Thursday, August 25, 2011

Stormin' Norman...RIP













Yesterday was a HARD day for our family. We lost our beloved Stormin Norman Schwarzkopf, he was 8.5 years old.

Norman showed up at my mom and dad's house one day. Mom was out watering the lawn (flood irrigating) and he ran across the busy road in front of their house. He ran thru the water-stormin after my mom...meowing, begging for attention, he was a kitten. Mom and Dad kept him for about 2 weeks but their other 2 cats did not like him so she asked if we would take him...he was a doll that is for sure, we said yes.


Norman quickly became Boo's cat. He slept on Boo's bed (under the covers most nights) and laid on Roo's bed while she was at school. Roo has never been lovey dovey with pets, and her bed is OFF LIMITS to ALL animals...Norm would have NONE of that! ;-P

He grew, and grew until he weighed 20lbs and could reach the middle of your back when standing on his hind legs to tap you to pay attention to him, which he did often.

Norm was fond of stinky, sweaty feet, shoes and loved to have you rub his body with the smelly socks when you got home from a long day at work or school....Boo's cleats, basketball shoes etc were a favorite-they were extra stinky.

After C-Man and Mitch came home, Norm decided they too were awesome. He slept on C-mans bed until he fell asleep and then would move to Boo's until he was asleep, he loved to cuddle with Mitch on the couch in her blankets.

It was not unusual to find Norm laying in the bathroom sink, often making it very difficult to brush your teeth or wash your hands...he loved water. He very rarely drank like a normal cat, most of the time he drank out of the sink....when forced to be an 'animal' he drank by dragging his paw in the water and drinking off of his foot. He and his bestest buddy, Skittles, would gather in the kitchen for chicken, hamburger or anything else they could convince us to give them as a treat.


In the last year, Norm has had various health issues. He grew a tumor on his right ear, which we loving referred to as 'ear boob'. We had his ear boob removed, leaving a large cat with 2 different sized ears....he didn't care!

Norm began sneezing a few months back, we chalked it off to cat cold. About 2 months ago he began vomiting and not wanting to eat. We tried soft food, hard food, etc. Vets looked at him and he had good blood work with liver count a little high but otherwise they could not find anything wrong with him.

About 3 weeks ago he took a turn for the worse. Vets believed he had an ulcer and prescribed Pepcid every day.....let me say this-TRYING to give a 20lb cat Pepcid is a sight to see! Pepcid seemed to help, Norman continued sleeping with the kids and eating less, but overall feeling better.

About 1 week ago he crashed. He would not eat, everything gave him diarrhea, vomiting, water became non palatable and his weight plummeted to 11 lbs. He craved being in the sink, but was to weak to get in himself...I would place him there and turn the water on for him to stick his whole head in.


Yesterday we had to make the hard decision to let Norman go. Vet said that his liver was very swollen and he possibly had cancer...we will never know 100%, it doesn't matter now, he is happy, healthy and loving chasing the birds in Heaven. He is buried at the old house next to Bingo...his other bestest buddy!


Norm, you will be missed...we love you and will think of you often. Remember us as well! Your kids said a Prayer for you last night when we had your funeral, you were truly loved!


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