In memory of Frank the Cat

We adopted Frank and Fred in July, 2006. We live next to thousands of acres of land that are being developed and we had gained a mouse problem because of it. We thought Frank and Fred would catch the mice and fix our problem. We actually thought Frank would be a great mouse catcher because he was quite aggressive. Boy were we wrong!!! He did catch one mouse in the house that we had already trapped but we had a lot more mice than that. Anyway, shortly after we brought Frank home, he developed what we thought we allergies and started sneezing snot all over the place. The walls and doors got the brunt of the sneezes. It was disgusting!!! Frank decided he liked being outside and would go outside every night, in freezing cold temperatures, to prowl. He caught tons of mice outside and deposited them on my back porch. I didn't need more mice, I needed less. In January, Frank started coughing . . . a lot. I let it go on for a few weeks because I thought he was trying to cough up a fir ball. His cough got worse and when he would cough his whole body would convulse. Something wasn't right. I took him to the vet and after several costly tests and x-rays, found out that he had pneumonia. The vet said it is very uncommon for a cat to get pneumonia and he really needed to be hospitalized. Very anxious about the cost of a hospital stay, the vet said he could prescribe an antibiotic and I could take him home to see if things got better. $350 dollars later, I left the vet's office. Things did get better. Every once and a while he would cough but it was nothing like before and with his sneezing history I thought he was ok. I was wrong. In June, his cough went from a little to a lot within 2 weeks and his health deteriorated quickly. I decided it was time to pay one last visit to the vet. I just couldn't afford a hospital stay and that was the only option. I felt so bad. As I put Frank in his crate he didn't even fight, he was so sick. We went to the vet, but I was the only one who came home. I felt really bad but I know he isn't sick anymore and he is in a better place. Oh, and we still have Fred who is a worthless mouse catcher as well!!