Thursday, September 3, 2009

Memories of a Magnificent Mancat

Today we will remember Texas, Mom and Dad's kitty that came Before.
It is hard for them to believe that it has been a whole year since Texas went to the bridge because his cancer had spread. We tried to show pictures that hadn't been posted on his blog before, since we know that most of his friends are now our friends and therefore have read his blog. Mom has also written a tribute to him at the bottom.
[Update for Cindy and any other cats or beans that are curious: Click Here to see why it is called "going to the bridge"]

Here is a picture of him trying to open his mail, shortly before he went to the bridge.

The rest of these are from happier times, before he got sick. Here is him claiming a Wii controller as his own.

FEED ME NOW, Mom.

Sleeping on Mom's computer chair.

Helping rip up the old carpet.

Playing String with the Beans.


Mom here:


Today is the anniversary of one of the saddest days of my entire life. But I know he would not want to remember the bad things. He would want me to remember the good things.
So I will try to remember. I remember how we got him. There was an ad on the bulletin board that a cat needed a good home. His first Mom, Ms.C, who is now a friend of ours, had to move, and could not take more than 2 of her cats with her. Texas really wanted to be an only cat anyway, so we found out this was really for the best. And he definitely enjoyed it when Ms.C would come visit him here!
He was a BIG kitty. But he was terrified when he came here. He stayed by our roommate's fridge in the basement for about 4 days and would not leave. He barely ate for a few days. But then, we came downstairs one day to find that he was eating. And not only that, he had a very unique way of eating! He would carefully pick out his dry food and swish it around in his water, and then eat it. We showed all our friends and everybody was just absolutely amazed and no one had seen anything like it before. It was so fun to watch.
A few years after we got him, we had a minor mouse problem for a few months. He would always dutifully bring them to his Dad (DEFINITELY not me, he knew better!!) and Dad would dispose of them. Well one day, not really meaning it of course, I asked him if he really had to kill them. Well, the next time he brought Dad a mouse, Dad asked for it, and Texas would not give it up. Texas gave him Dad asked for it several more times, and finally Texas gave a "are you sure?" look, and released it-- ALIVE. From then on, all of the mice he brought Dad were alive. (Granted, we only ever had a total of maybe 10 mice in the house ever, so we are talking about maybe 5 or 6 times here). Dad was nice enough to then put the mice in a container and walk them several blocks from the house before releasing them.
Texas loved to chase "imaginary mice" too. After starting chemo, Mom knew she had her Texie back for a little while when he started doing that again, at least for a few weeks.
He also loved to look out the window and sniff and sniff and sniff. But he didn't like outside all that much. He would lay in the grass for a little while, but then when a car would come by he would run back to the house and that would be it for that day.
He loved to play "Lion Tamer" with his Dad. Dad found out one time when yawning that Texas absolutely loved to sniff an open mouth for some reason.
He also loved people food. He "begged like a dog", according to our roommate. After starting chemo it was just a waiting game for several days to see if he would recover. Mom's birthday was shortly after he got sick, and Dad had promised to make Mom a candlelit dinner at home to celebrate. She didn't really feel like celebrating because she was still so worried about him. But as Dad was cooking dinner, Texas came upstairs for the first time in about a week! And he didn't just slowly wander around. No, he RAN around the living room, climbing on another chair near the table, BEGGING and meowing and meowing and meowing for some of our dinner. That was the best birthday present ever.
We will see him again at the bridge one day. For now, he lives in our hearts. We love you, Big Guy.

14 comments:

Cindy said...

Precious memories that you will always have. My cat died in 1990 and I can still cry when I see his pictures.
Why is it called going to the Bridge?
Cindy

Tama-Chan, Benny, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Heloise, Momo, Ryu said...

A beautiful tribute to a great cat and a great fighter. His spirit will always be with you and in time, the memory of him will make you smile,

Tiki, Kirby, and StanLee said...

What a beautiful tribute. Purrrs.

Tiki

SeaThreePeeO said...

What a wonderful tribute! We're sad that we never got to meet Texas.

Milo and Alfie said...

Those are very speshull memories of Texas, thank yoo for sharing them. Yoo must feel sad today but try to remember yoo gave that boy the happiest life and yoo will see him again, eventually. He knows he's loved ~ even at the Bridge.

Purrs and love from Milo and Alfie xx

Mark's Mews (Marley, Lori, Loki, and Binq) said...

That was a wunnerful tribute fer a much-loved cat...

Jans Funny Farm said...

Has it really been a year already? It seems like only a few months ago. We remember the tears and the pain around the CB. We're glad you have such fun memories of Texas.

Reese =^..^= said...

A very nice tribute.

Memories of Eric and Flynn said...

That is a lovely tribute to Texas.

Sweet Purrfections said...

Those are some wonderful memories of Texas. I remember he was one of my first furriends when I came on the CB.

The Kitty Krew said...

Oh! We'd seen mentions of Texas on other bloggies, but didn't know he was yours! (We've only been doing this for 3 months.) It's nice to finally be able to connect who he was with who belonged to him.

He looked like a gorgeous kitty (and of course, a great name -- being in the great state of Texas as we are ;) ). We know you miss him dearly. This was a lovely tribute post. We have a 2-year anniversary loss coming up next week and hope we can do as well.

Many purrs and hugs from us all,
The Kitty Krew and The Mommy

Everycat said...

What a lovely tribute and memories of Texas. He was a most excellent mancat and we miss him too!

Whicky Wuudler

Cat with a Garden said...

We loved this tribute. The pictures of Texas are so cool, he had the most marvellours marbled fur! Purrs to you, Texas.

Charlemagne and Tamar said...

What a nice tribute to Texas! We really enjoyed reading his blog and we're pretty sure he helped guide you two to your Mom and Dad.

Charlemagne and Tamar