The day Tylan and I first met at his foster mom's house.
I'm heartbroken. My beautiful Siamese cat, Tylan, has left for the Rainbow Bridge.
What Happened
As many of you are aware, Tylan had a difficult life from the very beginning. Initially, he lived on the streets of Bangkok, Thailand with other members of his Siamese colony. A well-intentioned woman they call Granny rescued him and his colony from the streets of Thailand, but she was unable to properly care for the 30-40 cats in her tiny one-room apartment. Granny kept Tylan and the other kitties in individual hard plastic cat carriers stacked from floor to ceiling.
Fortunately, Demi from Demi's Animal Rescue was in Thailand filming a documentary when she met Tylan. She noticed how bad his mouth was; he couldn't even meow at the time, and she funded dental surgery for him and a few of his Siamese friends.
After the surgery, he went back to Granny's, but when he developed an infection, Demi realized that this wouldn't be an environment where Tylan and his friends could reasonably heal, so she put a plan into motion to bring him and three of his Siamese friends back to the United States.
The foster family in Thailand fell in love with one of the kitties during their quarantine (required to travel to the United States), so three Siamese ended up flying halfway around the world to find their loving forever homes.
Tylan loved hanging out in this small tree throughout the years.
Fast forward several months. Lita passed away on September 12, 2018. I was heartbroken and searching for a new kitty companion for Carmine who was always quite the social butterfly. Tylan's photo caught my eye right away; what a gorgeous cat, I thought. When I read his bio, I felt like he would fit into our home perfectly, so my dear friend, Karen, took me and Carmine to meet Tylan in his foster home.
Even before we met, though, I knew Tylan was supposed to be here. Don't ask me how. I just knew he was meant to be in our family. And that's exactly what happened. Tylan and Carmine did pretty well the first time they met, and I just loved the curious and handsome Siamese I met. It was a done deal. We just had to wait for Tylan to finish some antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection before he was cleared to come home with us.
Tylan had found his loving forever home, but his challenges were
far from over. Many of you may recall that shortly after I adopted Tylan, our vet told me that he had severe refractory stomatitis. He had already had most of his teeth extracted (he only had his two bottom canines left). A near-full mouth extraction is successful in treating about 80% of stomatitis cases, but it didn't work for Tylan. To make a long story short, the cat community pulled together and raised the funds needed for Tylan to undergo
stem cell therapy. It was quite the endeavor, but it was his
last and only hope for a quality life. After fat removal surgery and four stem cell treatments, Tylan's stomatitis improved significantly! After several months, we were able to successfully manage his stomatitis with a dose of daily prednisolone, something that hadn't been possible before stem cell therapy.
I visited Tylan every day while he was hospitalized in January.
At the mere age of six years old, in 2021, Tylan was diagnosed with both hyperthyroidism and chronic kidney disease (CKD). He was the youngest cat our vet had ever seen with hyperthyroidism.
Over the next three years, he also had several bouts of acute pancreatitis. The inflammation in his body was terrible, and he had just about every inflammatory condition you can think of, from asthma to chronic pancreatitis to osteoarthritis and everything in between.
We actually managed his chronic kidney disease pretty well for three years. Tylan was in mid-late stage two CKD during that time. However, this past January, Tylan had something the vets term "acute on chronic kidney disease." He was hospitalized for five days in mid-late January, and I wasn't sure he'd make it through that. I visited him daily and prayed constantly that he'd be okay and able to come home again.
Thankfully, several days of IV fluids helped lower his creatinine to the point where he could safely come home again. To say I was nervous when he came back home is an understatement, but as the weeks passed and his creatinine stayed stable, I relaxed a little. At this point, he was firmly in end-stage kidney disease. His creatinine and BUN were pretty high, but he had plenty of good days where he ate sufficiently, enjoyed sunbathing in his tree basket, was social, and even played with his favorite toys.
