OK, it's crazy that I come home and see this thread...
*** warning, threadjack coming ***
My cat, Phillip, will be put to sleep tomorrow night following kidney failure. He had a little Hitler 'stache.
My ex got custody of the cat when we split. When I moved out, Phillip was 22 pounds of pure kitty love. He stopped eating when I left, I thought for emotional reasons. I assumed that when I didn't hear anything from the ex after a few weeks, Phillip was fine.
But he wasn't. He pretty much stopped eating and, after six months, dwindled to 9 pounds. The ex, who never took good care of the kitty, finally took him to the vet a few weeks ago. Obviously, it wasn't good.
My ****ing ex waited until the cat had lost more than half his body weight before taking him in. The ex didn't want to deal with the hassle/expense of a vet trip.
The moral of this story: if you have pets, take care of them. Don't ignore changes in behavior, diet, etc. If you know someone who doesn't take care of their pet, intervene. They deserve better.
RIP Phillip