Cats » Kelsey Wellons Photography

Calvin: July 9, 2008 - February 18, 2025

2025-02-20T23:29:00Z

Calvin passed away on February 18, 2025 after medically crashing post-vet visit that he was unable to recover from. He was in shock and his body was shutting down. It was similar to Susie's passing in her hours leading up to her death and we did not want him to experience that. While our vet stabilized him, he was in pain. Chris and I made the decision to end his suffering tearfully.

He was a great cat - the best cat in my opinion. Chris and I went to the pet store after dinner July 9, 2008. Chris had just moved to Columbia a few months prior and I was staying with him for the summer before going back to finish my last semester at Penn State. We had no intention of getting a cat but we saw a group of kittens and Chris picked out 8-week old Calvin. We both had cats growing up but he was our first cat together.

He had numerous nicknames over the years. Calv, Calv Boy, POB (purring orange boy), GOB (good orange boy), the Inspector, Mr. Handsome, Brud - just to name a few. We would tell him he had the paws of a tiger or lion and commend him for his strong grip. His bigger than average ears were our favorite feature. He slept up against me every single night in some form, whether that was in his blankets at my feet or on my pillow. As he aged, he spent more time on my desk. He would jump up through a couple levels of furniture to nap in a box on my desk. He had a rotation of boxes he enjoyed. In the colder months, he would frequent sleeping underneath the bedsheet. In the spring and early summer, he loved napping in the late afternoon sun. His purr was so loud at times we joked it sounded like a motor. Calvin and I had a special, unique bond - I was his human and favorite thing in the world. When I would leave, Chris would note he would sit and cry at the door waiting for me to come back. He was skittish of strangers. While he got along with Rocc and Susie well enough, he did not like the smell of other cats.

Around April 2024, he started losing weight and with an ultrasound in June, he had a large liver mass and intestinal thickening. We opted for palliative care if it came to it with his age. He was seeing a cardiologist for several months due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and managing well with his asthma, which he took great and never complained about his inhaler. In July he injured his knee and he needed to be conservative about jumping. We made him makeshift stairs to access the bed. He loved them so much that eventually he wouldn't get off the bed without walking down them. He continued to lose weight and developed borderline high blood pressure. We tried Semintra but it was negatively affecting his liver and quality of life. He bounced back afterwards until mid-December when he began to have falling issues. We took him to the ER several times but he would be fine by the time he got to triage. It was suspected he may have had minor strokes. He had several more episodes which seemed like he woke up with a limb asleep. He unfortunately had an episode the week before we put him to sleep, which was slightly more concerning than the prior ones. He also went deaf in mid-2024. It was saddening to know he would not hear our voices again. We do believe all this played into his end of life. We love him and while severely saddened that we had to put him down, we understand that his quality of life may have been miserable if he recovered. RIP to Calvin, the best cat in the world. I spent nearly every second of his life with him and I wouldn't trade that for anything. He was a very special cat.

Susie: May 5, 2010 - June 27, 2022

2022-06-30T23:29:00Z

Susie passed away on June 27, 2022 after spending 12 wonderful years living with us. She was estimated to be ~4 years old when we adopted her from the local Petsmart via Last Chance Animal Rescue so she lived to be about 16 years old. On May 5, 2010, we decided to drop by the local Petsmart after celebrating my birthday dinner to look at the cats. We didn't know it when we walked in but we'd be going home to get a carrier to adopt Susie. The volunteer told us she had been here at the store for 2 months. It broke our hearts to hear that so we went home, got a cat carrier, and drove back to the store to bring Susie home. Chris named her Susie due to Calvin and Hobbes. His family already had a Hobbes and we had a Calvin, so Susie was the most appropriate name.

She was a unique cat. She had so many quirks and oddities and she made our days so enjoyable. She was a chatty cat. Always loved talking and yelling at us, especially in the kitchen. We called her "chef". She knew the sound of the lunchmeat bag. Ice was one of her favorite things and she frequently would get ice cubes several times a day. In the summertime and warmer weather, her favorite activity was either sunbathing in the afternoon light or going out on the balconies to nap in the chairs. She was a concerned cat, making sure both Chris and I made it to the bathroom at night when we had to get up. She was the world's best scratcher. Paper bags were a favorite chew toy. She would run and plop down underneath Chris while he was doing push-ups to make sure he came down far enough. She would jump up on the pedestal and tap Chris all day long, frequently enjoying interrupting his work. She had her favorite boxes. She loved to jump from the pedestal to Chris's chair - she could do some impressive distances for her age!

