Our time as Kitty Parents to Gray Feb 2010 to Aug 2019

In Feb 2010 we rescued Gray when we lived near Wrigley Field in Chicago.
She was skin and bones with a broken tail and mangy fur.
Her tongue was hanging out and she couldn't eat.

She laid on my stomach for heat for weeks.

We brought her to a close by Vet in Chicago.
He estimated she was about 6 to 9 years old and he said all her teeth are rotten and they have to come out.
He said it would be $1,500. We got a Care Credit card which is geared towards pet care and it had a $1,500 max.
Gray had her surgery and the Dr presented me a bill for $2,000. He said there were some complications.
A couple of weeks later Gray is starting to eat and her tongue is no longer hanging out and starts to put on weight.
At same time we start bringing her to Petsmart where there is a girl that specializes in bathing cats.
A month later her tongue is hanging out again, drooling and can't eat again.

We took her to a different Vet as I did not trust that last one.
She examines Gray and says all her teeth are rotten and they have to come out. We were shocked and said we just paid $2,000 to get all her teeth taken out. She said the last 4 teeth in the back of her mouth were still there.
Another $1,000 later and now all her teeth have been removed which is why my nickname for Gray was 3K Kitty.

Gray puts on weight and fur looking great and we say goodbye to the nice girl at Petsmart as June 2010 we move 40 miles out from Chicago to Elgin when I got transferred out there when I went permanent at T-Mobile after contracting since June 2004. She also recovers from what had to be a past horrible life, she was very skiddish of people understandably.

In Oct 2013 we moved to Indianapolis as I got transferred there. Gray settles in and I don't how but she would always greet us at the door. Somehow she heard us coming in the lobby door of the apartment I guess. Our other kitties didn't greet us at the door. Amber and Gray become buddies. Honey and Gray never really got along and Socks sometimes would have a spat with her.

As you imagine a cat without teeth poses challenges. She could only eat soft food such as pate. She got to eat on a plate not a bowl too because without teeth her head would have to be all the way in the bowl and a quite a mess. She also had to eat many times a day. Debi pretty much had her sleep and daily routine centered around Grays feeding schedule. At night Gray would let debi know it was time to eat by pawing at her face or pulling her hair.

Going away on a trip also required that she had someone to look after her. Our friends Jim amd Mary would come over several times a day to tend to Gray's needs. Gray and the others as well as Jim and Mary grew attached and I'm sure they will miss Gray Gray as well and we thank them for helping us with her as well.

Around 2015 Gray started to have health issues and we brought her to our friend Dee who is a Vet. Her place is not in the city but we didn't mind the drive. She discovers Gray has the dreaded Thyroid cancer many cats get and put on medicine for it the rest of her life. In January 2019 Gray has a seizure and we thought she was gone but she recovered the next morning, she didn't have any more seizures but apparent the Thyroid cancer was getting worse.

Gray really gets close to debi as she aged especially in 2019.

Gray starts to lay on my stomach for heat as she did when we first got her.

She knew she was not well and it hurt all of us. As she could no longer eat and lost weight we knew her days were numbered. The month of July was tough and August 1st we knew we had to take her to the Rainbow Bridge.

Thanks to Dee and her staff for helping us help Gray have a wonderful and full life.

She will be missed by us, she leaves a big hole in our hearts.