for a kitten, so took him to our veterinarian who ran a series of tests. FIP is difficult to diagnose, so Sunny had an ultrasound a few weeks later, which confirmed the diagnosis. We gave him special, high calorie foods several times a day, but he continued to lose weight. In early September, he started to eat less. He was still rather peppy, however, until Friday night, September 7th. He spent all day on the patio in the sun the next three days, but did little else. Tuesday morning, he had difficulty walking, and kept falling over. His determination to get where he wanted to be was both inspiring and heartbreaking. And though he seemed to fight every hour for just a little more of life, we never wanted him to suffer. He was put to sleep on 9/11, our national day of mourning. We will always love you, Sunny.