Sweet DreamsAbout two years ago I was going to my car to run some errands when a large yellow cat literally fell at my feet from hunger. I got in the car and started out, then thought better of it and stopped and came back to him. He had a bad injury and was bleeding. There was an abscess on his rear. I fed him what he would eat and took him to the vet. He stayed there 3 days and healed and I had him neutered and brought him back and put him on my screened back porch. I could tell he was an old cat and had been scarred many times in battles.
I already had Tommy Tucker, who I had adopted from the animal shelter several months before. It took them a long time to become friends. Finally, Tommy stopped growling so I brought Yella in the house to live as a family member along with Tommy. At first, he ate more than any cat I have ever seen--I think it was the first time in his life he had an unlimited amount of food and clean water. With a lot of care and brushing he became a beautiful 15 pound bundle of love.
Although he was larger than Tommy, he always was the submissive one and would never fight back. The two would play together but if a fight started, Yella wouldn't fight back. And although Yella was an old cat, he played like a kitten with Tommy and with me.
He would stretch out on the carpet and get on his back totally relaxed and sleep. I used to get a laugh out of the position he would get in. I called him my big clown. He didn't just sit down like most cats, he would plop down. And he was hard headed. No matter how many times he was told not to do something he would do it anyway. And he was smart. I could tell him to go find Tommy and he would search the house for him. I was the only person he would ever sit on. If anyone else picked him up he would immediately get down with an indignant look at them.
Yesterday, on July 4, 2009, I left the house for a short time and he was fine and playing. When I returned about an hour later, he was vomiting and had gotten a large hair ball up. I went to another part of the house and was coming back to give him some hair ball medicine..he was stretched out in the floor screaming and dying. We got him in the carrier to take him to the vet and he died enroute.
I feel he received and gave more love in these two short years I had him than at any other part of his life.
My big yellow clown is gone and will be sadly missed. May he RIP
Oh, my dearest, Annie. Your story is so moving, it's made me cry. I'm sorry your big furry clown is gone, but just try to remember how happy he was with you. Like you said, for the first time, he had plenty of food, love, attention -- and fun. It was just his time, sweetheart. There is nothing you could've done.
ReplyDeleteYella is somewhere now, telling you not to grieve, that he's okay and he'll see you again one day. He's smiling, if cats can smile, watching over his Annie -- just as he did when he was here. He and Aubrey have probably teamed up by now and are having a big time. I'll bet Aubrey's playing the fiddle and Yella's dancing a jig! :-)
Love you, hon. And thinking about you, too.
Little sister Jan