On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, we had to say our final goodbyes to Kai, who was such a good boy to the very end.

We brought Kai and Stanley home in July 2008 as kittens, brothers from the same litter. Kai was always super territorial, despite being an indoor cat, and would always make sure that cat outside the window knew this was his house.

He had the longest forelegs arms I’ve ever seen on a cat. He loved to stretch out and just barely touch you.

During COVID when we were all home all the time, he became extra dependent on the humans, turning into more of a dog than a cat. He’d patrol around, sit on the floor next to you, and always want to be with the humans.

When no humans were around, he’d balance his time between being in the sun; being in bed; or cuddling with his brother, Stanley. We ran a lot of experiments trying to figure out which was more important - sun, bed, or bro. If he could be in a bed in the sun with his brother, that was the best. I think sun was probably the top ranking thing, though. He really loved being a sunny buddy.

He really wanted to drink your water out of your cup. Didn’t matter how warm it was, it was yours and that made him want it. I 3D printed some drink covers to put on top of your cup if you got up and left. He never figured out you could just flip the top off and get to the cup - it was enough to stop him. He was also a total sweet tooth - if you got some dessert, he really wanted it. We never even gave him any (he couldn’t stomach people food) but something about sweets made him immediately show up.

He never really pooped in a litter box. He’d pee in there, but he just wouldn’t poop in there. That wasn’t too horrible except in the last couple of years it stopped being solid and really was… not good. He also started losing weight, like a lot of weight. He had been a pretty stout boy for a while and by the end of his life he was close to eight pounds, just skin hanging off bones. It was sad to see him change so much.

He turned 17 earlier this month and in the past couple of months his internal health kept deteriorating. On the outside, he’d still run around and play and was active, but inside… he was not doing well. We decided it was probably time to say goodbye.

He loved getting in his carrier, which is so weird because he only ever got taken to the vet in that thing. He wasn’t a traveling cat. But even on the last day, he really wanted in there to go, which just made the trip harder.

We said goodbye to him and we miss him. His brother misses him. Love you, buddy.