JK Growling, My Cat, Has Died

She passed peacefully of squamous cell carcinoma.

Thank you all for your support. I have been preoccupied the the last 6 weeks ensuring her last days on this earth were comfortable, joyful, and peaceful. Now I will be able to grieve and move on. JK Growling had a difficult start in life. She was found half drowned in a storm drain, the runt of a litter that included her brother Rupert, at about 4 weeks old. Her mother was nowhere to be found. She was hand fed for that first month with a dropper. She experienced seizures.

Later, she was attacked by my neighbor’s dog, causing an injury to her neck and skull that left her with no ability to scratch, bite, or climb. Her knee was broken in this attack, which we discovered many years later. The front portion of her tongue was paralyzed, which left her with a permanent “derp” face that endeared her to thousands of her online fans.

She was able to be trained to be recalled with a whistle. She would often carry small stuffed animals around the house and demand to be praised as though she had just caught a mouse. Because she was part Maine Coon, she was large for a shorthair cat. Her coat was a beautiful red brown color with patches of tortoise patterning. She died of a common form of aggressive cancer called squamous cell carcinoma inside her sinuses. She had become symptomatic in May. She'll be missed.

I want to really recommend pet insurance. They paid out more for her diagnosis and treatment than I paid in premiums for many years, and it took a lot of the stress out of the decision to investigate the cause of her sniffling and manage the illness once identified. My carrier was Trupanion.