Tylan loved to hang out in the basket on his tree by the window. He spent hours sunbathing here nearly every afternoon.
That began to change in April. I noticed Tylan began to vocalize more often, the way he did right before he was hospitalized in January. He also slowed down on his eating significantly. I noticed he didn't seem very comfortable. He became more clingy, the way he did when he didn't feel well.
So I had his vet check his labs again in early May. His labs came back pretty bad. His creatinine was nearly as high as it was when he was hospitalized. Our vet encouraged hospitalization again, but I just knew Tylan didn't want that.
To make sure, though, I had my dear friend, Linda, the most amazing animal communicator I know, talk with him. I was hearing him correctly. Tylan said he absolutely did not want to be hospitalized again. He said he didn't want any more vet visits, period. He let us know that he was ready to go and that he was only hanging on for me. This was so incredibly sweet and selfless of him, but it wasn't right that he was here merely for me. I had to do what was best for him, the most loving and hardest thing. It was time to let him go. He had endured more challenges than any precious kitty should ever have to face in 10 lifetimes, let alone one.
Linda let me know that Tylan wanted a few more days with me but that he thought he might only have about a week left here with us. So I scheduled an in-home euthanasia; he indicated he wanted me to help him transition over to the Rainbow Bridge.
Tylan spent a lot of time in his Squishmallow bed (covered with a fleece blanket), so he could be near me as I worked on the computer.
An Inspirational Cat
Despite all the challenges Tylan faced during his lifetime, he was truly one of the happiest and sweetest cats I've ever had the privilege of knowing. I was dumbstruck by how incredibly friendly, sweet, and happy he was from the first day I brought him home. I simply couldn't believe that someone who had been through so much in his three short years of life could possibly be that happy and that friendly! Where was the bitterness? Where was the total distrust of people? He'd been forced to live in a hard plastic cat carrier without enough food or proper healthcare. Why on earth would he trust anybody, I wondered?
Tylan loved everything about his new home right away. He loved Carmine. He loved the abundance of toys. And I think most of all, he loved that he always had as much food to eat as he wanted.
I'll be honest. Tylan and I didn't bond deeply right away, not the way Carmine and I had, not the way Lita and I had. It worried me. Don't get me wrong—I loved him from day one, but it just wasn't the deep bond I'd hoped for right away.
It didn't take long for Tylan to start weaseling his way deeper into my heart, though. How could he not? He was adorable, sweet, intelligent, and insisted that I give him attention when he wanted it, no matter what I was doing. And yes, true to the Siamese breed, he was quite bossy and opinionated, too! It's no surprise that we ended up forming a deep bond over the years.
Tylan wasn't typically a lap cat, but he would grace my lap occasionally if I draped a fleece blanket over myself. This colorful cat blanket was his favorite (and it's mine, too).
Tylan loved to play, especially when he was young before his arthritis set in. He used to throw his blue octopus up in the air and jump up off the floor with all four feet to catch it mid-air. He also loved to chase wand toys. And it didn't take me long to discover that he loved crinkle balls; they were his favorite.
I swear that Tylan never met a stranger. He loved everyone. Shortly after I adopted him, I took him to our vet for a steroid shot for his stomatitis, and there was a little boy in the waiting room who wanted to pet Tylan. The boy was gentle, but he was still a kid, slinging his arms around animatedly while he told me about his cat. Tylan didn't even flinch! I think he would have made a great therapy cat (but he was disqualified from becoming one due to the fact that he was on lifelong steroids). Tylan made friends everywhere he went. He was the favorite feline patient at two different vet clinics, and even though everyone was happy to see him leave the hospital, they all told me they'd really miss him. Who wouldn't miss the cat who yells at you for attention and flops on his back, purring happily away while you rub his belly?!
A couple of our maintenance men even befriended Tylan and always said hi to him before they did me. Haha!! I thought that was awesome! They'd carry on entire conversations with him whenever they saw him.
