Jack the cat

September 24, 2008 at 5:52 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

It is with sadness and a touch of relief that I inform you of the passing of my beloved tabby cat, Jack.  Jack was a rescue cat I found at Petsmart too many years ago to remember exactly; perhaps 10 or even 12.  He wasn’t the ‘cutest’ cat there; with what stub of a tail sticking up like a cow-lick at the end of his back and the rest of his fur thinning.  He was quiet and unassuming, but he looked up at me with the sweetest eyes and I just couldn’t resist him, even though we already had ‘too many cats’ at home. 

The way it was told to me, Jack had taken a ride in the engine compartment of a car from Ventura to Santa Paula, his tail wrapped around the manifold or the radiator, causing it to burn.  When Jack reached his destination garage, he ran out of the engine and no one saw him for 3 days.  When he finally surfaced, it was clear that the tail could not be saved, and it was amputated.  The psychological damage was not so easily repaired, but the extent of that was not clear to us for some time. 

Having been declawed prior to our adopting him, Jack needed to live indoors.  For the first year or so with us, he lived in the back house.  It can become quite hot back there and the only methods of cooling are to leave the doors open or use the ceiling fan.  Leaving the doors open was not an option when you are trying to limited the comings and goings of a declawed feline, so the ceiling fan was the only viable option.  Whenever we did, Jack would run into the bedroom closet and not come out for DAYS.  It took us years to figure out the connection between the use of the ceiling fan and the disappearance of Jack.  We just thought he was quirky.  Eventually, Jack proved himself to be quite capable of taking care of himself outside, in spite of his lack of claws, so we released him from the back house jail and he was allowed to roam freely, inside and out.  Jack became a MUCH happier fellow after that.

Jack turned out to be the only cat that all of the other cats seemed to get along with.  Jackie was my Switzerland.  Jack was the only cat D thought calm enough to take to Chelsea’s school for show-and-tell.

Over the past year or so, Jack developed a weak hind leg which affected his gait.  It worsened over time and the past few months he’s been have a great deal of difficulty getting around.   He still had the sweetest disposition and those EYES!  He was a mess, but he was my mess, and I loved him very much.

Jack passed shortly before midnight on September 23, 2008 in his latest favorite cat food box in the kitchen.  I will forever miss how happy he was whenever he would see me.  His eyes lit up.  I will miss Jack’s eyes. 

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