Kevin Kat has been diagnosed with a stomach tumour.

[Ratface]

The Spirit of Kevin Kat Rides Out (with apologies to the late Paul O'Grady, whose first autobiography is titled "The Devil Rides Out". Brilliant and very funny).
I went up to the local shop and bought some more disinfectant floor wipes to chase the swathes of Kat fur round every nook and cranny in the barge. I usually buy a dull and decent local rag or get the journalistic equivalent of a bag of sweets, the DM. Neither available. Bought The Guardian. Oh, well.
Inside was an article about the writer's beloved (deceased, for many years) childhood cat. It could have been written about Kevin. The writer described Humphrey as if he was/had been Kevin. Moody, demanding, utterly contemptuous of all of humanity. He pooed in their slippers, fled from their arms, disdainded every loving gesture. They still adored him and he ignored them and went about his cat life, sneering.
I read it and laughed.
He and Kevin are probably swopping notes about stupid, trainable owners in their part of Kat Heaven.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Aww, that's such a very much cat type of story. And to think just on the day that article was in The Guardian, you bought it because your usual choices weren't available. It's certainly easy to think Kevin Kat had his paw in it somehow, that he wanted you to read that.

I've seen a meme where Death comes to collect a cat, and the cat asks Was I a good cat? Death answers No. I was told you were the best.
But as if Kevin Kat would ask anyone, even Death, if he was a good cat. King Kevin Kat already knew he was best.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I don’t know how I completely missed this. I’m so sorry Ratface I feel so much for you . This is the second time this evening that I’ve cried over the loss of a cat that I only know through social media. I just know how much you loved him and I just hope you will be ok.

 

[Ratface]

I don’t know how I completely missed this. I’m so sorry Ratface I feel so much for you . This is the second time this evening that I’ve cried over the loss of a cat that I only know through social media. I just know how much you loved him and I just hope you will be ok.

Thank you, Sussexbythesea. I can't stop crying. I don't want to go on living without him. I've stopped eating, which isn't a good idea, as I have Type 2 diabetes.
I've lost many pets and several horses before, but this death seems utterly dreadful beyond bearing.
I know all about The Seven Stages of Grief, but it doesn't make it any better.
Well-meaning friends have been clattering about offering new/previously (un)loved cats. I don't want another cat. I want Kevin.

 

[Trouper]

Just hang on in there - we're rooting for you. Can you just imagine Kevin Kat's face - "what do you mean you don't want to eat?!!". Please try - even if it's just going through the motions until life smiles more kindly.

 

[Titchy Pony]

Thank you, Sussexbythesea. I can't stop crying. I don't want to go on living without him. I've stopped eating, which isn't a good idea, as I have Type 2 diabetes.
I've lost many pets and several horses before, but this death seems utterly dreadful beyond bearing.
I know all about The Seven Stages of Grief, but it doesn't make it any better.
Well-meaning friends have been clattering about offering new/previously (un)loved cats. I don't want another cat. I want Kevin.

I'm so sorry Ratface. I think it's perfectly normal to grieve and cry when losing your living companion, especially if you can't get out and about much. But please try to look after yourself. Have you been able to see your old horse lately? He would probably love to pull some faces at you and a carrot or three.
Of course you want Kevin, cats (like dogs, horses, people...) are not just interchangeable pieces of furniture. I wish I could offer a magic solution or at least some chocolate cake (though perhaps not a great idea for the diabetes?). Instead I can only offer my sympathy.

 

[Rumtytum]

Thank you, Sussexbythesea. I can't stop crying. I don't want to go on living without him. I've stopped eating, which isn't a good idea, as I have Type 2 diabetes.
I've lost many pets and several horses before, but this death seems utterly dreadful beyond bearing.
I know all about The Seven Stages of Grief, but it doesn't make it any better.
Well-meaning friends have been clattering about offering new/previously (un)loved cats. I don't want another cat. I want Kevin.

So very sorry Ratface.
I was inconsolable after my last pet died. Not just for him, it was the sorrow and grief combined of every animal lost over the years; I wept for my pets and I wept for the past. Perhaps it’s my age.
But we need you and you are very much wanted here, so please if you can’t eat for yourself then please eat for us. Sending virtual hugs.

