It’s almost 16 years since a frisky
yet cute black and white kitten saw the open door of my home when my son was
going out. This kitten wanted a good
home, so he simply walked in. And
stayed. He stayed until my son died and
I sold the house and took him and Crash to live with me.
We had some interesting times
Crash and Burn and I. Crash is a
princess and Burn or Burnie was just Burnie.
If there was mischief to be found,
Burnie found it. There were some
things he could never seem to learn. It
is much easier to jump onto the seat of a chair than it is to claw your way up
the back of the chair and jump into the seat from the top. Ladders are for people, not cats.
One day shortly after I moved
into this house., I expected a furniture delivery. I made sure both cats were locked up before I
opened the door. I knew they were safe,
but after the delivery, Burnie was nowhere to be found. I looked all over for him, even walked around
the block searching for him. Hours
later, I heard several faint “meows”. I
followed the sound and discovered that he had opened the door under the sink
and probably went to sleep. When he woke
up, he couldn’t open the door and was calling for help.
His last few years were filled
with doctor and hospital visits. He was
diagnosed with diabetes and a year or two later cured. It seems that cats have an ability to reverse
diabetes. Then, a growth was discovered
in his bladder. It didn’t pose a problem
for a while except that he stopped using the litter box, an annoying habit that
I tried unsuccessfully to break. The
last few months he grew weaker as the cancer grew stronger. This past month, he began having several
bouts of bleeding.
Even though I knew that he would
never get better, I kept postponing this day.
I am pro-life, I didn’t want to “pull the plug” on him. This weekend I accepted the fact that his
illness was taking over. He moped around
the house and yesterday didn’t eat. After much back and forth with myself, I made
the decision I kept putting off.
This morning I took him to the
vet to be euthanized. In true Burnie
spirit, he went out kicking and screaming.
This cat who didn’t seem to mind twice a day shots of insulin objected
loudly when the doctor tried to administer the medication. He also protested when she gave him a
sedative. As the sedative was taking
effect, he did his “about to throw up” howl and proceeded to return the little
bit of food he had eaten today. At that
point, I decided to leave. I’d rather
remember his fighting spirit.
I’m so glad he walked into the
house that day and I’m doubly glad that I decided to take him a few years after
that. We had some wonderful times, lots
of laughs, especially when we would bury him in wrapping paper on Christmas
morning, or when he would chase the sound of the geese when they flew over the house,
or when he would be looking out the window waiting for me to return from an
errand or trip. He also liked to “help”
me with the Christmas lights. I rewarded
his help by dressing him for Christmas.
He gave me as much love as I gave
him. He had a better life than any stray
cat could hope for. He was a
character. He was a lovable cat. I have had several cats over the last 50
years, but I never had such a lovable and curious cat.
He will be missed.
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