We were on our patio late last summer when we heard a pathetic
meowing coming from the other side of the fence. I went to see what it
was and found the most pathetic looking gray cat—scrawny, matted and clearly
on the point of starvation. Somehow he had gotten lost or been
abandoned. I went back to the house and got a can of cat food.
He immediately inhaled it. I took him another, which he ate about as
fast.
Though we had two cats in the house already, we decided to take
this poor cat to the vet and see if he was healthy enough to introduce into
the house. He had fleas and lice both, but tested negative for any
other diseases, so we brought him home with the advice to isolate him for
two weeks. He had the best room in the house for that two week period
and then meekly entered the “family”.
He had such an unusual look about him that naming him was
difficult. We finally came up with Calhoun. He had tufts of hair
growing from his ears and a kind of mustache that made him look like a
“Southern Gentleman”.
We had his teeth cleaned and a couple pulled and managed to get his
weight up from 7.6 pounds to almost 10. Unfortunately, his age (we
guess about 15) and period of abandonment had taken its toll and after we
had had him about five months, his kidneys failed. We gave him
subcutaneous fluids every other day for six weeks, but in the end nature won
out. We had to make the horribly difficult decision to let him go.
He was the most mellow, sweet cat I have ever known and loved
nothing better than to sit and sleep on a lap. The day we had to have
him euthanized, I held him on my lap the entire day.
Even though we had him only six months, it seemed much longer and
we were happy that we were able to make his last days warm, dry, and as
comfortable as possible.
We miss you Mr. Calhoun, but somehow having your ashes with us
makes us feel like you are “home” where you belong, though I would like to
believe your spirit is somewhere lying in the sun and playing with Justin,
Gretchen, Estelle, Sebastian, and Giles.
Michael and Austin
