Jikky

On June 9th, 2025, we lost a beloved member of our family after being recently diagnosed with crypotococcal meningitis. We don't know how long she had been sick, but she only started showing noticeable symptoms about a month before. As much as we loved her and tried to keep her safe, none of us knew anything about the risks of fungal infections. We are setting up this fundraiser in memory of Jikky to let her light find a way to help other animals who might be battling something similar. The story of our life with Jikky is below, but please feel free to scroll passed the story and consider donating in her memory, or sharing this fundraiser. Thank you!

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On December 16, 2017, in Riverside, California, I was walking up my apartment staircase when I noticed a cat staring at me on top of the community dumpster. She was so tiny, but she was so alert. She watched me attentively as I walked by. After arriving at my apartment, I opened up a can of tuna and went back out to leave it for her on the staircase. While looking out my bedroom window, I could see her slowly approach the bowl to eat and then sit next to my car. Her coat was striking with mix of black, white, and brown; I haven't seen a lot of stray cats that looked like her. I named her "Jikky" after "Jik Jak" ice cream, which was a mix of vanilla, chocolate, and caramel. After many attempts at trying to bring in stray or feral cats, I didn't try to bring her in, rather, I found solace in just giving her a nice meal. 

About an hour later, I received a knock on my door; it was my neighbor, who came to tell me that my cat was meowing for me outside. I thought, "I don't have a cat". But to my surprise, Jikky was waiting at my car, staring up at my door. I went down with another bowl of tuna and approached her as she drank water from a puddle. Surprisingly, she approached me and ate tuna right out of my hand. She was so trusting, so I picked her up and took her inside. That was the start of how I became Jikky's human. 

For about 7.5 years, Jikky and I were each others' best friends, companions, adventure buddies, and protectors. If I was eating, she wanted to eat. If I went upstairs, she followed. If I was taking a nap on the bed, she came to join me. If I was sick, she was watching me. She made sure I got into bed every night, and she was quick to tell me when I was working too late. When the world slept at night and I was awake with insomnia, she woke up with me and kept me company until I got tired. When I think about love, I think about jikky. She had a way of really looking at you, like she was really trying to understand you. And for me, she really did. No matter how hard my day was, I would see Jikky and know that she accepted me and loved me exactly as I was. 

I am blessed with so many great memories with Jikky; I loved coming home everyday and seeing her run towards me while meowing. I loved every time she would bring me one of her favorite toys (her donut and snake toy were her favorites). I loved hearing her zoom in the mornings, no matter how early. I loved teaching her how to shake my hand for treats, something she did until our last day together. I loved taking her for walks and watching her try to climb trees when she saw lady bugs. She was such a fearless, agile, friendly adventure cat. She earned the name "sneaky jikky" over the years for her sneaky, fun, and silly personality. 

I tried to give Jikky the world, and I thought I had more time to give it to her. Unfortunately, shortly after her 8th birthday, Jikky was diagnosed with cryptococcal meningitis. She had been stumbling and wobbling for a couple days, so I thought she had a sprained or broken leg. Her stumbling became seizures within a few days, and we had to rush her to the emergency room. After multiple tests, we received her diagnosis; her prognosis wasn't good, and her tests showed an extremely high level of the fungal infection. At best, the doctor said she would be on lifelong meds and she will never truly recover. 

We held on though. For two weeks, we pushed on. Jikky fought hard. She was taking 3-4 medications a day and feeling all the side effects. Despite all of that, she was still so sweet - making sure I made it to bed, cuddling with me while I napped, following me (as much as she could) wherever I went. But over the two- week period, she stopped drinking water on her own, so we switched to only wet food whenever she wanted it. Even then, she was dehydrated and only ate about 1 -1.5 cans a day. On Friday, June 6th, I brought her to our local vet just for a quick check up and some fluids since she was dehydrated. It seemed to help that day, but on saturday morning, she was so lethargic that she barely moved. Then the tremors came back and she started to space out for a few minutes before coming back and staring at me. That night, she had her first seizure after being seizure-free for two weeks. It was more aggressive than the previous ones, and it took a lot out of her. She was already on anti-seizure meds twice a day, but we gave her emergency seizure meds to try to prevent more seizures. On sunday, she was barely walking. She mostly stayed on the bed, or laid on the floor. When I came to check on her, she got up like she always does to greet me, but this was too much and she quickly fell over and had an aggressive seizure. I was heartbroken because despite multiple seizure meds, this was her 2nd seizure in 24 hours. After another seizure that evening, my husband and I sat with her for a talk:

"Jikky bean, I know you're fighting and I'm so proud of you. But you don't have to keep fighting anymore babe. I know mommy said she needs you and begged you not to leave her, but if it's too much, you can let go. Mommy will be okay, and she just wants you to be at peace. She doesn't want you to be in pain anymore, or to be scared. I want you to be free." 

I stayed up all night watching her sleep and adjusting her head onto a small pillow to try to reduce brain inflammation. The following day, June 9th, she crossed the rainbow bridge. But we made sure that we filled that entire day with everything she loved. It was a perfect 76 degrees with a clear sky and birds singing right out of Jikky's bed window. We watched the birds outside and on the TV, played with bubbles, watched water go down the drain (something she did every time I did the dishes or took a shower), sunbathed, and let her walk around inside the car to sniff outside. 

At around 2pm, before the vet arrived at our house, Jikky decided she wanted to explore the house. She motioned to me to bring her downstairs and I watched as she went into every room of the house, looked around and then walked out until making it back into her main room, our bedroom. I sat on the bed and she came up with me. As she sat there looking at me, I explained to her what was about to happen and then she laid in the corner of the bed next to the window and started to fall asleep while I cuddled her. At 3:40pm, Jikky officially crossed the rainbow bridge. Her last memories were licking oreo ice cream and a churu from her mommy and daddy and then laying on her mommy's shoulder while watching her favorite bird show on TV and looking at her daddy. It was peaceful and I believe that it was everything she would have wanted. 

I miss her terribly and I've never felt such immense pain, but I find peace in knowing that she was able to pass at home, after a day doing all of her favorite things. I could have chosen to hold on longer because I wasn't ready to let go, but the truth is, I'd never be ready to let go. I let go then because I didn't want Jikky to be scared of her own body anymore. I didn't want to see her cry during her seizures anymore. I didn't want her to feel anything but peace, happiness, and love, and that's what I tried to bring her in her final memories. Jikky taught me love. She brought me love. Nothing will ever replace my Jikky, and I may not have her physically with me anymore, but I still feel her love and warmth. 

Thank you, Jikky, for being my companion, best friend, adventure buddy, and partner here on earth. I always felt like you were my guardian angel, and now you officially are. See you again my love bug.