Sammie 1993 to 2011

[agoodwinsmith]

Sammie was born in the Spring of 1993.  He came as an adorable little black kitten to our neighbour next door.  Sometime during his first year, one of his hind legs was broken, and so for a while, at night, all you could see was this little white cast hopping and bopping around on the ground.  In 1995 the neighbour moved and said to me - "D'ya wan' 'im?  If not, he's for the SPCA."  So, I got his food dish, and his box of cut-rate crunchies.  I showed him where they were, and that he could come and go as he pleased (Summer in the Okanagan - definitely open door open window policy) - and I gave him some cooked smokie.

His people had moved right out of their mobile home, and no one moved in, so, because it was an old one with loovered windows, he was able to get in as he pleased.  He spent the summer sleeping there, and coming over to our house to eat.  He was a loving but skittish fellow - afraid of feet, brooms, newspapers, sudden movement, sudden noises.  But, we offered a better brand of food -and it was the only game left, so he spent more and more time with us - even sleeping in our lean-to shed.

His old home was sold, and dragged away, so he was left with just our shed to sleep in - I mean: it had an old ratty couch that someone had left when they moved out, and it was badly made enough that there were two ways in and out (crucial for a full-Tom - gotta have a gettaway in every sleeping place), so it wasn't too bad.  Then we had one of the coldest winters Westbank had seen for  years and years - and Sammie condescended to spend some time in the house for a snooze.

And so we went until he was about five.  He became king cat of the neighbourhood, and incautious cats who got into our yard by mistake almost widdled themselves in their yessirnosir, pleasejustletmelivesir grovelling to be allowed to just run away.  The girl cats thought he was simply the best because he would bring them home and show them his dish (See?  I'm a great provider.).  We had little girl cats come up to the door and basically, through various curling pantomimes, ask if Sammie could come out to play.  Then we finally had the money to get him neutered.

It didn't slow him down, or stop the girls from coming 'round.

Then, when he was nine, we moved to Vermilion.  Frozen wasteland of prairie with not enough wooded hiding out places.  He did well there, but he didn't have a territory any more, and if he was caught out at sunup, he wouldn't come home all day.  You knew he was just somewhere nearby under somebody's stoop, but he wouldn't come until after dark.  He did pretty well, there, though, and seemed to be quite happy over all.  His one objection was that there was no good hunting available in the Winter, so, the second Fall we were there, he started stocking the house with mice.  The photo above is taken in the backyard there.

Then, when he was thirteen, we moved to Vancouver, and he became an apartment cat.  We were worried because he had always been able to come and go as he pleased, and now he was cooped up in a two-bedroom apartment.  He made the transition very well.



The above photo was taken in the Spring of 2005, and pretty much represents his attitude to the new situation.

As you know, since last year we have been concerned about how thin he was, and various other issues.  This morning we had him put to sleep because everything had just failed him all at once.  The worst thing was that he couldn't walk any more.  Well, he could stagger about ten feet and then would have to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before staggering anywhere else.  He had refused to eat or drink since this past Friday, and while no doubt we could have put him through heroic efforts to squeeze one or two more months of living out of him, we didn't feel that was the right thing to do.  Don't let anybody ever fool you - euthanasia is a violent process, and it doesn't look pain-free to me, but, well, he'd reached the point where there was no pain-free place to reach.

Please help me celebrate a totally fabulous cat.

Comments

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

Strangely enough, I was owned by a Sam who went the same way in 1999 :(
*hugs* He'll be waiting for you (http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.htm).

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

My condolences.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[cat63.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you've lost your friend. It sounds as if it would have been unkind to do other than what you did but that's not much consolation at this point, I know.

For such little critters, they leave a damn big hole when they go.

[hugs]

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you; yes - the apartment just feels so wrong.

[sierra-le-oli.livejournal.com]

What a cool cat.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

I have more stories. :)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Yay Sammie. I'm deeply sorry for your loss - but he does sound to have had a fabulous life.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Pretty good, overall, I think. I confess I never expected him to live so long, since full-Toms fight so much and so fiercely. He solved that problem by beating up a few rivals, and then *not* beating up the ones who were willing to just run away. He made those ones very very afraid, first, though, so they spread his reputation, further reducing his need to actually fight. :)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Heh. Reminds me of Boris, who was a Mighty Fighter in his prime (and would then come home and snuggle down and suckle your sweater for as long as you were willing to put up with being damp). Only then he got old in his body, just not in his head - so he went on getting into fights, and losing badly, and needing regular visits to the vet to be stitched up again...

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor Boris. Cats don't get choices about some things.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

He was in many ways the Best Cat Ever. I can say that because neither of these two is actually here watching me type right now...

*suddenly worries*

*departs, to find out just where they are and what doing*

[ciciaye.livejournal.com]

I'm so very sorry to hear this. I know how I felt when we took the awful decision to have our Sasha put to sleep. It was a choice of either that, or leave her in terrible pain. (She was 17, and had what the vet thought was probably a tumour in her sinuses)

Sending a hug to you and your SOGP *hugs*

[ciciaye.livejournal.com]

I'm also quite tickled by the thought of a tomcat so gentlemanly that he'd bring the ladies home and show them his dish, or have the ladies calling round for him! Our local tomcat tends to come visiting (and mewing very loudly(, and eats any food he finds in the process! Not to mention his 'calling card' ie spraying...

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Sammie was the most *winsome* cat I have ever met. Oddly, there seemed to be some genetic component to it: he had this adorable habit of raising one front paw in a "pretty-please" gesture. Kittens that I knew were his, but that I also knew could not have learned their behavious from him, also used that front paw pretty-please gesture. Speaking as an only slightly crazy cat lady: it was very appealing.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you. You are exactly right. The thing that we do called "putting them to sleep" sounds so benign and is so horrible, but it is still the better choice than to not do it. I know you still miss Sasha, even though you love your Ella very much.

[ruthi.livejournal.com]

He was a fabulous cat. Thank you for the pictures and telling about him. I am sorry for your loss.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[khitomer.livejournal.com]

My condolences.

We had a cat, which Sammie reminds me of very strongly. He died about 1997 - and I still miss him *Hugs*

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Yes. The loss leaves a permanent hole that no one else fits in.

[moustachios.livejournal.com]

*big hugs* to all three of you.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Yes, Mr. Orange is a little bit at a loss. He isn't quite looking for Sam, but he bustles in to grab Sammie's favourite spot - and now it doesn't matter.

The Story of Sammie

[ankhorite.livejournal.com]

Oh, how hard this was for you, but what a blessing for him that you helped him out of his miseries at the end of life. Thank you for writing his eulogy with such detail.

He was a handsome boy for sure; if I were a girl cat, I'd make googoo eyes at him even if I knew he was no longer in a position to do anything about it.

I'm very sorry for your loss, A, but I'm happy for him. A good life with many years in loving arms, including the last minutes of those years.