Nikki Sixx, The Best Tom Cat I Ever Knew

On November 30, 2023, I took one of the most painful actions I have had to take in years.  Our wonderful tom cat Nikki Sixx, otherwise known as Bubby, had progressed into the final stage of kidney failure after 13 years, all of which except the first 6 months or so of his life, he had spent in our house. One summer day in 2010, he had wandered into our yard about half grown and nearly starved to death.  He might not have weighed 2 pounds that day and in his adult prime he reached 16 pounds. As I have always said about him, you could have held him up to a light and candled him like an egg.  At the time our awesome dachshund Giggles was in her prime and immediately began to bark at him, harass him, and try to drive him away.  I was amazed when I saw him just walk up to her, purr loudly, and rub against her.  He was completely unfazed by her.  

 

We decided to take him in and keep him, had him vaccinated, neutered, etc. and he quickly began to work his way into our hearts.  He was a handsome devil with his Siamese Cross good looks and beautiful blue eyes.  He had a perfect disposition, was always loving and quickly became deeply attached to my wife Candice.  Like Giggles, he spent a great deal of his time in her lap in her wheelchair.  It was one of his favorite places to be whether she was in it or not as the photo below shows.  He was totally devoted to Candice and the feeling was mutual.  I loved him too but he was never as close to me as to Candice.  He had about 12 great years with us without any kind of health problems or problem behaviors but as he aged he developed kidney failure which I am told is the most common cause of death in elderly cats.  We took him to the local veterinarian, had him tested, got the results, and realized that his time with us was going to be limited.  He was flushed out with saline and perhaps some medications and placed on a special cat food for kidney failure.  The good times lasted for a few more months and he had another episode of deterioration with another episode of the same treatment.  That episode gave him a little more time but he quickly got to the point that he couldn't even make it into the cat box and we realized that he needed to be let go.  It was time to have him euthanized and end his suffering.  That was a tough decision.

When we took him to the veterinarian on November 30, 2023, to be euthanized, Candice couldn't go inside with me and Bubby for the end.  I took him in and was eventually taken back to a treatment room.  The veterinarian and her vet tech were both great in how they dealt with us.  The vet tech took him back to another room to insert a catheter and give him a mild sedative to help him relax.  Then she brought him back to the room and left us alone for at least 15 minutes.  I held him on my lap, talked to him, told him I loved him and that he was going to Kitty Kat Heaven.  When the veterinarian and vet tech came back in they asked me if I was ready, and did the necessary work as he lay on a table.  We all petted him as he fell off to a peaceful sleep and the end came.  I had been present on many occasions in the Thoroughbred horse business in which I worked for several years when we euthanized horses, some of them very successful and famous race horses.  But I had never had an animal euthanized before with whom I had such a deep and loving connection.  I managed not to cry in the office but I have cried many times since.  He was one of the best cats I have ever known and I have known many good cats.  He was more like a child and the other nickname I had often used with him was "Son".  He had been a major part of our lives for 13 years and had been a very important part of Candice's support system with her life in a wheelchair.  We brought him home, placed him in his favorite Cat Napper wrapped in a blanket and I buried him in the front yard near the edge of our porch beside Giggles who had died in 2015.  We still haven't ordered his tombstone like hers but will do so in spring.  He will be forever missed in our hearts and minds.  He was a fine cat and, as I have said many time, we had him for 13 year and he never lied to me, never stole anything from me, never asked me to borrow money, and never voted a Republican vote in his life.  You can't ask anything more from a cat!