trixel

My ex K's cat Kitty just died. He was put to sleep last night after the vet said he had bleeding on the brain. K's brother is in town, and plans to scatter Kitty's ashes in the forest behind the house we all used to live in, the forest Kitty used to roam and hunt in. Kitty loved staying out in the forest, even when it was forty below and he was dodging deer in the snowbanks there.

I wish I could give you an idea of how incredible Kitty was, but I couldn't begin to do the cat with the silly name justice. K called him Kitty because he felt it seemed so random and presumptuous to assign a name to an animal, so while the cat's name was Kitty, we rarely called him any name. We rarely called him actually. He came and went as he pleased, spending most of his day in the forest.

Kitty was a really fat cat, with an ass that could have easily accomodated a "wide load" sign. His size was deceptive though. He wasn't slow-fat. He hefted his bulk with speed and ease when prey was in sight, and lulled many little animals with his lumbering form. He generally ate most of those he caught. Of course, a few ended up in our shoes on the back deck. K and I rescued a couple, including a small fieldmouse which gave his mom conniptions, until we returned it to the tallgrasses of the Living Prairie Museum behind the forest.

Kitty could hear a canopener from half a mile away. I'd open a can of tuna by the kitchen window and he'd be on the deck in under a minute.

I once spent an entire afternoon with Kitty while I was tripping on acid, hanging out with him and not saying anything. He put up with my loopiness, and let me just be with him.

Kitty loved a good game of bitehand between the bannisters of stairs in the front hall. We kept a special protective glove there to accomodate his game. He liked to spend lazy afternoons on a cushion by the sliding doors to the deck, watching his backyard domain.

Kitty loved to stick his butt in your face when you were petting him. He also liked to sleep on top of the tv. I think he liked the warmth.

When K and I went out to our favourite rock in the forest, Kitty would come with us, trailing behind us all sneakylike. When we decided to turn around and go back to the house, we'd run and Kitty would race us back.

I'll miss you Kitty. You were great. I know you're with the friend. Please comfort K and help him feel better about you being gone.