I buried my best friend today

I lost one of my best friends today. I know that he was only a cat, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. It’s even harder to take because he picked me to be his buddy, a first for a cat with me. I am so happy that he was a part of my life for the past 7 years.

Let me tell you a little bit about Booger, yeah I named him Booger, but he was always Boogs to me, but more on that later. We found him on pet finder when we first moved to Ohio. He was in a shelter up in Cleveland and we were in Athens, about as far apart as you could get from each other in Ohio. His picture on pet finder was of this beautiful fluffy Norwegian Forest Cat, and we really liked his pic. We contacted the lady who was trying to find him a home, without even knowing that he was slotted to be killed in two days (the shelter was a 2 week kill shelter). Alarmed we asked the lady, who we came to loving call the crazy cat lady, how we could go about getting this cat and saving him. She said she would bring him half way to us, so that night we met at a Pet Smart in Columbus.

I was shocked when this skinny, lanky, and half shaved cat came out of the cat carrier. He looked nothing like his picture and though we were told he weighed a good 15 pounds, there was no way this bag of bones could tip the scales at 5 pounds. He’d been stuck in a barbed wire fence and in an attempt to free himself during a severe thunderstorm, he ripped a huge hole in his side that needed stapled up.

So, while there was this cat that though skinny looked really good on one side, and a Frankencat on the other I immediately wanted him. As he came out of the cat carrier it was obvious that he wanted to be with me, as he headed right to me and crawled up on my shoulders. He had since spent many walks around the yard and house on my shoulders. Crazy cat lady told us his name was Bogart, as in Humphrey. No way could I call this mess Bogart, and not wanting to change it too much, he thereafter was known as Booger. The 2 hour ride home gave him, Julie and I plenty of time to get acquainted. He talked to me the whole way home, answering my every question with a chirp or twill, he and I carried on many conversations over the years. I truly wish I knew the things he tried to tell me, and I’m sure he thought I was the dumbest human alive cause I never did get it.

I’d like to think that Boogs had quite a good life with us. I’ve not had the experience to witness such a gentle, smart, patient, and loving cat as my buddy. When he came home he just wanted our old cat Mikey to love him, but our Mike Man being 18 years old hated the fact that we brought this usurper to his world, he never did warm up to Booger.

A big brother to 5 different cats over the years, he never failed to let them suckle on him, knead on him, chew his tail, and snuggle with him (all at once many times). Our crazy cat Moe, loved him to death, I hope this isn’t too hard on him. Booger never raised a paw to one of them, even after he was bullied by Andy. He could crawl all over me, and never once did he expose his claws while doing so, unless I moved wrong and he needed to hold on for balance.

Julie and I often wondered how Booger got away from his previous owners. One day in Athens, I was grilling out back and cooking something on the stove at the same time. I was going in and out the back storm door. Booger sat by the door watching me. While I was at the grill I saw Booger looking from the door latch to me and to the back lawn. He did this for a few minutes and then stood up against the storm door and reached for the door latch. He hit the latch but didn’t have enough weight to push it and the door open. I figured it out that he was much smarter than I expected, and had to watch out after that.

Our move to Maine found us living on a quiet dead-end road, much safer for being outside than the busy highway in Ohio, so Boogs was able to have free reign on the great outdoors. I’d never seen him so happy. He would run from the house hit the edge of the driveway and road and take that corner on two wheels, going as fast as he could go. He loved it out there. He’d always come back to check in with me just to take off at full gallop. Boy I loved to watch that cat run. He did it so well.

This past week has been very hard for us all. Booger became lethargic, and then he would just lay there like a wet dish rag. He got IV fluids, and sub-Q fluids, but he wasn’t eating or drinking on his own. Lots of blood work and prodding and poking didn’t show us anything. I took him to an old vet who I used to know today, who told me that Booger had tumors blocking him up and the best course of medicine was to end his suffering. He died peacefully in my arms.

The greatest thing that happened in this whole ordeal this week happened on the way to the vet today. As we found ourselves with another 2 hour ride together, I looked over at him in the cat carrier while at a red light. I called his name like only I did and he perked his little head up at me and chirped just once. That was something I hadn’t heard in a week….