other peoples' pets

There have been a few pets of friends and other people who have captured my heart as well as my own.  This page is dedicated to their memories.

Jake.  Jake was the cat of Phil and Carol, a couple of friends of mine.  I used to do some work for Phil in his home office, and Jake was always there, greeting me and wanting his pets.  I also had the pleasure of cat-sitting this sweet and sometimes stubborn little guy, who delighted in the catnip and catnip toys I brought him during those days when he missed his human parents.

Jake had been through the wringer by the last couple of years of his life.  He had an ear infection that had been misdiagnosed by one vet for two years, until it was too late to save his ear.  He lost his eardrum, and spent a miserable couple of weeks in one of those Elizabethan collars that cats must think are one of our more inventive torture devices.  His one ear never did quite stand up right after that, so I sometimes called him "Flopsy" for the way his right ear flopped around instead of standing up straight.

As he aged some more, he went downhill, his kidneys failing.  He was badly dehydrated one day while I was cat sitting, and I got him into the vet who gave him subcutaneous fluids.  The vet asked if I thought I could give them to him, and I said yes.  So I got the equipment and the Lactated Ringer's solution, and took him home.

I thought twice about it later, since he wasn't my cat.  I thought of him as my nephew cat, but I thought that I certainly wouldn't want someone else treating my cat with something so major.  They would be home later that night, so the matter of a few hours of difference was not going to hurt to wait.  So I downloaded information from the Internet, and left the sub-Q treatment equipment with pages about how to do it for his human folks when they arrived home.

They decided after reading the information to give it a go.  I was so glad he would have a chance to enjoy his life a little longer.

When they had to go out of town again, they asked me to cat sit.  I gulped.  That would mean I would have to do the sub-Q fluids.  Ack!  What a terrifying thought.  Then again, I have a cat with chronic renal failure, so I know that some day, I will have to do the same for him.  If Phil and Carol were confident I could do it for Jake, it surely wouldn't hurt me to get used to doing it.

We got together to give him the fluids the night before they left so that I would be sure I was doing it the way they were.  And I called up several friends to come help, one each day, since somebody was going to need to hold him.

He put up with it remarkably well.  But I knew that he was slowly starting to turn away from this life.

I was afraid to find out, and didn't call Phil and Carol for several months.  When I finally did, I already knew he was gone.  Phil confirmed that he had finally told them with his eyes that he was ready to go.  They took him to the vet, and held him gently as they said goodbye.

As I write this, it has only been a few months.  I still have Jake's photo by the candle I burn on Monday nights for all the beloved pets who have crossed over to the Bridge.  I'm glad I had the opportunity to get to know such a special kitty.
 

Squeaker, Jethro & Maggie.  Squeaker was another of Phil's cats, a sweet orange-and-white boy who got his name by virtue of his very squeaky meow.  He was a sweetheart of a cat.

Jethro and Maggie belonged to Phil's roommate at one time in the 1980s.  Jethro was a proud, beautiful and very loving tuxedo cat, and Maggie was a gentle little calico.  I adored all three of the cats, although I had a particular fondness for Jethro and Squeaker.

All three cats were indoor-outdoor.  Unfortunately, that ugly disease known as feline leukemia came to the neighborhood.  My sweet buddy Jethro was the first to get it, and the other two cats were not long in following him to the Other Side.
 

Michelle.  Michelle was a sweet little cream-colored girl I met one day when a next-door-neighbor was screaming at her and chasing her with a broom.  I was more than a bit incensed, and asked her why in the world she was doing that.  Apparently, the previous tenant had moved out and left her there, and this woman was, shall we say, not a kind-hearted cat person.  Karma had died early in the year, and I thought perhaps it was time for Mother to be able to love another cat.

So I rescued the sweet little girl.  And she was ever so gentle and affectionate.  I had just gotten Isis a few months earlier, and in spite of Isis' objections, Michelle came on in.

It was time to get Isis spayed.  I had made the mistake with Karma of thinking it was unfair to spay/neuter a cat without their permission.  It is amazing how utterly naive we can be when we are very young.  After Karma's death, I knew that it was imperative to do this thing that is actually a kindness to not only your pets, but to all those unwanted pets who will come after if you do not do it.  Two can be spayed as easily as one, of course, so Isis and Michelle went to the vet together.

I don't know if it was their shared misery of recovering from the spay that bonded them, but ever after, they looked after each other,  played together, and bathed each other whenever they were together.  Michelle was the one and only cat that Isis ever liked.

After recovering, it was time to give Michelle to Mother.  I'm not sure she was completely thrilled or ready, but she agreed to take her.  And Michelle's sweetness grew on her quickly.

Unfortunately, Michelle was not very street smart.  And the indoor/outdoor lifestyle was something that was accepted at the time, and it far too quickly led to Michelle's death at a young age by a car.

Michelle was a precious little soul, and I wish she had had a chance to live a good, long, very loved life.
 

Honey & Patches.  Our lovely next-door-neighbors for many years when I was young eventually adopted cats.  This was an amazing gift to me, the intrepid cat-lover who was not allowed (yet) to have cats of my own.

In the '60s and '70s in smaller towns, having indoor/outdoor cats was not unusual; it was the rule rather than the exception.  I've made it rather clear in these pages that I believe the safest environment for cats is indoors.  There are too many dangers for cats, especially these days, and I believe that an indoor environment is the only way to assure the best life for a cat.  I am not going to judge others who do not agree with me; only they can measure whether their cats can be kept safe from disease, predators (including humans) and other outdoor dangers.  However, as I said, in a smallish town in the 60s and 70s, indoor/outdoor cats were quite common, which, in this case, was a marvelous boon to me.

It didn't take much for me to lure Honey and Patches over for visits.  They sucked up the endless attention and affection I gave them.  And I was utterly delighted to be able to love cats, even if they weren't mine.

I even put out cardboard boxes on the patio for them to lay in, and there were many days I would go outside to find them contentedly sleeping in the boxes, waking only to come over and get their scritches.  I have no idea what our neighbors thought of this arrangement; they didn't seem to mind that I loved their kitties, too.

And I most certainly did.  They were also welcome to come inside and visit, which they frequently did.  I doted on them, and they returned the affection.  I often think that they, and their later counterparts, Pete Rose and Alka Seltzer (see below), paved the way for my mother to allow herself to love our first cat, Karma.

Sadly, I don't know what happened to them.  But I do know that in my heart, they have never been forgotten.
 

Pete Rose & Alka Seltzer.  Well, this is what happens when you let children name cats ;-)

They were just as adorable and loving as Honey and Patches who came before them.  And we had the same understandings.  They were welcome in the boxes on the patio, they were welcome in our home, and we enjoyed each others' company very much.  And like their predecessors, we got cat-sitting duties when their human family was away.

I also do not know what became of these two lovies.  I seem to recall that the family moved away while they still had them, so I hope they lived long and happy lives.
 
 

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