RIP Buddy Portrait 2006-2020

RIP Buddy 2006 – 2020

This week was rough. We had to send our black and white tuxedo cat, Buddy, to “the great litter box in the sky” (quoting Michael). It was time. He was not eating and was down another pound. Although he was moving around the house (albeit – very slowly), I could tell he was near the end, and we didn’t want him to suffer anymore. Bottom line, RIP Buddy 2006 – 2020.

Six months ago, we found out Buddy had developed a thyroid condition, which was causing him to lose weight. He was always a lean cat, but we both noticed he was feeling skinny when we took him to the vet last December. At the vet, we found out he had lost half his weight in a year. To boost his weight, we started giving him a medicinal additive to his food. At first, it worked. He added a couple of pounds, however, in recent days. I even tried a different flavor to get him to eat. Nothing worked. It is always difficult to know when to make the call, but I knew it was time.

Named after Buddy Guy, a favorite blues guitar musician of Linda and mine, Buddy is the reason we have hardwood floors in our house. A rescue cat, he was given to us from a neighbor.

During the winter of 2006, she called one night and told us someone had left a bunch of black and white tuxedo cats in the neighborhood. She was looking for families and knew we had cats. We took Buddy. We very quickly found out that Buddy was a very “active” cat. You always knew when he went to the bathroom. He would race around the house, going from the top floor to the basement in record time. We also found quickly he did not like to use the cat box when going Number 2. We later found out he liked to mark his territory around the house. It got so bad we had to remove the carpet in the home. We had wanted to do this anyhow, but Buddy’s problem forced the issue.

The late animal vet., Dr. Van-Linden of Clifton, suggested we medicate Buddy. Putting him on Xanax and Prozac via transdermal gel on his ears calmed Buddy down somewhat. Once on the medicine, Buddy was a wonderful, loving cat. Many nights once settled into watching TV. Buddy would curl up and sleep on Linda’s lap. He liked to sleep on the pillow above and around Linda’s head, putting his front paw over her eyes. When we got little Sara, he found a playmate. They would run around the house together playing tag. He still had problems going to the bathroom in the box, but with hardwood floors, we could deal with those issues.

After coming home last night, Sara (our one-eyed wonder) could tell something was wrong. She was missing her playmate. While Andy and Daisy were outside sleeping on the porch, Sara was walking around looking for her playmate.

Life will be different without Buddy. He caused a lot of problems, but he was a beautiful and loving cat that we both will miss very much. RIP my little friend. I know Sophie, Turk, Sugar, and Spice will take care of you now.

PBS: Linda is going to be mad at me for writing such a long Journal Entry. She wanted just a picture and a caption that said Buddy RIP 2006 – 2020. Oh well, she’ll get over it!

Check out the Gallery Section of the PBS Studios website to see these and other photographs and digital paintings.