I know you were confused when we separated you from your nearly identical (except he was twice as big as you) brother Linus yesterday at the Rescue and told him he was going off to start a new life. I know you were also confused when you went into the back with the veterinarian and were examined and had pictures taken of your throat. Your throat has been bothering you for the last two months and we needed to figure out what was keeping you from being able to eat, and why you were staying about one pound in weight while your brother had grown to two and a half pounds.

I know you were a love bug when we were sitting and watching TV. You would climb up on top of us, settle down and go to sleep. I know you would attack your food hungrily when we put it out for you, but you puzzled us when you would eat some and then wander off to be sociable and Linus would eat all the food, including the hard kibbles which you never seemed to want. You also seemed to have problems drinking, preferring to suckle along the bowl rim rather than use your furry tongue to lap up water.

The veterinarian had previously taken pictures, but had not been able to figure out why you couldn’t eat. We knew you would throw up your food sometimes, but not why. We also knew you sometimes had it run out the other end too, but we were able to solve that problem. You were just a terrific kitten, just like your brother. You liked to climb up my legs and play “King of the Mountain” by scaling my legs, arms, trunk and sometimes even head. You liked to climb furniture. You didn’t seem to play too much with toys, like the springs and balls like your brother did, but you sure did love to make us know you loved us and our warmth and pets.  You used the litter box like you were supposed to, you didn’t get into fights with the dogs or the adult cat Anni and even your fights with your brother were more wrestling than fighting to hurt. I know you let us know when Linus started hurting you, but he was just bigger and couldn’t help himself.

Yesterday, when the vet told us what she suspected and then confirmed to be the case, we were devastated. Megaesophagus means that your throat has expanded to the point where you can’t really get your muscles to swallow. I know you can’t read and you can’t really understand what I’m telling you, but you already knew that swallowing your food was painful and pretty much impossible. The veterinarian told us this was a problem that she’s seen before and there’s so way to fix it — no operation and the only thing that can be done is to feed you while you’re sitting up and then to keep you sitting up for 15-30 minutes or even as much as an hour after feeding just to allow the food to trickle down into your stomach. You would need to do that your whole life, and it would always be painful and uncomfortable. There’s no particular known cause for this — for some cats and dogs it’s something they are born with; others develop it as they grow. We’re very sorry it happened to you, but know it was something that sometimes happens and it’s nobody’s fault.

When faced with that diagnosis, we knew we had to let her take you and release you to go play at the Rainbow Bridge where you won’t be troubled and you’ll be able to eat all you want, You may grow into a big cat like your big brother, or you may stay the size you are. Either way, you’ll be able to join your mother, who got there about two months before you, and hopefully many years from now, your brother will be able to join you after a long life being cared for in a home of loving humans.

If you should ever meet a Siamese (brown and cream colored) cat named Cuddly Bear (CB), please let him know you’re a friend of ours and he should care for you as a little brother. There are some additional orange cats that you might meet who are also related to us, so just be on the lookout. There are also several dogs — Fred, Missy, Jack, Wiley and Jackson that you haven’t met, but may know you and be happy to wag their tails at you in saying “Hello”. Someday, I hope to come to the Rainbow Bridge myself to meet up with all the cats and dogs I’ve known and loved over the years, and I’ll give you all the cuddles, pets, scritches and hugs I’ve missed giving all of you over the years.

I’m so sorry our time was cut short and that our time together didn’t last longer. Please rest in peace and I’ll see you again some day.