While our primary concern after finding out Steve was sick was doing what was best for him, a secondary concern was making sure Kat would be okay after Steve was gone. As many of our readers know, Steve and Kat were littermate and had never lived apart. Once during law school, David took Steve to Maryland for a week and I kept Kat. Steve was fine while David went to work during the day, but I couldn't leave my apartment. Kat just howled and went berserk being home alone. Luckily it was in the summer and I just stayed home or took her with me if I needed to go somewhere. So we knew Kat was not really capable of being home alone.
On Sunday, after we came home from the emergency vet with Steve, we found that Kat had really damaged her kennel door trying to get out. We were devastated by finding out that Steve had cancer and then on top of that, we didn't know what to do about Kat. At least one of us stayed home with Steve from when we found out he was sick to when he passed, so Kat really didn't have to be in her kennel except on Tuesday morning when we took Steve to see his normal vet. When we left her at home on Tuesday, we moved Gus to Steve's kennel, right next to Kat. She made a little noise, but it was a lot better.
The next time Kat was in her kennel was on Saturday, after Steve had passed. We left Kat and Gus at home for about 4 hours and monitored Kat on the Nest cameras. She didn't make any noise at all. It's a relief that we are going to be able to leave her. Thank goodness we have Gus.
Over the last month or so, Kat and Gus had started playing together a lot. The vet told us that Kat probably already knew Steve had cancer and was dying before we did. While that makes me very sad, if her knowing motivated her to forge a stronger bond with Gus, I am thankful for that. Kat has been eating and drinking normally since Steve died. I thought that the day after he died, when David got home from work, it seemed like Kat was looking to see if he brought Steve home, but I think I might be reading too much into her actions. She saw Steve after the vet helped him pass, so I hope that she understands what happened to him.
I took this video of Kat and Gus on Friday. Kat looks really happy playing with Gus and that makes me really happy.
This is a picture from this weekend.
It's always been a fear of mine that when we lost one of Steve or Kat, the other would be so sad that they would give up on life and we would lose the other shortly after. I really hope that is not the case for Kat. I think Gus is really good for her. She was not a happy camper when Gus first joined the family, but I hope she understands that it was for the best.
