My Furbabies – Loki

Loki is the only pet that I bought from a breeder. I will very likely never do this again, but who knows! He was a Bengal cat and he was absolutely gorgeous. He was my husband’s cat. My hubby spent some time researching cat breeds and decided that a Bengal was just the cat for him. This cat was a riot! We got him when he was about 10 weeks old and he was everything that my hubby wanted, curious, playful, protective, dog-like, and loving.

Loki brought ringworm into my house. This silly vet ignored the breeder’s Persians that were isolated “because of some skin things” in the same home. It just shows you that experience is truly earned in time. I don’t think I’d ever make that mistake again. Loki spread his ringworm to my other cat Lone Star and to me. My hubby and the dogs were spared. We all went through topical and oral treatments for weeks to get rid of this fungal infection. Both the cats got lots of baths and I had some memorable medication reactions, but we made it through. Once we got rid of it, we never had problems again.

The other major mistake I made, was picking Loki over other kittens. He came from a litter of two, and his sibling was born dead. That should have been my “there’s your sign” but I was a young vet and ignored it. Loki had some congenital liver and kidney issues throughout his life. It could have been some immune deficiency, but I really never had him fully worked up. I was always able to control his symptoms by treating things that I found with bloodwork, x-rays, and sonograms, so I never sought the help of an internist. Mostly he had some behavioral problems, including peeing outside of the litter box, which I now attribute to hepatic encephalopathy from his congenital liver disease – he was a little crazy from being born with a “broken” liver.

He did eventually develop kidney disease and I treated him with subcutaneous fluids at home for some months. He did succumb to this disease when he was 10 years and 8 months old, and we chose to let him go to end his suffering. Despite all his problems, he was a love and my husband still talks of getting another Bengal. I wish I could have given him more years to live, but he sure did not go quietly into the night. He was my husband’s first official cat and we still miss him dearly.