I miss you so much, Bomo.
#petlove #petloss #grief #BomoTheCat #mourning

I had so much more left to show him.

I would give anything to hear his voice chatter back to me when I call out his name. I ache every moment that I don't see his intelligent eyes looking back at me.

He's also seen much of the world that most cats would never dream of seeing out of the back of my car. He saw the snow capped to San Francisco peaks where the Kachina live. He put his paws in the Pacific ocean. He saw the painted desert and the snow capped Rocky mountains.

After surviving some of the worst periods of my life with me Bomo really became my stalwart protector and defender. Staying with me through housing insecurity, surviving natural disasters, and weathering the near constant financial instability I've suffered my entire adult life.

I know how everybody will tell you how a certain pet was truly special. A truly unique individual. But truly I have never known a cat like Bomo.

Bomo was such a unique spark of consciousness. You could really tell that he was thinking about things. Knowing his own name.

Words cannot describe the amount of grief I have been struggling with since his passing. A grief I see echoed in the eyes of my two remaining pets.

Yuuya stares at his empty bed. Zammy brings me his toys and his hat.

Ultimately made the decision to take him into the urgent Care when his breathing became elevated. He went to cardiac arrest in my arms in the veterinary clinic waiting room.

They tried for 20 minutes to bring him back to me.

On Sunday he was reaching a critical point in his care. His liver was finally recovering but he had become severely anemic during his treatment. I tried all day to see if a vet could bring me services here in my home.

I am struggling with character limits and online apathy.

I had known Bomo for 10 years. When he got sick I told the vets I would do anything just for another 10 more.

Another five more.

I struggle to put this post together. I struggled for a long time with showing any thread of my genuine self on social media. I imagine it might be alien to try and contextualize to people that the amount of grief I feel in losing this animal is equal to that of losing a family member.

I did letterpress, screenprinting, and linocut. I also experimented with litho but that's super hard to do in a home studio.

I miss doing printmaking so much....

For now, the main goals are simple:
💊 medicine
🍗 calories
🕊️ patience

(and maybe convincing him that food isn’t poison)

I will keep everyone fully posted if his condition rapidly deteriorates or needs to go to the ER.

Bomo needs about six more weeks of intensive at-home care, with a hopeful projection of being fully healed by the end of December.

If he isn’t recovered by then, I’ll host a charity stream to cover any further tests or potential surgery—but thankfully, it doesn’t look like it’ll come to that.