Kim Kardashian's Kitten Mercy Has Passed Away

Kim Kardashian's kitten Mercy has died. Less than three months after receiving the tiny white ball of fluff as a gift from boyfriend Kanye West, she took to her website to announce the sad news. 

In a posting that appeared on Friday, the reality star also revealed that 4-month-old Mercy, who had not made an appearance on her heavily updated Instagram account since Nov. 10, was given away to a family friend in October, after she found out she was allergic to cats:

"When I first got Mercy, I had never lived with a cat before and so I had no idea that I was allergic. I thought that it might pass, but after a few weeks I decided to go visit two separate allergists, one of whom said my allergies wouldn’t get any better unless I started taking injections. I had fallen SO in love with Mercy that I wanted to try everything I could to keep her, but I didn’t think it was safe to resort to injections, and it wasn’t fair on Mercy, because I couldn’t play with her or give her as much attention as I wanted to. Mercy deserved a mom who could really give her the time and affection she deserved. I knew that Sydney, Khloe’s assistant, who had recently lost a cat she had loved and cared for for 17 years, would be the perfect mom for Mercy and Sydney was so excited to have Mercy as her own!"

According to E! News, Mercy fell ill on Nov. 26, and a trip to the vet revealed that she suffered from a "(stomach) cancer-like virus often associated with breeding." After learning that even aggressive treatment wouldn't help, her new owner's made the difficult decision to have her euthanized.

The last shot of Mercy posted to Kardashian's Instagram account on Nov. 10

Kardashian writes, "Mercy was a gentle and loving kitten and we are all going to miss her so much. Thanks to Sydney for making Mercy’s short life one filled with love. RIP Mercy Xo"

Via Kim Kardashian Celebuzz / E! Online

Kim Kardashian's Kitten Mercy Has Passed Away

Kim Kardashian Got A Kitten For Some Reason

Sleeping Beauty

Kim Kardashian announced the newest addition to the Kardashian klan this weekend: A Teacup Persian kitten named Mercy. The reality star was caught by paparazzi stalking around a marina in Miami with her sister Khloe, sippin' Starbucks while toting around the tiny ball of fluff, who was reportedly named after a Kanye West song. (Note to Kim: Having a cat out near a body of water without a leash, with a ton of scary photographers around is a really dumb idea).

My new baby Mercy! #TeacupPersian

Kim shared a few photos of Mercy on Twitter, while Khloe also posted pix of herself with the cat, along with Kardashian pal, Jonathan Cheban. The sisters are in town to begin filming a show, so I don't know if the kitten figures into those plans somehow, or if she's just trying to cash in on the cat fashion craze and will start appearing with Mercy in photo shoots, à la Choupette Lagerfeld.

Khloe and Mercy

Smooches

Jonathan Cheban

I do think it's unfortunate that Kim would buy a kitten and hope it doesn't start a trend of people purchasing (and subsequently abandoning) the cats as a novelty, much like the tiny dog craze that fellow socialite Paris Hilton sparked years ago with her teacup Chihuahua, Tinkerbell.

Kardashian is not exactly known for her love of animals, or for her knowledge of cats in particular. In April 2010, she was criticized for being photographed holding up a black kitten by the scruff of its neck during a photo shoot.

Via The Daily Mail / Twitter (@KimKardashian, @KhloeKardashian)

Kim Kardashian Got A Kitten For Some Reason

Kim Kardashian Wedding Special Raises Questions About Pets Before Marriage

I'm not here to hate on the Kardashians because I respect their hustle (and um, I watched their 4-hour wedding special), but one thing in particular that raised my hackles about Kim's Fairytale Wedding Extravaganza was Kimmy K.'s downright rude treatment of Kris Humphries in regard to his dogs.

She freaked out at the idea of Brody and Gizmo sleeping in bed with them, calling it "unsanitary," before admitting that SHE doesn't even sit on the silk comforter herself. Granted, if my bedroom were regularly broadcast on national television, maybe I'd be more uptight about the cleanliness of my home too, but making your significant other feel like their pets are dirty and unwelcome isn't kosher, whether it's staged or not. In part two of the episode, things got even worse when she flew to Minnesota to spend some "quality time" with Kris at his modest abode, where she ripped into him some more for having pictures of the dogs everywhere. (He defended himself by saying he was a dog guy, or something of that ilk.)

Some people just aren't animal lovers, and I get that, but at what point does you personal preference become downright disrespectful to those you love? For many people, single or married, their pets are like children to them, and while at different points of the program, both sides gushed about the potential parenting skills of the other, I wonder how Kardashian will handle a baby, when a little poop and eye boogers (another point of contention) send her anal retentiveness into overdrive.

Now of course it's possible that the conflict was manufactured to pass the time, and maybe Kim's not so animal-hatery after all, but the whole thing has still brought up questions about compromise, the role pets play in our single (or not-so-single) lives. Have you changed your lifestyle in regard to your cats because of a significant other? I mean, I'm not sure I'd ever mesh with someone who hated kitties, but what if I fell in love with someone who was allergic to them, or treated them with similar disdain? Am I judging Kim too harshly here, or when it comes to romance, do the needs of your significant other outweigh those of the pets who came first?

Image credit: Morguefile

Kim Kardashian Wedding Special Raises Questions About Pets Before Marriage