We brought the fuzzy little orange cat Roger into our home as a tiny kitten on November 19, 2020. He passed away, far too soon, on February 10, 2025.

The cause of his demise was urinary tract (UT) blockage, something we didn’t know was a common problem for indoor male cats until it was too late. I’ll share the tragedy as briefly as possible so we can get on to the fun stuff: what a delight he was to Mike and me. (I didn’t know orange cats were a cultural phenomenon when we got him, but that was a fun side note. He lived up to all the good “orange cat” hype.)

Orange cat UT blockage chronicles

Just after we celebrated his 4th homecoming, in early December 2024, we had to rush him to the emergency vet due to what was obviously a very serious illness. I was out of town, so Mike took him in. We learned that his UT was completely obstructed, and he was hours away from death as a result.

He stayed overnight at the ER, with a urinary catheter installed to open up his pathway. The next day, we were informed that he could go home, as he was a “star student” who was able to pee on his own after the catheter was removed. We were cautioned that a second night of being catheterized was best, but it was our choice. At a price tag of over $2500 for an overnight, we decided to bring him home. We were originally quoted up to $5300 for the treatment, a price tag that was hard to swallow. But not as hard as the idea of putting him down.

Ironic side note: Roger came to us as a replacement for our Velma, who also tragically died early in 2020 due to kidney failure after eating too much plastic. We threw several thousand at a surgery to save her, but it didn’t work. So spending a small fortune on a cat was all too fresh in our minds.

Orange cat post-hospitalization chronicles

Roger’s star student status was short-lived, as he wasn’t able to produce much urine at home and was immediately in danger again. Our local vet was confident that an extended catheterization would solve the problem. So after much hand-wringing about the cost, we decided to invest another chunk of change to board him at the vet for a week with that treatment. We figured we’re already in this deep, we might as well give him one more chance.

We brought him home just before Christmas. The vet gave us strict instructions to feed him only prescription urinary food for the rest of his life. We dabbled with a few other options but ultimately decided we’d go with their recommendation for a while until we could do more research on natural solutions. The vet firmly poo-poo’d natural solutions. I’m not so sure about that, but it turns out we didn’t have time to try different options.

Roger never fully recovered after that incident. He continued only peeing small amounts at a time. The vet was perplexed as to why he didn’t heal. We had him on a prescription to help (actually, several prescriptions for a few weeks), but it was a short-term solution. He couldn’t be on it indefinitely.

Orange cat UT issues return in force

As we rolled into February, we noticed he started eating less, losing weight and acting more frail. We weren’t sure what to do about it, since we were following the vet’s instructions, and they themselves didn’t know what else could be done–other than an invasive surgery, which was out of the question financially.

Our wondering what to do came to an abrupt halt when Roger finally got so sick again that we knew it was a repeat of his backed-up bladder. Mike and I had come pretty close to having him put down in the darkest days of December, when we were thousands of dollars in with little relief in sight. Now that the issue had reemerged, coming to grips with the decision was the only logical thing to do.

The emergency vet confirmed he was blocked again, so we had no choice but to put him down on February 10. It was a sad day. Much ugly crying occurred, at least on my part. Mike was able to be more stoic about it.

We loved little Roger with all our hearts. He was a handsome little orange cat that delighted us for four years.

That being said, let’s talk about some good memories.

Besides being extremely cute, Roger was a very personable and fun orange cat. He never met a stranger. Everyone that came through the doors of our house was an instant friend he could charm and elicit petting from.

He never was much of a lap cat (until the last few weeks, which was a sweet bonus at the end of his life), but he was a faithful nap cat. His spidey sense could always detect if someone was taking a nap, and he was there to join you in a flash: placing himself between your legs, usually.

He also alternated between whose legs he’d sleep on the bed at night, picking one of us consistently for weeks at a time before switching to the other. It was my turn for the last few months of his life. It wasn’t good for my hips to have to contort myself to accommodate his sprawling orangeness at the end of the bed, but it was great for my proverbial heart.

Roger loved to wap at his older sister, Marge, to get a rise out of her, in true little brother style. He never got tired of annoying her, and was never in the slightest dissuaded by her growling and swiping at him. Marge acted like she didn’t like Rog, but when we weren’t looking, they were often hanging out, chilling peacefully in the same vicinity.

Mike and I were endlessly amused that Roger was always happy to entertain himself playing with toys and charging around the house. He had a toy bin that he’d often visit and fling items out to play with.

Most of all, he was a people cat. Where his people were gathered is where he preferred to be. Which is how we preferred it, too!

It’s a shame that such a fun, handsome cat had such a short life. But it was a full, delightful life. He was well-loved, loved us well, and brought us immense joy for the four years we got to have him. He will always be in our hearts.

If you’ve experienced a cat with UT issues, I’d love to hear from you. Like I said at first, we had no idea how common a problem it was. I’ll be doing more research on it before we get another cat.

Rest in peace, baby boy.