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Halloween is big on our street, and I was putting up decorations when I heard meowing. There was a cat's head poking from our neighbor's hedge, but as soon as it saw me, the cat disappeared. It showed up again several times in the following days, but always ran off again. Finally, we started putting out food, and it would eat as soon as nobody was around. No one reported a lost cat, no one knew where it came from. All inquiries came up empty. Finally, he would allow us to pet him, and after months of debating, we brought him inside. A trip to the vet's determined he had been neutered, and was about 3 years old. He was more than just a lap cat- he was a clinger, so the only logical name was Velcro. He followed us everywhere in the house, including sleeping with us, and it was all good.
One day, about 3 years later, Velcro wasn't himself. It was a weekend, and our vet wasn't open, so we went to a clinic that was. They examined him, gave him fluids, a steroid shot, and enough pain meds to last til Monday, when we took him in. They kept him to run tests, and called Tuesday with the news. Cancer. No treatment. No hope.
When we arrived, they brought Velcro to us in one of the treatment rooms, and gave us some time alone with him, and Michele held him as he was put to sleep, and held him all the way home, where I built a coffin for him. Wrapped in his favorite blanket, he was buried in a sunny spot in our back yard, and a marker was placed.
Now, cue the Twilight Zone theme. Velcro was a short- haired tuxedo, with a faint horizontal blaze on his left hind leg between hip and knee. About 6 weeks before he first appeared, we had lost Spooky to old age. Spooky was a short- haired tuxedo, with a faint blaze in the same spot. Spooky got his name because he first showed up as an abandoned kitten at my in-laws' house in mid- October, the same as Velcro did our house.
It has been 9 years since Velcro left us, and we miss him every day.
One day, about 3 years later, Velcro wasn't himself. It was a weekend, and our vet wasn't open, so we went to a clinic that was. They examined him, gave him fluids, a steroid shot, and enough pain meds to last til Monday, when we took him in. They kept him to run tests, and called Tuesday with the news. Cancer. No treatment. No hope.
When we arrived, they brought Velcro to us in one of the treatment rooms, and gave us some time alone with him, and Michele held him as he was put to sleep, and held him all the way home, where I built a coffin for him. Wrapped in his favorite blanket, he was buried in a sunny spot in our back yard, and a marker was placed.
Now, cue the Twilight Zone theme. Velcro was a short- haired tuxedo, with a faint horizontal blaze on his left hind leg between hip and knee. About 6 weeks before he first appeared, we had lost Spooky to old age. Spooky was a short- haired tuxedo, with a faint blaze in the same spot. Spooky got his name because he first showed up as an abandoned kitten at my in-laws' house in mid- October, the same as Velcro did our house.
It has been 9 years since Velcro left us, and we miss him every day.