When Gordon came to me thirteen years ago, it was on the eve of loosing my cat Guinn, to kidney failure. Guinn was the first cat I lost to kidney failure. Up to date I have lost five cats to that awful disease. My nephew knew how much I was hurting when Guinn died, and he showed up at my door one day with a beautiful little seal point Siamese kitten. He was very dainty and lightfooted, so I named him Gordon. ( I have to wonder here how many of you guys get the pun ). Right from the start Gordon suffered from acute and chronic sinusitis, I went from doctor to doctor with him, tried all kinds of medicine, but it just held onto him all his life. Gordon was constantly shooting things out of his nose. When you love the animal, you find humour in it, at least I always did. But boy, could he gross out everyone else!! It seemed like every time I had people over for dinner, Gordon would wait till we were all sitting down and eating and run into the room and blow stuff out of his nose. A lot of dinners ended at this point. At some point in his life I got tired of cleaning snot off everything, so I taught him to eat it, which he was very willing to do, but this seemed to gross people even more, but of course, I thought it was pretty funny.

Because of all Gordon’s sinus drainage, he would also throw up about every other day, Gordon perfected projectile puking. He would also swing his head back and forth as he was doing it, if you had a strong stomach, it was pretty amusing to watch. Some times, of course he would insist on doing this while I had company, they usually left shortly thereafter. Gordon and I had a lot of good chuckles together

Over the years and the friendships that have come and gone, a lot of people have asked me why I kept this cat, and why I didn’t have him put to sleep. How could I stand having this disgusting animal in my house??? Well, I’m sure you all know the answer to that question, I love Gordon, he has been a constant source of love and entertainment, and if you want to talk about unconditional love, the term was made with Gordon in mind.

About eight years ago, Gordon was in trouble, he was squatting all over the place and unable to pee. I rushed him to the hospital and it was very very bad, the doctors had to do some surgery where they reroute the plumbing, making the works from his bladder to the outside shorter and wider. Its called P. U. surgery, it saved his life I’m sure. He came home about two weeks later, and never used the litter box again. ( I had to do away with all the carpeting in my home ). A few years ago I noticed that Gordon’s face seemed to be swollen, so I called the vet and made an appointment for her to see him and then I went to work. It seems that while I was out, it must have swollen up a lot more and Gordon scratched it open and then ran around the house swinging his head back and forth. He was fine when I got home, snacking out on his Iams. How could I not love this cat who kept me so damn amused for thirteen years?

Gordon loved kittens, loved loved loved loved kittens! Every time I brought home a kitten, and there have been quite a few kittens in thirteen years, he would take that kitten and love it and protect it, he would sleep right next to it and sneeze all over it, he just loved them. I got Gordon a lot of kittens. At times I think Gordon just may have followed little Fox to that other place. I know the loss of that little baby affected him also. I hope Gordon is taking good care of my little Fox, I hope Fox is taking good care of Gordon.

The doctors both think that Gordon’s little body just couldn’t keep up the constant fight for life anymore, imagine living your whole life with a real bad head cold, that’s what it was like for Gordon. He let me know it was time for him to go, the last night of his life was Friday, I put a heating pad next to my pillow, and put him on it, I don’t think he was uncomfortable. During the night he was nudging my face with his, I think he was saying goodbye to me, when I woke up a few hours later he was gone. He looked very peaceful, I truly don’t think he suffered, he just ran out of life and faded away from me. I loved Gordon so much, he slept under the covers with me, sneezing and snorting, sometimes I would wake up glued to the sheets. But through it all, through all his problems and troubles, Gordon was just about the happiest cat I have ever known. When I die, I will have the most wonderful welcoming committee ever, my sweet kitties all waiting for me.