I Think This is the End

Tater could not even stand up anymore.   He has almost stopped eating.  He does not seem to be in pain but Rhonda is taking him to the veterinary hospital.  I doubt he will be coming back.

My kids used to think I did not like pets but really it is that I get so attached to them that when they die it hurts so much. 

I really did not want him.  My daughter got him when she was living in a no-pets apartment and Tater would sit in the window overlooking the parking lot.  So I had to go retrieve him halfway between Boise and Moscow.

Awake and dangerous:

What Tater enjoyed most:

And when a cat dreams big (yes, I am actually a Jaguar):

My wife took him to a shelter but there was something about it that reminded her too much of Auschwitz so we kept him.  He was a wonderful pet, sometimes lining up the little mouse bodies very neatly.  But shortly after the first dog arrived he became insistent on marking every part of the house.  Outside he went and he has stayed there ever since. 

He could be the most affectionate creature, crawling into my lap to get his head scratched and purring.  Even after he became an outdoor cat he remained affectionate.  I would brush him to remove matted fur and he sat their calmly, sometimes still purring, but clearly happy.

One day, my grandkids were visiting, and Tater came running through the house with a mouse wiggling in his mouth.  My granddaughter still remembers me yelling, "Tater, take that mouse out of your mouth right now!":

I miss him.

Over

Over.  No more suffering.  No more waking up in urine soaked bedding.  No more joint pain.  No more water dishes filled with toads and toad excrement. 

I will always have fond memories of him.