.. and I miss him already...

Elvis showed up among my colony back at the end of March, probably about 5
or 6 months old at the time. He was emaciated, terribly ill with upper
respiratory infection. He had ulcers in his throat and one in his left eye.
I suspect somebody dumped him here since he seemed well adjusted to people
and loved attention. I dosed him with antibiotics and got him eating again.
Elvis recovered nicely and became a very affectionate part of the clan. He
was one of the three from the whole group that was socialized. The others
have their semi feral fear/avoidance of contact.

Elvis was a greeter. Wherever he was, he'd come running when either my wife
or I drove in. He loved to climb up in my lap, roll over and wrap his paws
around my arm while getting his tummy rubbed or his ears scratched. Lately
he developed a tactic that may have contributed to his demise. As soon as
one of us parked a car, he would stand on his hind legs and strop his claws
on one of the tires.

Today when I got back from errands, none of the colony was around - didn't
see one cat anywhere. I drove in, backed up a few feet to straighten the car
up, then pulled forward. When I got out, my neighbor came over and asked if
I had run over one of the cats. He said he heard a cat shriek. My AC fan was
on high, so I hadn't heard anything. We went looking and found Elvis behind
my tool shed trying to hide.

His right hind leg was split open from hip to knee and from knee to ankle.
The hip was obviously dislocated or broken. He had probably come running
from somewhere out of sight and hopped up to claw the rear tire when I
backed up.

Naturally, calls to the emergency vet were not returned. Whether anyone was
available or not isn't known. I picked Elvis up and got him as comfortable
as possible on my lap. Not only was his hip and leg in bad shape, but he was
showing increasing abdominal pain. His suffering was pretty bad but he still
wanted to cuddle with me, paws wrapped around my arm. I prepared a dose of 2
Klonopin and 2 Librium crushed and mixed with water and gave it to him
orally through a 3 cc syringe. About 30 minutes later, he was unconscious.
He passed on curled on my lap, still holding his paws around my arm, head
lying in the palm of my hand. Little Elvis was no longer hurting. His heart
was still, his breathing stopped. He was buried out back by the tree where
he used to hang out and survey the area.

That little guy brought so much life to the colony. He was playful with the
other cats, and constantly stalking various objects and creatures. His
antics were truly amazing entertainment. His vision was a bit off from the
ulcer scarring in his left eye. He would jiggle his head from side to side,
trying to look at something up close around the obstruction in his vision.
It was truly a joy to see him rise from the miserable condition he arrived
here in and become such a loving, happy member of the colony. It truly hurts
to lose him this way. He knew love... He gave love. His final breath came
embracing me as he had so many times before. Rest in peace my little buddy.