We had to have one of our old house cats put down this past Saturday. Newman was abandoned under a bush in our backyard when he was just a sick blue eyed skinny white kitten. He was always on the feral side, the only person who could pick him up was my Grand-daughter. Everything was on his terms, he would spend hours sitting on the arm of my recliner, but not once in 11 years did he ever even try to lay in my lap. The funny thing was when we first carried him to the vet after finding him, the Doctor said he would never be a sociable, I still have no idea how she could determine that from a kitten that young. He spent his time laying in the sun on the back of couch and was always first in line when feeding time came. Towards the end he suffered a lot of weight lost from dental and medical issues which were impossible to treat because of his feral nature. His final trip to the vets office involved heavy medication in his food the night before and morning of the visit and he still ended up sitting on the top of the doorframe in the office which the kennel door came open. We just called him "White Cat" most of the time and he could care less on how he was addressed, it was always returned with an indignant stare. We also have a ginger cat, Marvin, about the same age, which again showed up in my garage one day about nine years ago. He came up the street, turned into my driveway and came in and sat down and began meowing, which he has not stopped doing to this day. He is the complete opposite of Newman and will be in your lap from dawn to dust. Both him and Byrdie the dog have been off kilter since the lost. At times it was an all out mad dash through the house and you never knew who was chasing who. I know they miss their sidekick. Newman was obnoxious, bull headed, hinky, tried to scratch me every time I put food in his bowl, and on the odorous side, (I think Febe may have written the song "Smelly Cat" with him in mind,) but damn the Wife and I miss him. At least he had almost 12 good years of a full belly, warm and cool place to sleep, and a couple of crazy old people who tried to make him happy and loved him despite his nature. RIP Newman...Miss you White Cat.....
