RIP Wellington

Current Mood: sad
Current Music: Dream Theater - Octovarium, Nightwish - Dark Passion Play
Current Drink: Feckin Irish Whiskey

A word about domesticated pets. They have been referred to as "our furry friends" or "fur babies," etc. Whether you have a cat or a dog, or hell even a monkey, you inevitably form a psychological bond. You care for said animal as if they were a member of your family, albeit kids change the equation but you still care for the pet. I say this because I have had coworkers chastise me for being so attached to a cat because it is considered a lesser pet in the eyes of men, or it is considered a girls pet.  Let me tell you something about "man-code" and pet love: it's all bullshit. If Johnny badass with his full blooded Rotweiler can be reduced to a (blubbering 12 year old girl who just got dumped by her first crush when his Rottie just got diagnosed with a fatal disease) wreck and still be considered a man's man then I believe I can be excused for being torn up over having to put my cat to sleep.

Wellington was a hard luck case from the start. Fat cat came to me as a rescue from a friend who didn't know the first thing about animals. Kept in a cage sized for a mid sized cat, 8 week old Wellie shared it with his Large sized mother, covered in excrement and half starved. This cat acted like he had no spine, draping himself over chair arms and whatnot.  He tore through his first bowl of food and Ione's (my other cat) food bowl. Ever the gentle giant fatcat was just a poof of love. He topped out at 17lbs. after which we discovered he was part Maine Coon, and with that size still moved like he was a sleek and tiny cat. He had so much fur between his toes there were times he'd chase the other cat around the house only to drift around corners on hardwood floors like a race car.  He had digestive issues since we got him and with patience we adjusted both cats' diets. In the end what took him was a form of cancer in his abdomen that metastasized in his pancreas and his lymph nodes.

RIP little ginger kitty, you will be missed.