At the beginning of December, we had to say goodbye to our 14-year old kitty, Reggie. Reggie Nald Losey was Heather's mom's cat, and he transitioned into our menagerie after Grandma Lu had to move into Belmont Manor. This past August, we noticed that Reggie was having a hard time eating, and assuming he had a tooth problem, we had the vet come to check him out. Unexpectedly, we discovered that he actually had incurable cancer in his mouth, so we were told to keep him happy and fed, and that we would know when it was time. Reggie hung in there until early December, when the tumor started affecting his eye and he was having a much harder time eating.
Reggie was born on the mean streets of Atlanta and first fostered/adopted by our family friends the Yarlotts in 2010. He was a very anxious cat and didn't do well around other cats and new people, so they thought he might do well in a nice quiet place, like with Grandma Lu.
When COVID hit in spring of 2020, we moved Grandma Lu along with Reggie into our first floor bedroom, since her assisted living was having an outbreak. They both stayed with us for 2.5 months until the assisted living had cleared the outbreak.
Shortly after Grandma Lu moved back to her assisted living, she had a setback and wasn't able to continue to live independently, so Reggie moved permanently into our house. Early introductions to Tai-Tai and Tundra didn't go so well. A pecking order emerged, and Tundra was clearly king, but Reggie exerted his dominance over Tai-Tai, and Tai-Tai never learned to like Reggie.
Tundra and Reggie pretty much landed on neutral ground, and you could occasionally find them snuggled near each other.
Reggie occasionally ended up on or near Dave, though Dave always insisted that it was only because Reggie didn't realize whose lap he was sitting on.
Despite how much Reggie had been a scaredy cat while living in Grandma Lu's assisted living apartment, running under the bed any time anyone walked into the room, he found his bravery and showed his love to all of the girls in the household.
Reggie wasn't the most svelte of kitties, but his belly was very soft, and he did like to get a good belly rub.
Reggie was very playful up until the very end: strings, toy mice, toy stuffed dolphins, the laser pointer.
Reggie got a few last sleeps under the Christmas tree in early December, though he was no longer able to chew on the pine needles. In past years, he would eat the tree needles and throw them up multiple times a day.
Rest in peace, dear Reggie. We hope you are snuggling once again with Grandma Lu.
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