RIP Cassidy

Unfortunately I have to follow my previous happy post with a sad one.

My mother and brother's cat Cassidy had been breathing loudly so they called the vet and they told them to take her to the emergency clinic. Over there they said that she likely had a respiratory infection and put her on antibiotics. She got a bit more energy but the loud breathing didn't go all the way away. They brought her to the vet for a follow-up and they looked a bit closer, finding infection throughout her nose but not her throat. They said this was good, as sinus infections are much less likely to be fatal than ones in the throat. Her appetite had dropped so they put her on an appetite stimulant. My brother was force feeding her with a syringe at this point.

I was in a team meeting at work when I got a text saying they were testing for nasal polyps, but that she could have cancer. Then a text saying that it was cancer. Then a text saying that they were recommending euthanasia.

My coworker drove me all the way to the vet in Guelph. I got to be there when it happened. We took her body back and buried her in the backyard that night.

She was only eight years old, and they'd owned her for three. Right now they have a nineteen year old cat that's still going strong.

It hurts additionally because they got Cassidy after Luna's passing, who was another cat that passed prematurely and unexpectedly due to an overlooked illness, although in her case they owned her for nine years before her passing. Both cats were female grey tabbies. It feels like history repeating itself.

Unlike the other Guelph cats, there was no overlap of when me and Cassidy lived there. I was still pretty involved in her adoption, though. They had been considering getting another, younger cat to keep the company of the two older cats after Luna's passing for a while, and I encouraged them strongly to follow through. There is a cat cafe in Guelph where you can adopt. The cafe part was shut for COVID, but you could still schedule time to mingle with the cats and adopt if you wanted.

I made the appointment for them and went with them. Before going, I remember joking with Lee-Anne after looking at the current cafe residents online, that they might fall in love with Cassidy based solely on her appearance. You're never supposed to replace an animal, but Cassidy and Luna looked similar in that they were both grey female tabbies.

I remember that Cassidy didn't emerge until near the end of their allotted time at the cafe. After hiding for most of the hour she walked out on top of a cat play structure and let Mom and Duncan scratch her neck while she stood above them.

Afterward, Mom and Duncan were still unsure, and I impressed on them to make a decision. I only mention my involvement to explain why I feel so connected despite her never being my cat.

They moved forward to get Cassidy. They had to interview with a cat expert there, who apparently had a soft spot for her but had difficulty getting her adopted because she was so shy. She'd lived in the cafe for years at that point.

When they first brought her home, Cassidy instantly tucked herself into the smallest space she could find and bunched into a ball. She would not interact at all with anyone. You could touch her and she wouldn't lash out or anything. She just wouldn't react. I remember worrying that she would starve herself.

But she did warm up and slowly become more and more affectionate. For awhile, she would hide from me when I visited, even though she was affectionate with Mom and Duncan. I remember the first time she approached me. She'd been following me around at a distance. I was spreading mayo on a piece of bread when I felt something soft land on my foot. I looked down and it was Cassidy, just sitting on me and looking the other direction. From then on, whenever I would visit she would still run and hide at first, but she would slowly warm up and want head scratches. Eventually she stopped running from me entirely.

She was brilliant with the two older cats. She interacted with them but never to the point of overwhelm. She was a naturally gentle cat.

Sometimes she would get a little playful with the humans though, and if she ever played a little rough would shrink away as if expecting to be hit, so she might have had a rough background.

She definitely wasn't a carbon copy of Luna. Luna was a goofball, Cassidy was coy.

As a weird aside, tonight there is a blue moon and also a supermoon. Two events that won't come together simultaneous again for 14 years. I don't know what that would symbolize or anything, but when strange circumstances in your life connect with rare events like this, it's always tempting to try and find connections.

Rest peacefully Cassidy. We love you and we miss you.