It was swift...Papi has died

Papa's final night on this realm

For the past 24 hours, I knew Papi was not himself. He was eating and drinking normally, but he seemed...out of sorts, in small ways that only I who knows his habits would notice. Papi is not a cuddly guy, and while he likes to have his neck scratched, it is always on his terms. He has never liked having his mid back and body touched, probably because of the issues he had when he was first brought to the shelter [urinary issues, that led him to have his penis amputated as it had gone on so long and he had tried to chew it off].

So when I sat with him a day+ ago, I talked to him, and tried to comb out more matts that had formed on his back. I had been working on them a few months, slowly getting them out. And on this day, he let me work on them, without his usual vocalizing. When Papi didn't want you to touch him, he had clear vocalization that told you so. The fact he wasn't doing this, led me to believe he just wasn't himself. That same day, I picked him up to put him on a table to examine him, and he did not fight it, also unusual. When I picked him up, he just seemed...like his energy had left.

Still that day, he got up and moved around and I kept my eye on him, but he was eating and drinking.

Last night, he was in his wood cradle, and I spent a long time with him. I knew he was dying. He just had lost strength, and his eyes were in the pre death vapid look. I talked to him a lot. He was calm and in no agitated state.

I knew this morning he might be gone, and he was. He had retuned to his other favorite place to sleep, on the sheep wool under the benches. He was lying in a comfortable pose, and by the state of his body I think he died within an hour or two.

Papi is lying in state so the elders can see him. Although they knew last night, so did I.

I also noticed last night, as I crouched on the floor to be with Papi, in the dark room since I had no lights on, there was a light presence above me. It was pure white bodied Noritsue, sitting up on the freezer to my side. He was looking down on me, like an angel, his white body visible in the semi dark room.

The other thing happened this morning when I found Papi. I had placed a towel over his body, but his head was showing. I started to do feedings, and I was to his right about five feet. I was opening canned food, and I saw something move to my left, where Papi was, I swung my head to the left and I swear I saw his head rise a bit. It was not like gas leaving his body, it was more like it was lifting. I went over had touched him, and kissed him, and I thought...did he wait for me somehow, and now he really left?

Papi will be missed. He was The President of The Old Kitty Knitty Club. He was a voice in our fundraising efforts. How appropriate Papi left the day I started our final yearly fundraiser, it is a vote of confidence for me, that he knew I could do it. Papi was a strong energied cat, he was his own cat. Much like Sir Tigger, he wanted things on his own terms, he saw no need to be held a lot or interact like some of the other cats. He got to go out quickly, and in a place he knew he was safe. For that I'm grateful.

But I will miss his huge presence in the elder cat suite. He was a great cat.