This weekend was a difficult weekend and one of the ways I process grief is through writing. So here it goes.
I had only been home from the Peace Corps for about 6 months when I decided it was time for me to adopt a furry companion into my life.
I made my way to the Colorado Springs Humane Society on a Sunday morning in January, bright and early, to go find me a cute cat that could curl up on my lap and watch movies with me.
When I walked into the facility, I made a right into the cage full of cats waiting to be adopted by loving families and little children who had begged their parents for a pet.
I did a lap around the cages before a little black tailless kitten reached from her cage and grabbed my arm. Her named tag read, Sugar, 9-weeks old, Manx.
She was a tiny thing and meowed at me relentlessly until I engaged her, and I did engage her. I told her what a cutie pie she was.
She had big golden blue eyes and a small white patch on her belly. I moved on to see the rest of the cats but came back around to this precious little creature and decided to adopt her and take her home with me.
Sugar meowed all the way home, which seemed like a far way for a little helpless being like her. When we finally got home, I unleashed her from her cardboard box and she leapt out to sniff the room. I noticed she had soiled the box, mostly out of fear of what was happening. After a while of her exploring her new home, she found a comfy spot on my bed and rested there for 2 hours.
After she woke up, I noticed she had had a little accident in her sleep, thus starting the journey of her lifetime incontinence. For the first four weeks of her life, she was confined to a bathroom during the day because I didn’t know what to do and I lived in a studio apartment at the time.
Sugar’s Manx Problems
Sugar was my first cat. I stared at her thinking, this was the feeling I was looking for. The peaceful kitty purring in the corner while I read my books. The furry companion who was always excited to see me when I got home. The little piece of pure love that could curl up in my arms on any given day. She became my best friend, and one of my best investments of time, ever.
However, Sugar struggled for the next two years of her life, and so did I. Although she was a blessing in my life, she was also a handful.
I discovered her most likely issue was something many refer to as Manx Syndrome, which really has to do in large part with the breed’s anatomy and nervous system damages which is due in another large part to the fact that many of them are born without tails.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do to cure Manx Syndrome.
Sugar had incontinence troubles and constipation troubles, which made it very difficult for her to feel comfortable on a daily basis. Her diet consisted of soft food with either D-Mannose or Miralax mixed into to combat her issues. And most days, these things helped.
Most of my days I spent my time cleaning up after her and making sure she did not get infections that would endanger her life. Our first year together was a difficult one as I tried to figure out what her issues were.
When veterinarians at Banfield Pet Hospital couldn’t get me an answer on what was causing her condition, they just slapped a bandaid on the problem and moved on.
In my frustrations with vets and their lack of knowledge on the Manx breed, I sought my own answers online through supportive Facebook groups of people who focus specifically on the Manx breed and their unique physical makeups.
I have them to thank for helping me prolong her life. If any of you don’t know, like I didn’t, Manx cats are prone to nervous system damage, spina bifida, and many other issues. Some cats are fortunate to avoid the physical issues, but my poor Sugar was not able to overcome them.
My Baby Sugar
Sugar left this planet on January 20th, 2019 at around 3:30 pm. She was confirmed to have a series of complicated neurological issues that prevented her from having a normal and healthy cat life.
She was peacefully euthanized as I requested. This was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. I loved her in spite of all her issues and battled daily with letting her go or keeping her.
During the time we were together, she was a great deal of fun and also a heavy burden to bear. Managing her issues became life altering and started to affect both my quality of life and hers.
Sugar turned two years old in January. She loved tuna, she loved playing with pens, hair ties, and she especially loved laying on my lap and watching movies with me.
In the mornings, she would meow at my door to wake me up. She always waited in the window for me to get home and when I would open my front door, she would meet me there.
Sugar was also a compulsive licker and loved licking my face, my hands and any patch of skin available to her. She enjoyed sitting in windows and watching the world outside, and she especially loved sitting in windows when they were open and the wind could blow in her face.
She was a weird cat, but then again, what cats are normal?
She loved playing hide and seek with me, she hated bath time, but she never once got upset with me when I left for work or a trip. She was a great companion and always enjoyed seeing me when I came home.
She always panicked when I took a shower and stayed with me until I got out. I loved her very much and was incredibly lucky to have discovered a creature who loved me this much too.
It is an unbearable shame she couldn’t stay with me longer. She was a great adventure in my life and I miss her presence terribly. She is no longer in pain and most importantly, she lived a positive and loving life many others probably wouldn’t have bothered to give her.
I want to thank everyone who has supported me in taking care of Sugar for these past two years and those who have helped me through this incredibly difficult time.
I hope anyone who adopts a Manx cat and is reading this is aware of the issues within the Manx breed and does their research on cats before adopting.
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