Little John

2004? - August 21, 2015

Nicknames: John John, Johnny Jo, JJ, Jon-a-Mac...

Little John was one of three kittens found living with their feral mom under a porch in Washington, DC.  Alley Cat Allies trapped mom and babies and had them altered.  The vet who performed the surgery thought that the three kittens were to be released back outdoors with mom, so he eartipped their left ears.  However, Alley Cat Allies thought the wild kittens could be tamed.  They shipped the three boys off to a college student, living in a dorm.  The idea was that the students would be able to give the kittens lots of attention and help tame them.

Eventually, the college student moved on and the kittens (by now full grown cats) needed another foster home and help finding a permanent home.  Robin, Tuck and Little John came to live with Eric and I, while we were living in Derwood, MD.  Robin was outgoing; Tuck was shy, but came around quickly; John was painfully shy and wouldn't do anything without Tuck.  Eventually, Robin got paired with another cat and the pair were adopted.  We tried for a long time to get a home for Tuck and John, but they did not show well.  We had multiple people express interest only to back down later.  Finally, when we were moving from Maryland, the boys got shipped to a new foster home.  The new foster mom thought she might like to adopt them, but when she got sick, the boys had to be shipped to another foster home.  Finally, Alley Cat Allies called us and asked if we would take them permanently.  Alley Cat Allies arranged to transport the boys to Pittsburgh for us.

John was a sweet, playful, happy cat.  He was acrobatic and energetic.  He got along VERY WELL with some cats in our household, but fought bitterly with others.  To keep peace in the household, doors were kept closed and cats kept separated.

Thank goodness for the wall, holding the basket and him upright.

John formed quick attachments with several of our foster cats, and when Duncan was adopted, he and John formed a very strong bond.

Yes, he is doing THAT to Duncan!

John had an odd fabric obsession.  He would steal bath towels from the laundry room or fabric from my sewing room and drag them around the house.  Eventually, he and I reached an agreement.  I allowed him to keep several practice quilt squares and he stopped stealing stuff of mine.  For the rest of his life with us, several times a day we had to collect the quilt squares from the first floor and drop them down the stairs to the basement so he would be able to carry them up again.

Little John and his fellow pea, Tuck.

Tuck and John were like two peas in one pod.  They slept together and played together.  They were best friends and soul mates.  It is impossible to talk about John without talking about Tuck.

Several months ago, we noticed that John was not eating as well.  It got steadily worse.  Finally, we took him to the vet.  The vet diagnosed him with possible Lymphoma.  To be certain and to determine the best course of treatment, the vet would need to do an ultrasound and biopsy.  At the ultrasound, the vet discovered masses on John's liver and both adrenal glands, in addition to the lymph node.  We opted not to do the biopsy and not to proceed with chemotherapy.  

John was at the vet for about 4 hours that day.  He came home exhausted and promptly went to Macy, the dog, for comfort. Tuck was there too, but Macy was the primary source of John's comfort.  At one point, both John and Tuck were loving on Macy.  It was really adorable and touching to see.

We put John on steroids, tried to entice him to eat, and waited.  The wait ended last Friday.

Tuck seems to be coping well with the loss of his brother.  Tuck was always the stronger, more confident cat of the two.  John always relied more on the comfort provided by Tuck.  Everyone is getting more loving from us now -- for both our comfort and theirs.

Sweet, beautiful Little John will live forever in my mind as the cat on the railing (picture above) and the cat with the blankie in his mouth.