Mr. Ingogh

We said goodbye to our cat Ingogh today. We knew for years that he potentially had kidney issues. He was at the animal hospital from Thursday until Monday and came home yesterday afternoon. The vet was optimistic that he would bounce back with some meds to help with nausea & his kidneys and a special diet. I think his little body just had enough and he waited until he came home. Thankfully it was a nice day and my parents were in town. They were able to watch the kids while Cork and I spent a bunch of time outside with Ingogh. We were supposed to leave before 6:00 to get to a birthing class, but neither of us could pull ourselves away from him. His breathing changed and we both knew it wouldn't be much longer. We had a vet friend coming over later tonight to euthanize Ingogh, but thankfully we didn't have to follow through with that. Ingogh passed peacefully with Cork and I petting him. While the girls are too young to fully understand death, they definitely knew something was going on. I usually type the blog the day something happens, but I'm getting to this one the following day. This morning, the first thing Eiley said was "where Ingogh". Both kids knew Ingogh was sick and that he'd been at the "doctor's" this past weekend. I explained how Ingogh went to heaven and he isn't sick anymore. We talked about that a bunch, but I don't think they grasp it. They knew that Cork and I are sad. Arya has a yellow stuffed cat, that looks nothing like Ingogh. Both kids are really into asking the name of things and people right now. Tonight, she asked me what the name of her little cat was. I told her I didn't know and asked what she wanted to call him and she said Ingogh.

Cork and I got Ingogh shortly after we got married. We moved and went on a delayed honeymoon in Europe. My mom asked if we were excited to go and I told her I was excited to come back and get a cat. I saw Ingogh on our Humane Society web page and knew he was the cat for us. After work that day, I dragged Cork to the Humane Society with me. We looked at all the cats and decided Ingogh was it for us. Someone else was trying to adopt Ingogh by the time we were done looking. The Humane Society has a pretty extensive process to adopt an animal. We were hoping something would go wrong and the woman who was trying to get Ingogh wouldn't. I think we sat around for at least an hour waiting to find out if he was going home with her or not. One of the rules the Humane Society has it that every adult in the household has to be present to adopt an animal so they know that everyone agrees on getting a pet. The woman trying to adopt Ingogh could not get a hold of her boyfriend, so eventually she gave up and left. We jumped right in and adopted Ingogh that night. He had an upper respiratory infection, like so many kittens at the Humane Society do. We were headed to Michigan that weekend to visit my brother and couldn't leave Ingogh alone, so he went with us. He was pretty sick when we left home, but was feeling much better by the time we left my brother's house. Cork and I got out of the car at a stop and when we came back we found that Ingogh had somehow Houdini'd his way out of his cat carrier and was proudly sitting between the two front seats of our car.

Ingogh was always a super loving cat. He was very vocal and always greeted us when we came home from work. He would also scold us if we'd been away from home for too long. He was a total goof ball from the beginning and was the typical curious cat. We found him in our microwave once. When we initially got him we had ferrets and he loved to spend time in the ferret cage. He would do things, like scramble off a bed and run into a wall and then would be super embarrassed. When he was younger, all we had to do was raise our hands above our heads and he'd arch his back, puff out his fur and playfully walk sideways. When Arya and Eiley came home from the hospital, he was very interested in them. We have some great video of the girls "talking" when they are probably 4 or 5 months old and Ingogh howling along with them. The girls could do just about anything to him and he would tolerate it. He hated his tail to be pulled and  his stomach to be put, but Arya and Eiley could do either and he tolerated it. He would get up and walk away if they were too bothersome. He scratched Arya once, after he repeatedly walked away and I repeatedly told her he did not like what she was doing. He scratched the first layer of skin and barely touched her, but it was enough to teach her not to bother him like she was. Even today, when he was so sick, he still let the girls run around by him and pet him as they liked.

Ingogh was very protective of his area. He really wanted a companion and was so happy when we brought Sikozu home. He wasn't as accepting of all animals. We took care of a friends cat for a few months. Ingogh did not like that cat and barely tolerated him in his space. The other cat could go most places in the house, but our bedroom was off limits. If Hogan ever tried to come in there, Ingogh was poised on the bed and quickly chased him out. He loved other animals though. My parents' cat spent a bunch of time here before she passed away a few years ago. Ingogh loved her. He followed her around the house and would try to snuggle up with her. When he was at my parents house, he would try to find her and would sleep in places she usually slept.

We'll miss Ingogh and all his antics, like never eating or drinking directly from his bowls. He always had to scoop the food on the floor and would drink by dipping his paw into the water bowl and licking that. We're both happy that he passed peacefully on his own and that we were both able to be there with him.