Milo was my cat and buddy for nine years but today the house is empty of Milos because he took ill last week, deteriorated very fast, and had to be euthanized yesterday. Cause is unknown because the emergency vet wanted over $700 just to diagnose him and that plus costly treatment surely wouldn't have brought back the buddy who was now just a shadow of his former self.
The cat who loved sunshine and warmth - even at the height of Tucson summers - was inexplicably found huddling on the cold floor of the gloomy shower stall. The cat for whom I switched to Science Diet LITE so he wouldn't balloon past his healthy pudgy weight and who asked for cat snacks daily in addition to his canned food suddenly hadn't eaten in two days and wouldn't even sniff the bowl in front of him. He had noticeably lost weight. The cat who was my faithful, annoying pre-alarm clock and would wake me every morning exactly two minutes before my regular alarm went off had missed his sentry duty the last five or six mornings and had let me sleep in. And he no longer reminded me at 9:00 pm that I really should be in bed. He'd lost his remarkable sense of time and routine.
The only thing he didn't lose was his steady, phlegmatic, easy-going personality and that is what I will miss the most. He wasn't only MY buddy, he was everybody's buddy. Seven years ago when Juan brought home a little waif of a kitten from the big railroad warehouse, Milo made her feel welcome and quickly became Matilda's constant companion. Likewise, when just over a year ago Juan rescued yet another wirey ball of fluff, Milo was there to endure Oliver's playfulness and to plant a well-placed wallop now and then when young Oliver got too rambunctious. They've been best of buddies ever since.
He was both invisible and in the way. Never heard a peep from him most of the time, but if you were in a hurry or just HAD to get into that closet, Milo was there, in the way. Always managed to be on the bathroom counter at the exact moment I needed to use the hairspray (his nemesis). But mostly his even-temperedness made him almost an afterthought... Oh, it's just Milo. Why, then, does the house feel so empty without him?
Love you Milo.
1 comment:
Sigh. . . Answer to last question: because he was your buddy, and he loved you, too. I am so grateful for the animals I've had in my life over the years. For the past two+ it's been Percy, a cat I rescued in the high-heat of summer, last-gasping at the feet of my wilting zinnias. I nursed him back to health. He has paid me back by being bossy, and sometimes so sweet it grates my teeth. Yet I look forward to seeing him every day. Every relationship--whether with humans or animals--is such a blessing. I'm glad you were blessed by knowing Milo.
bjd
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