Goodnight Stumpy, wherever you are!

Today, out on an errand I drove past the place "where they murder cats" (the vet's clinic), when I was struck by the thought that today is the first anniversary of the untimely demise of my cat, Stumpy.

By the way, "place where they murder cats" was a waggish comment. I like our vet very much. She is kind, compassionate and remarkably easy on the eyes. If I were single, and she were single, I'd propose to her so that she could keep me in my old age, since the average vet makes about the same as most rock stars. Anyway, I digress.

I just wanted to say (as a non cat person) that I still miss Stumpy quite painfully. I miss her because she was a 'non-cat'. Nothing much feline about her disposition. She was a pure Manx, and was shaped like a butterball turkey. And she had more spunk and personality than any feline I'd ever met. She bonded with me within days after we had acquired her from the shelter, only 2 1/2 years earlier, and we were inseparable after that. She followed me like a puppy and grew distressed when I was out of sight. She amused me. She made me laugh aloud sometimes. She was ruthlessly predatory, and devoted her days to stalking and capturing garden snakes. She purred at a volume that could awaken the neighbors. She mercilessly tormented the other cat, and she charmed the bejesus out of me. She was only seven when she became riddled with cancer, and I had to have her expedited. I wept quietly on the way home from the vet's that day a year ago. Today I thought about her. I still miss her.