Saladin - Obituary

This is the story of Saladin, a gorgeous Persian tomcat. I am told Turkish folks brought them to Tunisia and that is why the people here call them "Turkish". Anyhow, approx. 2 years ago I found a lovely little Persian kitten in front of my entrance door. I could hardly trust my eyes, who would leave such a little bundle of joy just like that? I took him inside, gave him a bit of milk (1/3 milk, 2/3 mineral water, as advised by the vet) and cat food from the supermarket. Saladin grew up, a lively, gentle fur angel. He loved eating, whenever I prepared my little treasures' food, he seemed to think that I take too long and would jump up onto the sideboard to help himself. Trying to enter the kitchen without him following me seemed to be impossible, he was so fast and very sportive. One day kids informed me that I  have a cat sitting on my awning. To my surprise it turned out to be Saladin. With the aid of a long ladder I managed to take him down. Saladin must have jumped off the roof terrace. He did this also on another occasion. When Saladin suffered from diarrhoea, the vet advised me to stop his food for 24 hrs. This was hell for him and me, he cried for his food and looked at me with his lovely big eyes, not understanding what was going on. I had to lock him in the bathroom until all other cats had finished their meal. When I let him out, he checked all food bowls. No food anywhere within reach. So he finally decided  to jump off the roof terrace and onto my door awning. I happened to be outside and again kids discovered him first. Same procedure as before, felt so sorry for my little treasure, tried to reassure him that I still love him very much and reduced his short "Ramadan" to 20 hrs. I cooked chicken with rice and fine chopped carrots for Saladin and he really enjoyed his meal. For a while he was okay then his diarrhoea returned and he caught a cold. Running noses and conjunctivitis are a common problem here for cats (in particular during those periods with cold and wet days and/or nights). When he stopped eating, the vet explained that cats only eat what they can smell, with a blocked nose this isn't possible. Meanwhile I have my own little pharmacy for cats at home, which is just as well, as these little darlings don't like travelling in a transport box and several taxis don't like having them in the car (for "hygienic reasons" , utterly bullshit in view of a plastic transport box). With his prescribed medication (Marbocyl, in addition Kortison) and inhalation he got better. The vet informed me that a variation of food often causes diarrhoea. This was new to me, never experienced that with cats in Europe. For quite some time we believed that Saladin is dump.He moved his mouth as if he wanted to speak, but there was no sound. We heard his voice for the first time at the vet's, it took months. I did my best, but diarrhoea kept recurring. Saladin lost weight which didn't show straight away due to his lovely long fur. We bought an expensive special diet (croquets) from the vet. Strange, all the cats thought it's delicious, but Saladin didn't particular. I had to feed him separately, only occasionally offered a bit to a couple of other cats, in order to make these croquets more interesting to my little fur angel. It worked, thank heaven. Saladin was a good actor, apart from pretending to be dump, he sometimes pretended to eat, but spit his croquets out again, without me noticing at first. When the vet took blood from him to have it tested, she had to take it from a neck vein, as he got so skinny. Poor soul. The result of the blood test came as a real shock, only half as many erythrocytes as normal. The vet warned us that Saladin won't have much longer to live. For a couple of days my lovely gentle treasure (friendly with everyone and all the cats) seemed to get better. Wishful thinking. Saladin used to follow me around, seemed to be always at my side, the first one to greet me in the morning, purring. a gift from heaven. But only for 2 years. Some time between 23.oo hrs and 4 a.m. my beloved one passed away, Friday 04.05.18 or Saturday 05.05.18. I miss him so much, often, when he looked at me with his lovely big eyes, I wondered what he is thinking. He deserves to be in Paradise.