myKotty This time on our blog, we are dealing with a difficult topic. The pain accompanying the loss of a beloved animal can be compared to the emotions resulting from the death of a close family member. And that’s how we felt when we lost Luis – our first cat, a great companion, and the inspiration behind myKotty. Although sickness took him from us after a long struggle, he will remain with us forever, in our memory and – for those who did not know him – in the company’s logo. And now you can also get to know him better because we’ve decided to tell you a story whose first chapter begins with the word Love.
As told by Marta.
A friendship that started in animal shelter in Toruń
We first met Luis in an animal shelter in Toruń. Once we made the decision to adopt him, we spent many hours there, looking at the cats and watching their behavior. Luis caught my attention – he seemed calm, did not get into fights with other cats, and avoided conflict. His mature attitude, wise eyes, and an extremely gentle personality meant that I could not choose otherwise – this cat stole my heart right away, when I first got to meet him.
Immediately after adoption, Luis became a true member of the family and we quickly got on the same wavelength. Initially, we had a lot of time for Luis, but with the growth of our company, this amount of time shrunk, causing us to fear that the day when we would realize that we were not paying enough attention to Luis would come soon. We didn’t want to compromise, and a crazy idea started germinating in our minds – a second cat.
Like brothers
One thing led to another and it eventually happened! We found a companion for Luis. Figo came from a family in which a kitty mum gave birth to a litter of kittens. When he joined us, he was still a small kitten, but from the very beginning he was the one to set the boundaries in our relationship. We got along quite well, but over time, Figo opted more and more for Luis’ company. It was natural for us to take a backseat, watching a real cat friendship flourish.
Figo’s company had an invigorating effect on Luis, which was manifested in an uncontrollable appetite and a lot more energy of the latter. Together with Figo they became a harmonious duo – it was nice to watch them ‘spar’ for fun and caper like crazy around the house. Figo went completely crazy about Luis, viewing him not only as a playmate but also a ‘parent figure’, so to speak – and to such an extent that he even mistook him for his mother once!
When sickness gained the upper hand over fun
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. And they did when Luis started getting sick. We took him to the best specialists available, but the development of his kidney disease could not be prevented. Carefree fun turned into taking care of Luis, both on our part and on the part of Figo, who was well aware of what was happening to Luis. In more difficult moments, he tended to withdraw to give his friend time to regenerate. Watching Luis wither away caused us all a lot of suffering – we knew we couldn’t win this fight, but we didn’t want to lay down our arms. Even Figo, playing joyfully with curtains in the last moments of Luis’ life, seemed to cling to the hope that it was not over yet.
A new chapter in our life
The first days without Luis were extremely difficult – we felt the heavy burden of loss and emptiness. Figo stopped playing, mourning with us in his own way. We tried to relieve him of the tension, encouraging him to play with us, but – unfortunately – to no effect. Each slightest sound caused him stress and made him quickly melancholic. With the help of cat pheromones, Figo became more confident, but he was still far from the cat he used to be.
And so we took the decision to enlarge our cat family and to provide company to Figo, who clearly needed help – as Luis did once. We welcomed a new member of our family, and are currently at the final stage of the process of isolation on socialization. The first moments between Figo and the kitten bring back memories – not so long ago, Figo had been trying to win Luis’ favor. We hope that we will soon be watching our two cats play carefree. But they still need some time to get to know each other and make friends.
Stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled for the next article, where we will tell you how it all works out for them!
