23 Aug 2026
This post is in rememberance of our dear kitten Dunkan (ടുങ്കൻ). Although our family had quite a few traveller cats who decided to stay a while before they embarked on their journeys, Dunkan would always be remembered as the mightiest.
He came to us at 4 weeks old on a very hot summer in May this year. Tiny, full of bounce and a shake that melts mountains, he quickly solidified his place as the newest member of our household.
Surviving on formula for the first month, he started exploring the household. Little by little Dunkan found his signature bounce and his iconic voice. He found sardines more to his palette than kitten food. He had a habit of finding pieces of old clothes in our house and used to drag them where ever he decided to lie down. And when our mom scolds him, he would give a soul piercing bubbly eyed look that would make her forget his shenanigans. The cat had figured us all out!
Finding places he "fits" was a hobby he found plenty of time for. And there was no place too high or too dark for his search. 3 months have passed in the blink of an eye.
Two weeks prior, our parents found his walks a little wobbly. He would tilt to the side when he scoots. And very recently started taking rests between his walks.
I met him in person last week and we took him to a new vet. They gave him a shot of subcutaneous Potassium infusion. That evening, we saw his iconic bounce back and we were in joy. Our boy has returned. The vet was a little cautious of him having worm infections, as there were signs. But Dunkan's progress made everything feel like it was all right again.
The next morning he had his usual meals of cleaned up sardines. We saw him losing his balance every now and then, but we thought we needed to give the medication some more time to do its thing. We had to leave the house for a bit that day and when we returned, our boy was resting loafed up near his favorite box.
We rushed him to the vet. His breathing became erratic. Every once in a while he would rise his head up to see the street lights and then lie down to rest. By the time we reached the vet, he could no longer stand up. They gave him oxygen every 15 mins and then warmed him up with a dryer. The vets hinted us that his chances of survival are very grim. But seeing our faces, decided to give it another hour for Dunkan to regain his strength.
There was little progress and we decided to bring him home. We saw him for one last time on the morning of Aug 19, 2026 01:15 AM.
Of all the cats who came to our home, Dunkan stayed the shortest. But he would be remembered as the mightiest. All the worries of the world can wait until he finished playing. He gave us plenty of good memories to cherish and in return made a cat-shaped black-hole in our hearts that some how time would have to heal.
Safe travels, friend!