Dave Lister 1992-2008

Dave Lister was my cat of 16 years. Only a few people, aside from family, even knew I had a cat, but he was an important part of my life. I received him the day before I moved to Seattle for college, when he was only 6 weeks old. He's been with me through 2 colleges, 7 homes, 6 jobs, 3 kids and 1 marriage.

He died today.

Dave was always a big cat, strong and meaty, with a strange meow and a loud purr. We often referred to him as an "urban cow", due to his big size and funny spots. He loved to run around the neighborhood, and loved to sleep on the porch. He even loved sneaking into the neighbor's house to eat their cat food, that is, until they got wise and closed up their cat door.

This summer, he started losing a lot of weight. At first, I paid no mind to it, as he was an old cat and not as active as he once was. Last week, though, his left paw started swelling. He seemed okay, otherwise, as it was not hurting him. However, it did not go away after a few days, eliminating the thought that maybe he was bit by a spider and was having an allergic reaction, so Amy and I took him into the vet this afternoon.

After a few tests, they told us that his weight loss was easily fixed (just a thyroid problem), but the real issue was his labored breathing, something I had not noticed before. It seems that Dave was hiding the fact that he was really sick, that fluids were filling up his lungs and his abdomen. So sick, the vet told us even with critical care and tons of money to spend, he was not likely going to get better.

I won't go into the details of what was wrong exactly, but it was very serious and he would not have lasted much longer. As much as it pained me to do it, I had to opt for the choice of putting him down. At the rate he was going, he would have literally drowned within the week.

It was one of the hardest choices I've ever made.

Dave was always more than a pet to me; in fact, I never really thought of him that way. He was my pal. He will be missed.