Oliver Video
AKA "O-Man", "Fudge Ripple Kitty", "Alejandro", "Grouchy Old Man", "Sweet Boy", "Fuzzy Head", "Mr. Man", and "Ollie".
Oliver passed away today, December 13, 2003, due to a progressively degenerative kidney condition call Chronic Renal Failure (CRF). Oliver was my cat for 11 years of fun, frolics, and warm snuggles. He passed away after his kidneys failed completely and nothing more could be done. The previous 16 months with this diagnosed condition were a labor of love. The regimen of subcutaneous fluids, blood pressure medicine and the meds for his other conditions gave him over a year of additional, good quality life. If you have a cat that has recently been diagnosed as CRF, make sure that you consider the treatment that consists of regular subcutaneous fluid injects, blood pressure medicines, blood transfusion, and other supplements. We were very thankful to have the extra good quality of life time with Oliver and will miss him dearly.
We greatly appreciate that work that the NCSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital and Dixie Trail Animal Clinic did for Oliver while were were treating Oliver. Additionally, I would like to thank Helen of The UK Feline CRF Website where I found very helpful information for situations that occurred throughout Oliver's illness.
Latest News: On January 26, 2004, the results of Oliver's necropsy became available. This necropsy details new findings that Oliver suffered from Round-cell neoplasia in his spleen, bone marrow, liver, and pancreas in addition to Chronic Renal Failure. The presence of this cancer throughout his body would explain Oliver's sudden and unexpected failing of health even with the CRF. We had hopes that Oliver would be with us for at least two to three years instead of the 16 months that he did have after his initial diagnosis of CRF; however, the cancer, which in this case was extremely difficult to diagnose, ended his life sooner than expected. Again, many thanks to Dr. Jonathan Fogle who is at the time of this writing a DVM resident at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at North Carolina State University.
If you have a story or anecdote about Oliver and would like to share it with everyone, please feel free to post it to our Oliver Stories forum. Additionally, I have started a new photo album for pictures of Oliver. I will be adding photo as I am able. Please feel free to add any picture that you might have to the Oliver DeKaat Memorial Photo Album.
December 10, 2003
Oliver's Story
Oliver originally adopted my sister Martha while she was living in Houston. From there, he convinced Martha that the west coast was the place to be, so they moved to Santa Cruz, California. In Santa Cruz, Oliver was lord over her apartment while Martha went to US Santa Cruz. It was while living in Santa Cruz that Oliver first met me -- Jeff. It wasn't long before Oliver convinced Martha that he should move to Atlanta to live with me -- if only for a while.
Oliver in Marietta, Georgia, 1992
Well "a while" turned into years. Oliver was an excellent advisor on my many moves with MCI.
- Cities where Oliver deKaat lived throughout his life:
- Houston, Texas
- Santa Cruz, California
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Marietta, Georgia
- Norcross, Georgia
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Cary, North Carolina
- Raleigh, North Carolina
Oliver in the
Fall of 1999
Oliver in the
Spring of 2000 hugging "Butterscotch"
Oliver had a very intense time during the first year that Heather and I lived in Boylan Heights. He had to learn to live with three other cats in the one house. For most of his time while living in Boylan Heights, he and Casey shared one half of the house, while Sweetie and Liam shared the other half of the house.
Oliver in the
Spring of 2000 hugging "Butterscotch"
Oliver
Spring 2002
Oliver deKaat speaks! (Oliver.MP3 file 76kb)
Videos of his "friends" Tang Hardie (Tang.AVI 428kb) and Pumpkin Perry (pumpkin.AVI 155kb)
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