Photoset with 2 notes
I found Ichiro when he was around a week old. He stayed alive for the next half of a year. These photos were taken, while unknown to me, he was ill and in an increasingly weakened state.
While I was gone, my little sister told me that he fell sick once, falling asleep somewhere while it rained. He came home coughing. They took him to the vet and he got better. When I got back to Manila I spent a lot of time in his company, knowing that we would have to part as I would have to return to Portland in late June. I did not know our parting would come so early.
He passed away yesterday afternoon. Ichiro was stranded in the rain for two nights. It worried me so, and when he returned, he had a cold. His coughing died down and I let him rest with me, offering him lots of attention. He loved attention. He was also the noisiest, most talkative cat I had ever known, but he stayed quiet and was lethargic more often than I was familiar with. He didn’t even want to go outside and play with his friends.
He went to the veterinarian and came back on medication. Then he went into what looked like a seizure and died. I soon found out that he suffered from the same problem as the last time he was sick.
I have finally stopped blaming myself, finally, for Ichiro’s sudden death after researching his condition. Diagnosed tentatively many months ago with pneumothorax, Ichiro was not properly treated for the long run, and thus most probably developed chlyo/pyo/hydro-thorax. From the start, he had an abnormal and very serious respiratory problem that required hospitalization, drainage, leaking, and even surgery. His veterinarian failed to communicate this, or even failed to know. She sent him home after a shot, with a bunch of steroids and energy boosters that would not have done anything. Ichiro had a recurring fatal disease and it was just a matter of time. His lungs collapsed and even with the right and very aggressive treatment, his chance of survival would have been very slim.
After the research, the symptoms are clear in hindsight. He stopped laying down on his side and back because his chest would have been uncomfortable. He was very quiet, very inactive, and his breath was shallow.
I now know that if he stayed stray, he would have died as a newborn. The Genio family really did good for him. Love all of you who made Ichiro your friend.
My heart is broken. He did not even celebrate his 1st birthday. I’ve been wailing at my waking hours. My dog Asti heard my suffering and lay herself on my chest with a concerned look in her eye.
I am glad that I took Ichiro in and gave him a different life, although short. He experienced an abundance of food and shelter, affection, fun, and adventure. He loved our garden, and is now buried by our pool under a flowering bougainvillea.
My little samurai.
This is Ichiro. I found him at a bar, crying and playing with disposed ice cubes. He is the most talkative cat I have ever met or known.
Now he is my little samurai and the “first son” of my family. One can already tell that when he grows up, he will have epic manly beard markings.
He is now a successfully trained and adventurous indoor/outdoor kitten with his own gang of stray cat friends. He’s my boy.
