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All I have to say is, take more pictures of the ones you love. You never know when tragedy will strike.

This cat was born in my closet in the summer of 1996, his mother is a tortoiseshell (still alive) and his father was a Maine coon (whereabouts unknown). Simba (named due to his striking resemblance to a lion) was 23 pounds of muscle. When we moved to California, we lived in an apartment for several years in the East Bay. We felt sorry for Simba because he was strictly an indoor cat and always wanted to go outside. Bill had the idea that we could plant grass in a container and put it on the patio for him. Simba LOVED it. So this picture is of him sitting in his “yard” on the patio in San Ramon. During the summer, we would take him to the vet and have him shaved so he would be more comfortable.

Five years ago today, I took him to the vet for a routine checkup and a vaccination booster. The vet was aware that Simba had asthma and he was highly sensitive to anesthesia. Upon her advice I got him the feline Leukemia vaccination (even though he was an indoor cat) and he had a severe reaction to it and his lungs filled with fluid and he died. He spent the last 12 hours of his life in agony. I later learned that the vaccination that he got from the vet was wholly unnecessary. This cat would be alive today if I hadn’t gotten him that shot.

The technical name for it is malocclusion, and it can be fatal. Treatment is risky, but we’re going to give it a shot. On Thursday, an exotic pet specialist from UC Davis is going to shave his teeth to get them to align properly (and hopefully stop growing into his eye sockets). In the meantime, Ricky is enjoying being fed liquified timothy hay and canine pain medicine. The vet recommended acupuncture for a holistic approach, and we’re actually considering it, lol. Yes, it’s probably over the top, but we love him and he’s totally worth it.

Update: I won’t go into detail, but our precious Chin has gone to the big dust bath in the sky. Hopefully Ricky and Speedy are giving each other hell right now. And by hell, I mean Ricky is getting Speedy back for biting his finger off years ago.