Hi,
Arieh passed away. 😔
He was sick in his last year. But it came as a surprise to us.
I loved him. He was a unique cat, unlike my parents cats Tuli, who passed away, and Auto – which acted as cats and used to scratch or bite you without warning. The only time he cut us was by accident. And scratch us only when he used to purr with stretching and folding his nails.
And how he loved to purr. Just sitting on you and to purr. He didn’t need you to pet him, the only act of sitting on you was enough for him to enjoy. When he was smaller, in Haifa, we used to let him travel alone outside in the garden. When we called him, he used to run back home
We got him as a pretty adult cat, and already knew he is sensitive to chicken (from his former family).
About a year ago he got really sick and we had to hospitalized him for about 2 weeks. It was either cancer or IBD (like cats Crohn’s disease). Hus was too weak for a surgery, so the treatment was the same – steroids. At first I managed to give it to him twice a day, but later on… As Jannaeus used to say “now Aba will give Arieh a medicine, and he will go and puke it in the room”. We didn’t let him get outside since then, although he did manage to run away…
I just brought him back from veterinary check. He had to get his yearly shots. I forget that he cannot got any of those, because the steroids suppressed his immune system. The Vet just checked he is OK, and sent us home.
Couple of hours later he started chocking. We called the vet which said it either something he ate and will puke quick or an heart attack (sounds like when you check on Google what you got…). His tongue was not blue (which could be a sign for an attack), but after we have sent her a video she sent us quickly as possible for veterinary ER.
Atzva took him there, but they could not do much. They try to give him oxygen. After couple of hours Atzva called me: “They keep him alive. But they will not be able to save him. He was too weak.” We had to take this hard decision (which we talked about a year ago) and about 1:30 at night, Arieh had passed away
Somehow he was still our first “offspring”, our eldest. Even after we adopted Xuxa, Jannaeus and Mindal were born. I found myself running and saying outloud (without any specific reason: “Arieh you are the sweetest cat ever”
P.S. He was not named after my Saba (grandfather), we adopted him with this name and decided to leave it 🙂
Arieh in a provocative position
Arieh been taking care of, when he had a cut on his leg
Arieh listening to Jannaeus, while he was still in the womb
Arieh really liked water. While we were bathing baby Jannaeus, he hoped he could jump in
Arieh and Xuxa playing together
Arieh hospitalized, about a year ago
Because of the steroids, the fur that was removed in his legs did not grow up for a long time after. Arie was walking around like the puss in the boots