Last Tuesday August 2nd our Kabosu passed away. He got his regular insulin shot in the morning, ate his breakfast and went outside. I went to check on him in the afternoon, and there he was lying in his usual spot in the bushes but not breathing. A neighbor said he saw him having a stroke and collapsing a few minutes before that. We had just taken Kabosu to the vet for his vaccinations and pain killers only ten days before this, and the vet did not see anything unusual. Now they think it was probably a blood clot or something else secondary to acromegaly and that it was probably quick. I hope he did not suffer too much. We knew he was getting weaker and the time was coming, but I just really hoped for a few more months with him. I'm heart broken. During these last few years Kabosu became the center of my universe. I keep checking the door and the window, and I still can't believe Kabosu is never coming back. Thank you everyone in this forum, you were a great support for me during Kabosu's illness, and I learned so much from you. Long story about Kabosu: Kabosu was a very smart, confident and calm cat. He was great around humans, including kids, and got along with cats, dogs and even foxes. He loved sleeping on top of cars, especially the convertible ones, hiding in the bushes, being brushed with a tangle teezer comb, hunting and visiting random apartments. A neighbor who owns two pugs told us he once left the balcony open and found Kabosu sleeping in his bed, such a confident cat he was. Kabosu came to our lives in January 2018: he appeared outside our window standing on the railing and meowing, asking to let him in. We live on the first floor, so that required quite some acrobatics, and it looked very funny. Kabosu looked well fed and very clean, so I assumed it was someone's cat who confused his apartment with ours. He kept coming here and eventually we let him in in March 2018: he made himself at home immediately, explored a bit and sat comfortably on the couch. He started visiting us more and more frequently, and eventually I put up a message in a local Facebook group looking for his owners, as he did not look like a stray, and was obviously not feral. The Facebook community helped me find his owners. A woman named Mary came to our place. She told us the cat's name was Tigger. Their family used to live in the countryside and had moved to the area recently. Tigger did not like the small garden they now had, so he "took a leap of faith" and left looking for a better life in a nicer place with trees and mice. She noted that was exactly what I myself had done being an immigrant in Ireland. It had been months since they saw Tigger. They used to have two cats, and the other one was run over by a car when crossing the street, so they thought it'd be safer for the cat to stay where he wanted. She took Kabosu, or Tigger back then, with her that day (breaking my heart, because he did not want to go), but he was back the next morning to my relief. Since then we started feeding him and taking him to the vet for vaccinations, flea and worm treatments and checkups, he, in his turn, started feeding us with mice, often alive ones which we learned to catch and release. We named him Kabosu, a funny word we learned on our trip to Japan. We've had a lot of very happy memories with him: we'd leave the window open so he could come and sleep inside while we were at work. He'd always meet us after a day at the office. Little by little we discovered we were not his only, he was visiting a lot of other neighbors in our apartment block. We got to know many of them, including a family who owned seven indoor cats: Kabosu would just enter their apartment, eat, sleep, socialize with the humans and totally ignore the cats who looked at him as if he were Puss in Boots living the life of adventure. He was the real Six dinner Sid, who had many names and many meals at different places. The first months of the pandemic and lockdowns were great with him, he was spending a lot of time with us as we were always home. He was sleeping on our sofa with his belly up during the day, going for his walk in the evening, often coming back at 5AM and demanding breakfast. Towards the end of 2020 he suddenly changed his behavior, started spending most of his time outside despite the cold, drank a lot and peed a lot. We took him to the vet and he got diagnosed with diabetes around Christmas 2020. This is when I joined this forum. After a few weeks increasing the dose, switching the insulin, not letting him out to control his diet (which made him miserable because he was used to going where he wanted and when he wanted), I convinced my vet to check him for acromegaly and the test came back positive. I researched the available treatment options: no surgery, SRT or pasireotide were available in Ireland. I did consider bringing him to the Royal Veterinary College in London for the surgery, but did not do it in the end: it was too expensive for us at that point, we were not allowed to leave the country because of the lockdown, and cat surgery was not considered essential travel, and I myself had no visa to travel to the UK. I still regret not doing that, we should have sorted that out. In the end, we started Cabergoline in May 2021. I am not sure whether Cabergoline did something, he was still unregulated when he died and on 37 units of Lantus twice a day. Kabosu was deteriorating slowly since the diagnosis. 2021 and the beginning of 2022 were still great: despite being unregulated, he was spending a lot of time both inside and outside, was still using the window to enter and leave the apartment, and we had a lot of great memories together. At first I was afraid he'd stop coming here because of all the injections and blood glucose checking, but to my surprise, he was almost always showing up on time for his insulin shot. In these 17 months since his diagnosis, we only skipped his insulin shot once. Taking care of Kabosu became a great part of our lives. My husband would wake up in the morning and go search for Kabosu if he was not already inside or at the door. I'd then measure his blood sugar and give him insulin. At some point I had mental health issues not related to Kabosu's illness, and was struggling to get out of bed. Kabosu's treatment was what kept me going: I knew no matter how bad I felt, it was not his fault, and he needed to get his insulin. Someone said "everyone dies but not everyone lives". Despite not having lived a very long life, Kabosu had more adventure than most people do. He touched so many lives, and was loved by many. Here is a picture of the little memorial the neighborhood children made for him at the place where he passed.
God bless Kabosu. Thank you for sharing this story. Kabosu-san was obviously as very special and unique cat who chose to share his life with you. My heart really hurts for you. I know how much this hurts and what an empty place it leaves in your heart and life. I lost my own Acromegaly boy a little over a year ago; he was only ten. It is very hard. Your Kabosu was very handsome. He was obvisouly very well-loved by many people, including the children who made that memorial (which made me cry even more.)
I am so sorry for the loss of your sweet Kabosu kitty. Thank you for sharing his beautiful story. He knew how much you loved and cared for him. You will always have your memories of him. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
I am so incredibly sorry for your loss. He was as lucky as you were to be in each other’s lives. He sounded like an amazing companion. Thank you for sharing his story. I’m so sad for you.
I'm so sorry to hear this news. Kabosu does indeed sound like a character, who touched many people's hearts. You were wonderful people to have taken him in and give him the care he needed. Thank you for the stories and photos of him.
I'm so sorry for your loss, he sure seemed like such a character. Such a beautiful boy.. He was so lucky to have you. Fly high sweet Kabosu you will be missed
I'm so sorry for you! You will miss him a lot but he will always be there with you.... Kabosu chose you and you gave him the wonderful life he was expecting, full of love and freedom. Thanks for sharing his beautiful story and pictures.
