#103476 by fisherman bob
Sat Mar 13, 2010 2:31 am
Sat Mar 13, 2010 2:31 am
I had to put my cat to sleep. He was about 22 years old, got him from Animal Haven when he was about 2 years old. At that time (1990) I wanted to get our young family a dog. My wife over-ruled me and we ended up getting two cats instead. We had to bring one of them back a few weeks later as it didn't go in the litter box. I never had a cat in my life, I thought I was a dog person. My cat proved me wrong. We got the cat for my son, but my son and the cat never paid any attention to each other. The cat (his name was Chuck) ended up being MY cat. He loved me to death. He never intentionally scratched anybody, never hissed at anybody, always greeted us at the door every day, even greeted strangers upon entering our townhouse. He was a big (20 pounds) cat who spent a lot of time outdoors and often brought us presents, including mice and birds, many of the birds still alive in his mouth because he wanted us to have a live bird. He slept in our bed at night for many years until he grew too weak to jump up on the bed. He NEVER woke me up, EVER. One time I woke up in the middle of the night on my back and I felt this big lump under my legs. It was Chuck. I had apparently rolled over and he ended up under my legs. He still didn't wake me up despite me outweighing him by 200 pounds. He was a beautiful cat, short thick mainly white and tan fur, HUGE yellow eyes. He also talked. He said"water" when his water dish was empty. I swear he said "hello" and "how you doing." A few times when he was young I came home and he was up on our roof, which is very high and very steep. I have absolutely no idea how he got up on it being he didn't have front claws. I also never saw him come down. I went inside and got a bag of catfood and then went outside and shook it. A half hour later he was at the door to come in. As nice as he was to every person he had a territory that was our rear patio that NO animal was allowed to come into. One time I heard this terrible commotion and I went to the patio to see Chuck about ready to kill an unfortunate Siamese cat that made the fatal mistake of entering his territory. There was blood and fur all over the patio, none of it Chuck's. I hosed the two cats and the Siamese limped away. Never saw that cat before or after that event. Chuck NEVER postured and howled when he fought. He would just run up and knock a cat over and be at the throat of the other cat. There was never a cat like Chuck. I'll have an emptiness in my heart the rest of my life missing that amazing wonderful feline...