 

[Ratface]

I'm so sorry Ratface. I think it's perfectly normal to grieve and cry when losing your living companion, especially if you can't get out and about much. But please try to look after yourself. Have you been able to see your old horse lately? He would probably love to pull some faces at you and a carrot or three.
Of course you want Kevin, cats (like dogs, horses, people...) are not just interchangeable pieces of furniture. I wish I could offer a magic solution or at least some chocolate cake (though perhaps not a great idea for the diabetes?). Instead I can only offer my sympathy.

Thank you, Titchy Pony. I'm going to see The Arrogant Arabian this afternoon, duly armed with carrots!
The Difficult Yard Owner has been a tower of strength throughout. She has offered to have the late Kevin Kat buried in her animal graveyard, to bring me to see TAA this afternoon, to pay his vet bill (£500), bring food to me (M&S, naturally . . .) Anything.
Very kind, and I greatly appreciate it.
I shall take her a card (she likes cards) some cream roses and a good bottle of red wine. Also some fancy biscuits - the grooms go through them like a swarm of locusts!

 

[Titchy Pony]

Thank you, Titchy Pony. I'm going to see The Arrogant Arabian this afternoon, duly armed with carrots!
The Difficult Yard Owner has been a tower of strength throughout. She has offered to have the late Kevin Kat buried in her animal graveyard, to bring me to see TAA this afternoon, to pay his vet bill (£500), bring food to me (M&S, naturally . . .) Anything.
Very kind, and I greatly appreciate it.
I shall take her a card (she likes cards) some cream roses and a good bottle of red wine. Also some fancy biscuits - the grooms go through them like a swarm of locusts!

I'm glad there is someone in real life that is there for you. Difficult though the Yard Owner may be, it sounds like she is there when you need her most. Please give my respects to The Arrogant Arabian.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I still remember the days after Humla had died, it literally felt as if the world had stopped spinning. One time I stood, and looked out on the road passing by our house, and it felt so strange to see the cars drive by as usual, how could their drivers not have noticed that the earth had stopped rotating when I was feeling it so strongly? Everything felt pointless, and without meaning, but luckily for me I had some other pets left which I had to take care of, and force myself to live for.

You did say you ate some biscuits a friend had brought you the first day, so you can eat. If Kevin Kat had just willed himself to die when facing hardship, you two never would've met. Be more like Kevin. Keep going!

 

[palterwell]

I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what to say when I first read your post. I had three siblings , 2 were barn cats and one was a house cat. I lost all of them last year at the age of 16, two had to be put to sleep within 2 days. I’ve just come in the house and I was thinking about you while I was doing the stables. Could you get a print of that lovely photo of Kevin that you put on here ? He looked so much like my Tiger . I’m sitting here with a cat on my lap again, I couldn’t bear it without them so I went to the nearest rescue and demanded that they let me have their saddest cat ! He was completely hairless and very thin but has turned into a big lovable lump. The well known charity apparently forgot to tell me that he was a Norwegian Forest Cat.
I hope you have a good afternoon, it’s so good of the Yard Owner to have Kevin buried in her graveyard.Frosty,Tiger and Parsley are buried in the field outside my kitchen window.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I remember losing a little cat that I thought the absolute world of. over 30 years ago now and how for a long while I felt as if there was an invisible wall between me and our other cats. I just went through the motions of caring for them but had no feeling. It did eventually pass thank goodness.

 

[Maxidoodle]

RF, please eat, it is so important to maintain your health. I hope that you are able to take some comfort from a trip out to see your old guy and the YO, I’m so pleased that you have someone to give you some support.

I really feel for you, I know exactly how you are feeling (as so many of us will too), I am so deeply affected by my animals, even when one is ill, it makes me feel ill too.

I am wondering if it is too soon but could something like a cushion with his photo on help? So that you feel he is still with you somehow. I’m sorry if this is a terrible suggestion, I don’t know if this would help or be more upsetting at this stage.

