Rest in peace, Dorian Gray.

He had a good 8 weeks, where people loved him and an entire staff of veterinary professionals tried everything they could to keep him alive. But in the end, his trauma was too great and he was just too little to operate on.

The vets had a last ditch effort where they decided to stick a catheter in him and stitch it on so he'd have a permanent hole to pee out of. That's when they discovered that the scar tissue that held his prepuce shut was starting grow over his entire penis. Whatever damage had been done to him in the first few weeks of life had sealed his fate. Poor little guy.

But I'm glad he had a chance to live a good life, as short as it was. He was the sweetest kitten with the loudest purr I've heard coming out of something so little. He was always so happy that we never knew if he was in any pain. But comparing him to his two sisters, who are bigger and a lot more active and rambunctious, I can see that he has always been uncomfortable. He just never let it show. Even as we played with him last night, knowing it was last time he'll get to climb the cat tree, he was still so sweet and loving.

Watching the vet give him the drugs to put him to sleep and then drugs to stop his heart was one of the hardest things I've done. But I'm glad I was there. I was amazed at how quick it was. From the moment the first drug was administered to the time the vet listened for a heart beat before telling us he was gone was mere minutes. I'm glad I got to say good bye to this little guy who was in our house for such a short time but will forever be in our hearts.