It wasn't all fantastic, unfortunately. Susie had her health issues - kidney disease, hyperthyroid, a slight heart murmur, and the host of issues that go with those like nausea and hard stool. They started coming to light just after the pandemic started in May 2020. She had lost several pounds over the past 2 years. On the day she passed, we were at the vet due to a hard stool she couldn't get out. That led to her downfall, through no fault of the vet. She was struggling to get it out even with an enema and we took her back to the vet to get her sedated for them to get it out. She had passed it right after we left and we were told they were as big as small peaches! We brought her home grateful she didn't need to be sedated and gave her a good bath. We believe this struggling of such a large mass of stool was the beginning of the end. She was very tired after and eventually went and laid in a box. At the time we thought she was just tired and needed rest. What happened was that her body was starting to shut down, most likely due to shock or the trauma earlier of the hard stool. After a few hours, I was planning to spend the night on the floor with her to make sure she would be okay. Her eyes never shut but she looked weak. We now know that she was in shock. I saw her have a minor seizure and I called Chris in. We both knew that Susie was not going to survive for much longer. I held her crying while Chris got ready to head the very short drive to the Pet ER. I drove while he sat in the backseat with her. She passed before we made it to the ER and the vet confirmed this as soon as we arrived. We spent a long while with her body grieving, knowing her pain was over. We both loved her very much.

Writing out about Susie's life with us is cathartic and deeply saddening to me at the same time. I had the privilege of spending nearly every hour of every day of my life with her outside of my photography trips and exercising. My sorrow runs deep and I have an emptiness, a hole of sorts, inside me. I feel like a piece of me died with her. She was a once-in-several-lifetimes cat. I make sure to tell that I love her and not that I loved her as I will always love her. I'm not a religious person but I would love to be able to see her and hold her again someday. The grief I feel has been immeasurable and I've shed tears for several days. I feel guilty, as though I didn't do enough to help her. I tried my best with the knowledge I had at the time and I hope she knows that and forgave me before she died. She was a special cat and she will be dearly missed. It brings me joy to live in a time where I have thousands of digital photos and videos of her that I can bring up in an instant and enjoy all the wonderful memories I have of her. Her ashes will be out on my desk in view so I can have her in my view every day.

Chris has been working from home the entire pandemic and still currently is. He got to spend all day, every day with Susie and our other two cats. I'm grateful he got the chance to spend so much time with her in her last 2 years of her life and we both know she loved it as well.

Lens - AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G @ 50mm on Nikon D500

Rocc

2020-08-03T18:29:00Z

Rocc posing on August 3, 2020. While she was wandering around the bedroom, I managed to grab her and put her on the bed. I was not expecting her to stay but she settled down on my pillow. Birds, squirrels, and large insects occasionally visit the balconies, which tends to make our cats excited. Rocc spotted something fluttering outside and left shortly afterwards. It is unusual for her to nap on pillows, though she does enjoy nesting in blankets.

If you look carefully, you can see my husband holding his tablet in her eye reflection. I used my telephoto for this shot due to laziness of not wanting to swap to a shorter lens.

Lens - Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 @ 160mm on Nikon D500

Rocc #4

2017-12-13T23:02:41Z

Rocc has magnificent facial expressions and a beautiful fur color.

Lens - AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G

Susie #3

2017-12-13T23:01:41Z

Susie looking very sophisticated and proper as she takes a nap on their dog bed.

Lens - AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G

Calvin #2

2017-12-13T23:00:41Z

Calvin in one of his favorite boxes.

Lens - AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G

Rocc #3

2017-12-10T22:56:41Z

Rocc sitting in her favorite cat perch by my husband's desk.

Lens - AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G VR II @ 200mm on Nikon D5500

Susie #2

2017-12-10T22:55:41Z

Susie posing for a photo in our kitchen.

Lens - AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G VR II @ 92mm on Nikon D5500

Rocc #2

2017-10-29T21:30:41Z

Practicing portrait photography with Rocc as a subject. No post-processing on this photo.

Lens - AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II @ 55mm on Nikon D5500

Rocc

2017-09-28T04:47:24Z

Rocc, otherwise known as Roccketship, posing in one of her favorite cat beds. I had to get incredibly close to her using the wide angle lens, which promptly ended the portrait session about two minutes later.

Lens - AF-P DX NIKKOR 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G VR @ 20mm on Nikon D5500

Susie

2017-09-28T00:52:16Z

Susie lounging in her favorite spot - bedroom balcony during the afternoon. She loves the sun shining in the balcony window all afternoon.

Lens - AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II @ 48mm on Nikon D5500

Calvin

2017-09-26T22:50:41Z

One of our three cats. Was using him as a test subject to try out my current lenses for portrait photography.

Lens - AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II @ 34mm on Nikon D5500