R.I.P. Sammy

If you've been to our place within the last 10 years, then you undoubtedly know our cat Sammy. Sammy was not only a cat, but a HUGE cat. He really wasn't that "fat" but more "big boned". I know that is such a cliche, but he really was. His gut didn't drag on the floor and he was more super-sized then round. For those who have never seen Sammy in real life, it is hard to convey how big he really was. So to give you an idea, a normal cat weighs around 9-12 lbs...Sammy weighed 29lbs!!! He was our mini black panther.

We got him in 2000 and has been a great part of our family since then. He never hurt any of the kids and occasionally would let them pet him. A lot of the time, he would run or hide all day while the kids the kids were up, then come out for cuddles and petting as soon as the kids were asleep. For the last two years, Sammy would randomly poop outside of his litter box. It was frustrating for us and with the girls around getting into everything, we really worried they would get into the poop. This all began right after the girls were born and after doing research on the web, we assumed Sammy was doing this for attention due to our focus now being on the kids. We took him into the vet when we still lived in Cali and they agreed that it could be jealously, or that the litter was hurting his front paws since he was de-clawed in 2000. I didn't see this being the cause since he never peed out of the litter box (thankfully!!). Anyway, after awhile Sammy stopped doing it, so we moved on with our lives as normal.

Soon after moving to Arizona, Sammy once again started pooping out of the box randomly. We didn't really know what to do, and since it was random, we avoided the vet. Well, unfortunately it got worse so we took him into the vet where he was diagnosed with "megacolon". Essentially what that means is that his colon lost contractility and he was constipated all the time. We tried some medication which helped at first, but he soon became tolerant to the medication and it would stop working. We knew that poor Sammy was miserable so we made the decision to put him down. It was a hard decision, but we know we made the right one.The vet was 100% behind us and this was one of the diagnosis that she advised us to put him down. We all miss him, especially the kids, but at least he is not suffering anymore. So this post is a tribute to the biggest, lovable, and cute cat I've ever known.



Sammy enjoying some early morning petting from Ryan


He wasn't very modest. :-)

This picture really shows the how big Sam really was

Ryan was good at making sure Sam always had enough to eat...although I think it wouldn't have hurt if he missed a meal. :-)

The kids say their final goodbyes before going to the vet.