If you feel that it might help in someway, please tell me, I would like to buy you one if it will help and make you feel that you have other people who care and want you to keep going and take care of yourself. .

 

[Ratface]

RF, please eat, it is so important to maintain your health. I hope that you are able to take some comfort from a trip out to see your old guy and the YO, I’m so pleased that you have someone to give you some support.

I really feel for you, I know exactly how you are feeling (as so many of us will too), I am so deeply affected by my animals, even when one is ill, it makes me feel ill too.

I am wondering if it is too soon but could something like a cushion with his photo on help? So that you feel he is still with you somehow. I’m sorry if this is a terrible suggestion, I don’t know if this would help or be more upsetting at this stage.

If you feel that it might help in someway, please tell me, I would like to buy you one if it will help and make you feel that you have other people who care and want you to keep going and take care of yourself. .

Thank you, Maxidoodle. A very kind offer. I don't think that I can cope with looking at pictures of him at the moment. I did try, but currently, it's unbearable.
I felt better when I was at the yard yesterday.
Arrogant Arabian was definitely in the business of raising his "Don't You Know Who I Am??" game, and was smarming round for carrots. Sometimes he forgets exactly where he is in this performance and does a smarmy nudge, plus charming whicker whilst having the big yellow teeth out!
He's moulting for England: he has a very fine coat and is currently rugged with a medium weight no neck waterproof field rug. I took at least a carrier bag full of coat off him with a scraper and only stopped because the straw bedding was getting covered with swathes of chestnut hair, which I thought would be very unpopular with his staff team the following day. I collected as much as I could and buried it in the muck trailer.
He's looking very well, and continuing to annoy the staff by deciding that he, too, needs "Fooood!" "NOOOW" and pelting round his large paddock, bucking and f***ing, whilst screaming his head off! The others then decide that he's definitely right, and put in their votes for exactly the same order. Think five Arrogant Arabians, including his girlfriend, a small, very loud mare, a shrieking stallion, a grey Diva Dressage Darling, dripping with mud, and a wimpy chestnut nephew, whose default position is "I'm not here. I definitely Do Not Exist." And add in two very large and vociferous guard dogs, who are twinned with the Hound of the Baskervilles and his brother.
We have a PROW going through our land. Usually the walkers and four-legged companions are ignored by the horses and greeted politely by us humans. Yesterday, I saw two large males, kitted out for an assault on the Cairngorms, pause, gather themselves and scuttle through like black beetles!
Kevin continues to stir the pot from his Kat Heaven fastness!

 

[MiLeTa]

I'm glad to hear that your visit to The Arrogant Arabian helped to make you feel a bit better. They do seem to know sometimes, what to do to raise our spirits!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

How's it going @Ratface ? Have you managed to start to eat somewhat regularly, at least a little, or should I worry about you slipping into a diabetic coma, and us never finding out what happened?

 

[Ratface]

How's it going @Ratface ? Have you managed to start to eat somewhat regularly, at least a little, or should I worry about you slipping into a diabetic coma, and us never finding out what happened?

Good morning, FinnishLapphund. How kind of you to enquire.
My eating is a bit haphazard, but I'm persevering, thank you.
Generally speaking, though, life seems very bleak at present.
Friends have sent me pictures of random cats whose owners want/need to be rid of them. I'm not really drawn to any of them. They're not Kevin.
I've paid Kevin's veterinary hospital bill. £500.
The country seems consumed by King Charles 111' Coronation. It's all a bit of a mirage.
I rarely go off the barge. No one calls. I'm sure that it will be alright eventually.
Again, thank you for your concern. Much appreciated.

 

[ArklePig]

I'm so sorry Ratface, I'm only catching up on your very sad news now. I'm very sorry for your loss. Please look after yourself.

 

[Ratface]

I'm so sorry Ratface, I'm only catching up on your very sad news now. I'm very sorry for your loss. Please look after yourself.

