Remembering Our Beloved Rocky Cat

Rich and Lauri Withers officially adopted Rocky from the SCRAPS shelter on September 8th, 2020, and after they neutered him and gave him initial vaccinations, we brought him home to our apartment late afternoon on September 11th, 2020.

We will never forget that first night! Rocky was so very happy to have a home and new pet parents, he kept us up all that night, nuzzling us and burying his head in our arms. Within a few months, we discovered that Rocky had a problem with constipation, and we took steps to keep his bowels moving with veterinarian assistance. Rocky was very large in size, growing quickly to 17 lbs. of domestic medium hair strength and agility. He loved to climb high places! He loved to chase ping-pong balls! He loved to rapidly climb his cat tree in the living room.

Rocky has beautiful coloration! His bottom two-thirds are pure white, and his upper body is a mixture of chocolate brown, tan, and some grey. He has a bushy tail and a very handsome masked face with a dark tear drop below his left eye and a small smudge mark on his nose.

The weekend of June 6 & 7, 2026, we became concerned that he was sleeping more and eating less. We made an appointment for him to see the veterinarian on June 10th. After two different blood panels and three x-rays, on June 12th the vet called us to say that because of Rocky’s very low white blood cell count and because his liver and spleen were enlarged, Rocky most probably has Lymphoma – cancer of his lymphatic system. We gave him Lactulose to keep his bowels moving, and Prednisolone to keep him comfortable; but late Sunday evening, June 14th, his health declined rapidly, and we just knew that we couldn’t wait until office hours at the veterinarian’s clinic for further evaluation.

We drove Rocky to the Animal Emergency Clinic, arriving around 2:30 AM to have him euthanized. Heather handled the paperwork, Allison made Rocky comfortable inside the clinic, and Karen administered the sedative and then the double dose of anesthesia to stop his beating heart. Lauri and I loved on Rocky during those final twenty or so minutes, and he passed on safely and quietly into the loving arms of our LORD Jesus Christ. Rocky is now whole and healthy, handsomely beautiful, awaiting the arrival of his earthly MomCat and DadCat who both miss him terribly! Many tears have been shed by us both. Early the morning of June 19th we picked up Rocky’s cremated remains within a beautiful wooden urn with his nameplate engraved along with his dates (9/08/20 – 6/15/26) as we remember Rocky’s 2,107 days with us in apartment #17. Rocky Cat, we love you with muchness!