Tylan didn't just befriend people, though, he also adored his cat friends. I know he really liked his friend, Mek, one of the other Siamese who came to the United States with him. Tylan immediately loved Carmine. He even wanted to curl up in Carmine's bed with him. Carmine was a good sport about it, but he usually let Tylan have the whole bed after a few minutes of cuddling.
When Carmine died in 2023, Tylan was as heartbroken as I was. It was heart-wrenching to see him that sad. When Giovanni came to live with us shortly after Carmine went to the Rainbow Bridge, Tylan was so happy! It didn't take but 24 hours for the two of them to become friends, and Giovanni used to curl up against Tylan in his bed when he was a kitten. Throughout their time together, I often found them hanging out near each other in the tree, on the floor, or on my bed. Giovanni brought me and Tylan so much joy when we were grieving, and I'm thankful I found a friend to help lift Tylan's spirits again. Giovanni continues to be a bright light in my life.
Tylan and Giovanni enjoyed one another's company and often hung out together.
Tylan didn't express his love for me in the same way that Carmine and Lita had. Sure, he would hang out near me, but he never wanted to lay in my lap (unless he felt really terrible) and he rarely slept with me at night. I knew he loved me, but I didn't realize just how much until I left for two days last November to attend the BlogPaws conference. I had an awesome pet sitter who came twice a day to keep the boys company, feed them, scoop the litter box, give meds, etc. The minute I got home from the conference, Tylan insisted I pick him up (he was not a pick me up kind of guy) and clung to me for dear life. He purred happily and gave me headbonks for the longest time while I held him and told him how much I missed him.
I love that Tylan was possessive of me in the presence of others. If someone came to visit me, Tylan insisted I hold him the entire time the visitor was here. He wanted to make sure they knew I was his human.
Gratitude
I am so incredibly thankful to have had the privilege of being Tylan's human for six and a half years. Of course I wish it were longer than that. Of course I wish he could have lived to be an old mancat. That just wasn't his destiny, as sad as that is.
Tylan loved belly rubs to his very last day. He demanded them often.
Tylan taught me so much in his short time in my life. He's taught me to be more patient and compassionate. He's taught me that maybe it really is okay to advocate for your needs and to express your opinions. He reminded me to try and be kind to everyone. He was the epitome of perseverance—he faced numerous challenges and handled them all with determination and grace. He reminded me to find a way through my challenges, always, no matter how impossible they seem.
Tylan was such a loving mancat. He told Linda that he was hanging on for me because he sensed I wasn't ready for him to go. Even though he felt miserable, he loved me enough to keep going. It's the kind of love only animals are capable of showing us. It's such a wonderful gift, one that I'll carry with me in my heart forever.
I am thankful to those who have taken this journey with us, whether you've been here for the entire journey or just recently joined us. I am especially thankful for my best friend, Terry, from
Brian's Home - Forever for always being there to listen to me, help me sort out confusing situations, and for loving me and my fuzzy babies. Thank you to Linda who has helped me talk to Tylan and discern his feelings, needs, and wishes. Thank you to my fellow animal communication classmates, May and Rebecca, for talking to my sweet boy, for praying for him, and for sending him reiki. Thank you, Ann of
Zoolatry, for creating the beautiful badge for Tylan below. And to all who have checked in on me and Tylan, sent positive thoughts, prayed for us, left comments, given hugs, and more, I appreciate you all so much.
It may be time to bid farewell to you, sweet Tylan for now, but it's not good-bye forever. It's an, "I'll see you later. We'll be together again before we know it." I promise to work harder on my animal communication skills so we can talk while you are not physically here. Please be patient with me as I learn. I love you so much, my little meezie. Please say hi to Carmine, Lita, and Jewel for me, and please come back to visit and boss me around, okay?
Badge created by Ann of Zoolatry.
Tylan
Feb. 2015–May 13, 2025
Love Is Eternal.
Forever in My Heart.
