One last meow...

Yesterday we decided it was time for Cole the Cat to go on to that big kitty farm in the sky. He was old (almost 17), and his health issues (arthritis from 2 broken legs, heart murmur, and failing kidneys) have had us wondering how much longer he would live happily. Yesterday seemed like the right time, so we can remember him in a happy way, and not as an old, sick, unhappy animal. So here's my happy cat memories:

• Picking him up just before Christmas out in Bel Air Maryland, causing my mother to miss her work Christmas party (which she reminds me of, every time we talk about the day I got him). Hey, it was the ONLY thing I wanted for Christmas!
• Going out right after I got him and my mother telling me I better not go out and leave that kitten running around her house when he didn't even know how to use a little box (hmmm...that could explain his litter box issues throughout his life).
• When I came back from going out that night (after locking the cat in my bathroom), he was snuggled with my mom on the couch because she went to check on him "and he was just so pitiful all alone in there"
• Walking home from the vet carrying my passed out kitten after he was neutered, and my mother wondering if there had been anything for the vet to remove.
  
• Cole peeing into the electrical outlet in our kitchen before we learned the value of a covered litter box (he was fine, I think he managed to miss the holes of the outlet).
• Seeing Cole for the first time since I went to college (he went to Florida with my mom) and commenting his butt was bigger than Garfield's.
  
• Picking him up from the airport when he came to live with me in college. He stood on top of the cat carrier in the back of my car with his mouth hanging open like a dog. It's a sight I will never forget.
• The way he would ram his head into doors if they were closed and he wanted to come in. His meows would get progressively louder too, so you'd swear he had busted through and found a way into the room.
• The time we had a party in college and some genius used the litter box instead of the toilet (luckily it was #1)
• Putting a tag that said "Fat Daddy" on his collar because, well, he was a fat daddy!
• Replacing the collar/tag because he would sneak out every time the door was open for more than 2 seconds.
• Piggy! This little stuffed pig he would drag around with him. I think a dog ate it at some point.
• Shorting out not one, but TWO of those litter boxes that automatically scoop. I don't know what was in his pee, but I bet it was nuclear.
• Max (my mom's dog), putting Cole's head in his mouth and dragging him around the floor like a dustmop. He was very gentle and never hurt him, but good grief it was FUNNY!
• Greeting me when I got home like a dog...with a loud meow and as much of a wagging tail as a cat can have.

Okay, that list got a lot longer than I expected, but I needed the therapy :-)

So we're a pet-free household for the moment. Not sure how long it will last or what the next pet will be, but it will certainly have some big paws to fill (no, that was not a crack on Cole's weight. Okay, maybe a little...but it gave him personality.)