2025 Angel Cats

We lost our beautiful Baby on January 23, 2025. She was 16 years old.

Baby arrived on January 15, 2023 after her owner could no longer care for her. On her first day she was a bit of a hellcat, hissing, spitting and swatting at Joyce when she tried to go near Baby’s carrier! By the next day she was much calmer, greeting Jenna with head butts, meowing and purring. She started having volunteer visits within a week and was curious about the rest of the house. She had never lived with other cats before, but she was interested in her new housemates and ran out of her door a few times during her first few days. Within a month she was enjoying community visits and became a full-time community member by the end of March 2023. Even though the door to enclosure #5 was open, Baby mostly remained in “her” room and never really settled in another place in the Lower House. You could often find her enjoying her catio or sitting in the chair in front of her cat tree.

Baby loved snoozing in the sunshine and treats. With her beautiful long fur and large size, we wondered if maybe she was part Norwegian forest cat. That fur needed a lot of maintenance! She tolerated only a small amount of brushing, so she received a lion cut in June 2023. We were not sure how she would react to losing her floof, but she seemed to enjoy prancing around with her adorable new look. Baby had a temperamental personality. She could be extremely affectionate when she liked you, purring and giving kitty kisses, but the affection was always on her terms. She would swat or bite when she had enough and wanted you to just admire her from afar. In July 2024, she moved to the Upper House with the rest of the Lower House kitties during the flooring renovation. She and Cassia immediately made themselves at home. Within minutes of being released from their carriers, they were both rolling and sunning on the third patio. In the Upper House, Baby became more active and most days she would walk around the house and patios with her distinctive limp. Eventually she decided the chair in the main room right next to the lobby door was going to be her throne. She became more affectionate and greeted volunteers, staff and visitors. As you walked past her, she would reach out a paw to let you know she wanted treats, petting, or more of both. Joyce called it Baby’s toll-collecting chair. You had to pay the toll anytime you walked into or out of the main room.

We had several health issues to manage for Baby. She vomited frequently and came to us with arthritis and kidney disease. She was hospitalized for constipation in March 2023. After that episode we started stool softeners and fluid therapy to help keep her hydrated and more comfortable. She also received medications for arthritis. In May 2023, she began to have severe chin acne which took several months to clear. Her frequent vomiting continued despite treatment, so in September 2023 she had an ultrasound. The internist found GI inflammation and pancreatitis. Even with medication adjustments the vomiting persisted, albeit with decreased frequency. In February 2024, Baby was diagnosed with anemia and hyperthyroidism. Unfortunately, the treatment for hyperthyroidism had detrimental effects on her liver so we had to stop. Another ultrasound in September 2024 showed chronic age-related changes, but no masses or major concerns. October brought mucoid nasal discharge and sneezing, so we began a nebulizing treatment for her. She really enjoyed being nebulized and it helped improve her respiratory symptoms.

On Sunday January 19, Joyce noticed that Baby’s ears, eyes and gums were yellow. She had a low appetite for dinner but had been eating well earlier in the day and did not appear distressed. We kept her at Blue Bell for the night and took her to our vet in the morning for an exam. We were concerned about liver or gall bladder diseases. Lab work was sent out, and an ultrasound was scheduled for Wednesday. We brought her back to Blue Bell on supportive care in the meantime. She was quiet and only ate a few meat tubes, but she was still affectionate, and we hoped she would recover. The ultrasound showed acute pancreatitis that also seemed to be affecting her liver. Lab work revealed severe anemia and highly elevated liver enzymes. Her pancreatic values were also extremely high. We needed to get her to eat, but she wouldn’t. On Wednesday after the ultrasound she stayed with us in the office. Jenna syringed her high-calorie nutrient gel in the evening, hoping to stimulate Baby to eat on her own. On Thursday morning, Karen found her sitting in a dirty litter box. She gave Baby a bath, but a few minutes later Baby soiled herself again. She was extremely weak and noticeably more dehydrated from just the prior day. With her continued rapid decline and poor prognosis, we decided it was time. That final morning Baby enjoyed a trip out into the garden with staff and volunteers. She was too weak to walk far, but she was happy to sit in the sunshine and be petted until it was time for her last trip to the vet.

Run in paradise our beautiful Baby-girl. We know you have just moved the toll booth to the other side of Rainbow Bridge and will greet us there one day. 3/19/08 - 1/23/25