ROSEWOOD – Diamond, the pet cat of the Überstadti royal family and once a symbolic political leader, died Saturday evening at the age of 17 years.
Around 5:00 PM local time, the cat suddenly became partially paralyzed and was taken to a veterinarian in the nearby American city of Shoreline. There, several health conditions were diagnosed, including diminished kidney function and a heart murmur. The veterinarian determined the most likely cause of the paralysis to be a severe blood clot. Diamond had recently suffered neurological problems, and these combined conditions led the family to decide to euthanize him. He died around 7:00 PM in the company of the king’s parents.
The family, including the future King Adam, adopted Diamond in February 2002, and he quickly developed affection for them. In the earlier periods of Überstadt’s parliamentary democracy under the new monarchy, Diamond was the symbolic “leader” of the Cat Party, the country’s largest right-wing faction, controlling 40% of Parliament at its height. At the time, domestic cats were allowed Überstadti citizenship, and Diamond himself was elected an MP.
Diamond’s most serious health scare came when he was struck by the royal family’s car in August 2013. The worst of his injuries proved to be a pelvic fracture that healed without treatment, although his rehabilitation took several months and he was left with a crooked right hip. As he aged, though, his health gradually declined. On at least one occasion, he experienced involuntary head tremors, and in the days leading up to his death, his behavior became unusual. Prince Aaron of Überstadt reported that earlier Saturday, Diamond seemed to have difficulty recognizing him and the familiar surroundings of the Royal Residency’s yard.
Diamond is to be buried in Rosewood on Sunday.
The Occidental Chronicle 