Thank you, ArklePig. Much appreciated.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Good morning, FinnishLapphund. How kind of you to enquire.
My eating is a bit haphazard, but I'm persevering, thank you.
Generally speaking, though, life seems very bleak at present.
Friends have sent me pictures of random cats whose owners want/need to be rid of them. I'm not really drawn to any of them. They're not Kevin.
I've paid Kevin's veterinary hospital bill. £500.
The country seems consumed by King Charles 111' Coronation. It's all a bit of a mirage.
I rarely go off the barge. No one calls. I'm sure that it will be alright eventually.
Again, thank you for your concern. Much appreciated.

Of course life seems bleak when you have a big, gaping hole inside you. I'm glad to hear you've gone from no eating, to some eating, at least that's going in the right direction.

{{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}

 

[Sandstone1]

Please look after yourself Ratface. Grief is a horrible thing but it shows how much you cared for Kevin. The Blue cross have a help line if things get too much and people here know how you feel. Do not struggle alone.

 

[Above the snowline]

I’m thinking of you and your grief. Saying the price of love is grief and it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all will be of little comfort to you at the moment, but once the waves of grief gradually slow down something will emerge from the gloom - remember Kevin is stirring the pot.

 

[SO1]

The Blue Cross helpline is wonderful. I am still struggling with grief after loosing Homey nearly 9 months ago and do use the helpline.

I do think it is harder when you live alone and your life has been centered around caring for a pet. There is no easy answer. I am glad you have been able to see your horse and I hope he provides you with some comfort.

I think trying to replace a beloved pet with another if that is what you might feel like doing at some point is again tricky as in my case it reinforces the loss. Hopefully it might be slightly easier to find the right cat than a pony just because there is more choice with cats.

Please look after yourself Ratface. Grief is a horrible thing but it shows how much you cared for Kevin. The Blue cross have a help line if things get too much and people here know how you feel. Do not struggle alone.

 

[View]

Ratface, I’m another who has just caught up with this thread.

King Kevin Kat is most certainly up there, still directing what will happen to his servant.

You know that it hurts because you care, but I hope there is some comfort in knowing that his time with you was in comfort, and that you did the right thing for him at the end.

Thinking of you.

 

[Ratface]

I’m thinking of you and your grief. Saying the price of love is grief and it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all will be of little comfort to you at the moment, but once the waves of grief gradually slow down something will emerge from the gloom - remember Kevin is stirring the pot.

Above the snowline, that made me laugh - then cry.

 

[Ratface]

Thank you, dear HHO friends, for your kind and understanding messages.
I've just come back from scaping mud and fur - lots of fur - off the Arrogant Arabian. He was not in a good mood and had annoyed the grooms by refusing to be caught. Running round his paddock, screeching. He'd let them get his headcollar half on and then duck out of it and roar off. It didn't help that his antics had attracted an audience of Sunday afternoon walkers who were standing laughing at this pantomime.
In the end, the Head Groom marched forth, grabbed his forelock, slung a rope round his neck and he came in with a smirk on his naughty orange face. Bad Horse!
I soothed the staff team with tea and assorted cakes.
Now back on the barge. It's so lonely without Kevin.
My cat-supplying friend thought that she had several lined up, but the owners' husbands have said a version of "if the cat goes, I will divorce you". Don't blame them.
I wish Kevin would hurry up and sort something out for me.

 

[sky1000]

I am very sorry too, Ratface.

Kevin is on the case. Those kats were no good, so he had to step in.

 

[Above the snowline]

Thank you, dear HHO friends, for your kind and understanding messages.
I've just come back from scaping mud and fur - lots of fur - off the Arrogant Arabian. He was not in a good mood and had annoyed the grooms by refusing to be caught. Running round his paddock, screeching. He'd let them get his headcollar half on and then duck out of it and roar off. It didn't help that his antics had attracted an audience of Sunday afternoon walkers who were standing laughing at this pantomime.
In the end, the Head Groom marched forth, grabbed his forelock, slung a rope round his neck and he came in with a smirk on his naughty orange face. Bad Horse!
I soothed the staff team with tea and assorted cakes.
Now back on the barge. It's so lonely without Kevin.
My cat-supplying friend thought that she had several lined up, but the owners' husbands have said a version of "if the cat goes, I will divorce you". Don't blame them.
I wish Kevin would hurry up and sort something out for me.

He will - be patient. He is laughing and crying too