Moose

"He followed me home."

This was the story Mom told the day Moose entered our house. And, I'm sure, it was at least partially true. I'm sure Moose followed Mom home from her job at CVS Pharmacy.

But I'm equally sure she encouraged him along the way, calling him, "Puss Puss Puss!" and petting his huge head along the way until she'd gotten him to her front door and in.

And in he would stay for the better part of two decades until Sunday morning, when he laid down to sleep and never woke up again.

He'd been struggling for the past few weeks, most likely with kidney failure, and with each day he ate and drank less and less. I kept him close most of those nights, letting him lie on my chest for a while, stroking his head, telling him what a good boy he was, even if that wasn't exactly true.

Oftentimes, he could be a bastard, chasing the other cats around the house at all hours of the day and night, thumping them in the head and wrestling with any other males in the vicinity. (The past couple of years, that was Bumpy.)

Friday night, he walked out, under his own power, to the water dish in the dining room and drank for a minute or two. Then he returned to his hidey hole by the heat vent in the living room and pretty much stayed there until Sunday morning, when I brought him out to lie next to me by the couch.

And that's where, sometime just after dawn, he breathed his last.

I'm going to miss that old tomcat. The other cats will miss him too, especially Cocoa, who had adopted Moose as her "daddy." She'd curl up with him, no matter where he was or whether or not he was in the mood for such.

And Bumpy? Who will he thump in the head every day? And who will thump him back? The other two cats in the house--Mimi and Cocoa--are gentle souls who only fight in self-defense. Bumpy won't find much play from those two.

Over the past few weeks, when Moose struggled to eat, I came home anxiously, not knowing what I'd find when I got there.

Now? I know what I'll find: An empty spot where Moose used to be.

Like I said--I'll miss that old tomcat. I miss him already.

I leave you with a few photos of the old boy. He loved to pose for the camera.