I’m watching my tubby and partially blind tuxedo cat, Nicolas (Nick), bat around a little cat toy that looks like a lamb. As I’m building this blog and thinking about topics for consideration, pets are pretty near and dear to me (and lots of people). They comfort us, they don’t judge, they need us, and they’re pretty easy to love.
As a kid my family had a cat named Molly. She was a Manx and only had this little stub for a tail. She used to like to play this game where she sat on the landing of the steps and I’d toss a toy partially up to the railing and she’d bat it back down. My dad had a dog, Jake. I helped to train him (if you could consider him trained). I also worked in a kennel for a summer in college….
As an adult I’ve had three cats, and briefly a dog (my ex-fiancee, B’s dog, Zelle). My ex-wife and I adopted Nick and Paris from Save the Cats, Inc. a few days before Thanksgiving in 2009. We only wanted to adopt Paris, this tiny grey and white kitty who was super cute and soooo vocal. But they were being fostered together, and once we met Nick, there was no way to only get one. A few years later, we adopted Murphy, another tuxedo, but much more muscular than Nick. He was a cat that walked with a purpose. Sometimes, they didn’t all get along, Murphy could be a bit of dick.
Nick with his foster mom – 2009 
Paris – 2009 
Zelle – 2018/2019
Loss
Murphy was only with us for a few years. He got very sick, lost a lot of weight, and we had to have him put down. Zelle left when B left. Paris died a little over a month ago. Each loss has been painful and tragic in its own way. I wasn’t around when the pets I had as a kid died, so it hadn’t hit me quite as hard. That summer in the kennel, we had to put a dog down. I remember taking it to the on-site vet. I remember how sad I was as I watched it die. I was there for both Murphy and Paris…. I suppose if we all thought about how they’ll go as we look at them in the adoption center or online, we’d never get a pet. But like all things that we fall in love with, we see the possibilities and the comfort and we imagine the positive…. not the end.
Once Nick and I are settled in Memphis, I’m pretty sure I’ll get a pup. I miss Zelle, and could use another trusty companion. It was nice to have a home full of love and animals.
