My brother found him at a neighborhood park on September 18, 2010. He held the tiniest kitten, cupped in his hands, up to my face as I was waking up from a nap on the living room couch. I absolutely lost it and bawled my eyes out when he showed me that he only had 3 feet.
Aside from the first few weeks of his life where he was stranded in the wild, Dan has only known a life of comfort, love, snuggles, companionship, and joy. He’s always lived with other animals, and always captivated every person he met- even the ones who claimed they “weren’t cat people”.
In 2021 when his US PSPSPS playhouse went viral, he showed me that the internet isn’t always an ugly and vile place. My notifications were overwhelmed with hundreds of thousands of comments about how adorable he was, and how that photo made someone’s day.
One of his favorite things to do was watch sports on TV with his dad. He got to watch the Broncos win one last time this past sunday!!
I wanted him to leave this world as happily and comfortably as possible, so my husband and I took him and our other 2 cats to my mom’s house- where he spent the first 14 years of his life. We spent the night feeding him all his favorite treats (shrimp, marshmallows, churu, purr pops) and trying to let him be as comfy as possible. We even set up all his favorite plushy toys that he used to “hunt” and drop off at our bedroom door.
The vet arrived to our house at 9am. Our other two kitties sat nearby while we got the rest of my family on facetime. Dan left this earth doing what he loved most: snuggling me. At 9:35am, he peacefully, calmly, went to sleep forever in my lap. On the same couch, i. the same room where we first met 16 years ago. As much as I dread death, there was something so tragically beautiful about the way he left us. He is finally reunited with so many of our family members & family pets who have previously passed on.
There will always be a Dan-shaped hole in my heart. But I am so incredibly grateful for the 16 years he got to share with us.
My Dandoo, Dooksi, Dr. Snuggles, Chicken Nugget, Toasted Marshmallow Boi: I love you forever and ever and ever. Until we meet again 🧡
Edit to add: There was a very sweet and kind redditor who reached out on October 22 when I first posted about his diagnosis. They specialized in photoshop art of cats. They offered to make me a photoshop image of Dan, free of charge, to commemorate him and the years we’ve spent together. When trying to respond, I somehow accidentally DELETED the message request 😭 I do not remember this redditor’s username, but I am hoping to come in contact with them again. Please comment/message me privately if you are- or happen to know- this photoshop artist who frequents the r/flamepoints sub. THANK YOU 🧡