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requiem for Leo
self | October 29, 2008 | self

Posted on 10/29/2008 3:18:07 PM PDT by franksolich

I really do not like writing obituaries for cats or any other pets, but upon the demise of one, it is necessary to pause and remember; to contemplate upon God and those things God gives us, even if only for a short while.

Photobucket

Leo, circa mid-2004-October 28, 2008


Last night, circa 9:15 p.m. central time, 8:15 p.m. mountain time, after several days of withering away, the cat Leo crawled from a bedroom into the kitchen. Thinking his conduct unusual, I immediately followed him. As the floor in the kitchen is linoleum, I slipped an extra shirt underneath him, petting and stroking him as he lay there. There was no sound, no convulsion, as his last breath of life left him, as quickly and quietly as a bird escaping a snare.

It was over in two minutes, and some hours later I buried him under the same walnut tree as where the cat Floyd lies.

It was only several days ago--not even a week--that I first noticed something peculiar about Leo; always a social, outgoing cat romping here and there and all over the place, he was suddenly simply perched in the corner of a bedroom.

I moved him around various times, but he always returned to that corner. Upon closer examination of the little cat, my worst fears of eight weeks ago, involving the cat Floyd, came to the surface. It was the same sort of thing, this withering away.

Photobucket

Leo in August 2008


Leo first came here in January 2005, another tiny feral kitten appearing out of nowhere in the Sandhills of Nebraska. At first, he was hesitant about coming inside the door, but one night when it was -20 F, and a strong wind was blowing, I got no more argument from him. He came inside, and thereafter made himself comfortable.

Leo proved himself a warm, affectionate, social, "people" sort of kitten and cat, and of course I had him neutralized and shot, to keep him from reproducing and to shield him from disease.

Leo was eminently comfortable being held laying on his back as one gently tickled or rubbed his stomach.

Leo never did grow large, but he waxed fat and prosperous, a fluffy orange butterball.

It was only some days ago that I noticed it appeared all was not well, which proved to be the case.

Remembering the ordeal of keeping Floyd alive for 23 days--23 days during which I did little or nothing else--and still speculating it might be a temporary aberration, I decided to let nature take its course. If Leo were ever to show any signs of pain or distress, of course immediately to the veterinary he would go, but I hoped to God that he would go gently and quickly on his own, if that was to be his destiny.

Leo was handled very gently. Two times I tried to force liquids and medicine into him, but both times ended in futility. Recalling the horrors of trying to feed and liquefy Floyd, I decided no; best to leave Leo alone with ample and readily-available supplies of water, milk, Gerber's baby food, chicken broth, tuna, and tuna-water within inches of him, changing them every six hours to keep it all fresh and one hoped, appetizing.

Just as with Floyd of two months ago, I carried Leo around with me as much as was practical, keeping him glued to another heartbeat and warm body.

And of course I contemplated upon the situation.

I was up against something very ancient, something possibly as old as mankind itself, and something I could change no more than I could stop the tides of the ocean from coming in.

I am not familiar with the history and geography of cats, not being a cat person, but I assume there have been cats around here since the birds first began to sing; decades, generations, centuries, milleniums.

There were probably cats romping and playing alongside the river and in the meadows here when Abraham was in Ur, the Pyramids of Egypt constructed, the birth and crucifixion of Christ, the fall of the Roman Empire, the invasion of England, the Spanish Armada, and 1875, when this part of Nebraska was first settled.

If that isn't right, then such cats surely came with those first settlers.

And even 1875 was a very long time ago, during which time scores of generations of cats lived and died, nearly all of them of feral origin.

Whatever this thing was, that had killed Floyd, and was killing Leo, was probably some ancient genetic tendency to "attract" certain conditions and diseases, as compared with cats who had been domesticated for generations.

I recalled that when I first moved out here, there had been an entirely different set of feral cats hanging around.....cats which inexplicably disappeared over the following months, perhaps catching something and going away to die, unseen. There were lots and lots of those ephermal cats around here.

Photobucket

Leo in May 2008; Leo never liked being photographed, and so no photograph of "typical" Leo exists


Remembering all I had seen in the socialist paradises of the workers and peasants, the young, the weak, the innocent, abandoned and living wild--and destined to not live long--I thought, and still think, this was the same situation with cats here; their origins unknown, their genetic dispositions unknown, while one could take them in, and while it was reasonable to expect them to flourish and prosper for a while, probably one shouldn't count on them living the "average" "life-expectancy" of better-kept cats.

One can only take them, and hold them as long as possible, gambling that at least one out of six or eight might make it to threescore and ten in cat-years.

And so I held onto Leo as long as I could.

But late Monday afternoon, I decided if it was hopeless by Thursday morning, I would have to have Leo delivered from this time and place. (Of course, if Leo had demonstrated pain or distress before then, then.)

But as already described, Leo exited voluntarily and easily on Tuesday night, for which I thanked God.

As most know from my account of the death of Floyd, I trust God, and that God does not extinguish life that has been created; that life merely goes on to another time and place, an Eternal Life, which is beyond the cerebral capacity of man to understand.

It was later pointed out to me that God has promised Eternal Life to those without Original Sin, which suddenly put a new light on things, as surely pets, being innocent animals, came into being without such an obstacle.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: cat; cats; dog; dogs
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To: franksolich

Beautiful tribute, Frank. I’m sending my consolations to you, for what it’s worth.


21 posted on 10/29/2008 8:24:53 PM PDT by TenthAmendmentChampion (Lord please bless our nation with John McCain as president and Sarah Palin as Vice President! Amen.)
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To: franksolich

I’m weeping for you and with you. You you have my prayers.


22 posted on 10/29/2008 10:27:58 PM PDT by BruceysMom (My heart is healed. Thank you Lord!)
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To: franksolich; TenthAmendmentChampion
Leo Haiku





I chose My Human
carefully. It was not a
whim as you can see

I could see in his
eyes that My Human is both
most gentle and wise

He made a gift of his
Forever Home. One from which
I shall never roam

Everthing loomed
so large and tall compared to
this curious ball

Of fluff, who has grown
into a handsome Cat. There's
nothing wrong with that

My Human has lots
of friends. Giving me Rubs that
never seem to end

My Human and I
have a routine even when
I am rarely seen

I rear my head up
once in a while. It's nice to
see My Human smile!

Friendship and time are
what I have to share. Given
freely without care

Age may cause a lack
of speed. My Human cares for
whatever I need

My Human thinks, but does
not know that now is the time
that I have to go

I'll be remembered
in My Human's heart. A bond
that will never part


Jack Deth ~ 10/30/08.

23 posted on 10/30/2008 5:15:06 PM PDT by Jack Deth (Knight Errant and Resident FReeper Kitty Poem /Haiku Guy)
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To: franksolich

Thank you. Very beautifully said, very beautiful truth.


24 posted on 10/30/2008 7:42:39 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Leave illusion, come to the truth. Leave the darkness, come to the light.)
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To: Jack Deth

Thank you, sir; it flatters me overmuch, but it says a great deal about Leo himself.

It’s wonderful.


25 posted on 10/31/2008 3:03:29 AM PDT by franksolich (Scourge of the Primitives, in Service to Humanity)
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