In Memoriam

When we first “adopted” you outside of King Soopers Grocery, you and your sister could sit on top of a medium pizza box!

I remember you meeting Akela and telling her who was boss.  And not really believing that we needed another dog when we got the puppy.

I liked the expression you had when Akela would hold your head in her mouth—and you had to walk around with crusty hair until you could find a place to clean your fur.  I could almost see you roll your eyes.

Although, to be fair, Akela wouldn’t let any other dogs chase you (you were HER cat) and she did save your life once.

I remember our battle over you being an indoor cat.  You were so determined that I once accidentally caught your tail in the door as I was carrying in the groceries! :( The vet fixed that though—and even if your tail became one vertebra shorter than normal it looked OK.

You were a radio-active cat once!  And you had to stay at the vet for a few days until your levels were “safe”… But it worked and the hyperthyroid issue never bothered us again.

The school bus driver once stopped because you were following Akela and I on our walk.  She wanted to know if you followed me on all my walks.  You usually did.  But when it was time to come home, you would lie down and meow at me to carry you back.  I guess that’s fair — your legs were much shorter than either mine or the dog’s...so it was probably like walking a marathon for you.

The neighbor across the street asked if I could keep you inside on their wedding day because you were apparently in the habit of leaving them presents (little mice) on the doormat.  And they didn’t want to have to clean that up when they were in their fancy clothes.  You used to leave me presents by my truck if I had scolded you for something.  You used to leave GW presents by his jeep if he scolded you.  I assume the presents on the front door mat were for Akela.

Although there were small squirrels and rabbits in addition to the plethora of mice you left us in your lifetime, probably the most impressive “present” was the hummingbird.  And all that without front claws!  I used to joke that if you had front claws we’d find the mountain lion on the front doorstep sometime.

You were very snuggly and loved people.  The vet always commented on this.  And you were a great comfort to me when I broke my wrist (both times) and especially when I moved out.

We had a good run—19 years!  I miss you.