Last August I had to put down my 11 month old kitty when he became very sick after taking him to get neutered. I haven't been able to write about him since I still miss him so, even tho' I now have his brother. My son  found out he was allergic to cats, so I inherited his cat.  They look a lot alike, but...

This is for Zoey:

Everything a toy

But you did bring so much joy

Never forgotten

In the mid 1950's my father worked for Waste King. They manufactured many things, rocket parts among them. He was the night watchman.

He came home one morning with a squirming little rotund bundle of blue gray and white fur. Though her coat pattern (gray tux with white nose, paws and belly, was called Gray Merle), he named her Tabby.

We had two dogs, Teddy Bear, the Pomeranian, and Buster, the Rat Terrier at that time. they had been trained not to chase cats.

Tabby was a wanderer. She never stayed home. Born to stray. Dad thought her too young to get pregnant. (HA!).

When she got even bigger around, mom and I both warned him she was with kittens. He laughed and said she was just getting fat.

One day, I came home from school. I kept my bicycle in the garage. As I was putting it away, I heard a lot of mewling sounds coming from the rafters.

I looked up in all the rafters, but she'd hidden them good up there.

When dad got home, I told him that he had better get her little blobs of fat down before the fell and broke their necks.

Unbelievably, that half grown, undersized character had 6 kittens.

She also had no desire to take care of them.

Buster, the male Rat Terrier, would force her into the box when ever she came into the house, and make her feed them.

When she got out of the box, she would just leave the house.

When the kittens got old enough to start wandering and playing, Buster herded them into the front room and watched them.

About 3 and half weeks later, the lady from across the street came over and accused us of not feeding Tabby.

Mom pointed to the food and water dishes on the floor by the kitten box. As usual, both were full of food.

The woman was bewildered. "Why does she beg at my door?"

We did not know of course. Mom told her she could have Tabby if she wanted her, but would have to take the 6 kittens as well.

She did.

2 weeks later, she returned to apologize. It seemed that Tabby had no less then 6 households feeding her. She was just one of those cats.

She was still living over there when we left Reseda, CA.

Sharon Pribble

Heres my little beauty

all asleep in her bed of toys.

She would not sleep in the bed

So I used it for her toys

So then she made it her bed

When I took out the toys, she left

So once again - its both.

Sharon Pribble

My boyfriend and I had been together for a year when we finally decided to make our family bigger and so I found an ad advertising a free cat to a good home.

He was a bundle of bright yellow fur and larger at six weeks than the adult cat we had at home.  After saying goodbye to his family he jumped into our car where he layed on my lap the whole way home, all four feet in the air letting me pet his belly.

His relaxation in the car would be a great indication of what was to come.  Friendly, lovable, and always looking for the next adventure.

He was so large at such a young age we decided to name him Monster Cat and for the last eleven years he was my best friend.  The one who was always there when I came home, who never had much to say but always was a great listener.  He slept with me every night, curled up against my chest under the covers.  I fell asleep to the sound of his purring.

We noticed right away that he was missing and we began searching for him immediately.  We found him and buried him today wrapped in my sweater.  It was a surprise as we were not aware he was sick.  The only thing ever told to us by the vet was he had a heart murmur six years ago.  I guess that combined with his age was the problem.

It's been a sad day here, but at the same time a very happy one as we looked at pictures and told stories.

I love and miss you Monster Cat.