Dichroic Reflections

RIP Beast

No, not being trained, after all.

RIP, Beast.
1989-2006

The name is because he was a fairly feral kitten - a neighbor who worked with a local animal control unit rescued him and his brother when the shelter (a police one) there put his mom and the rest of the litter down. He's been with me since he was 5 weeks old, a year before either of us even met Rudder. We used to not be able to sleep with our feet outside the blankets, because he would attack our toes. He had blue eyes as a kitten that were startling against his long black fur; the neighbor who rescued him said he might have Siamese blood that would keep his eyes blue, but they did change, to a clear gold that showed up as well.

He was crotchety. He once treed a Houston cop (another neighbor) in my bathroom, and he scared more than one guest by hissing at them. But he was also empathetic and would always come to me when he knew I was upset. One day early on, when we had all first moved in together, the cat somehow knocked a closet door shut, trapping himself inside. Rudder got home first and opened the door - unfortunately, the cat then decided that the incident was Rudder's fault. When I came home I found Rudder fending the cat off with a tennis racket - I had to call the cat off and calm him down. After that rocky beginning he and Rudder because best buddies. From the winter of 2001 when I was away for three months, they went to sleep snuggled up together every night. He did mellow out a lot as he got older; he's had some trouble jumping upon things for the last few months, but it's only been the last few weeks that he hasn't been eating. It's been a quick way to go - actually, it reminds me of my grandmother (whose birthday was just Saturday). Same thing: she essentially decided it was time to go and stopped eating. In both cases, fortunately, they lived to a good age before making that decision. She met him the one time she visited me, in Houston. She didn't like him all that much, having superstitions about black cats, but they did have some things in common.

Anyway, I'm babbling now and I should quit writing. Rudder's trying to be comforting, but I should really go check if he's the one who needs comfort.

I've never had a real pet die before - as a kid, I only had goldfish and gerbils. My parents' dog died a few years ago, but that was long after I was out of the house and he and I only overlapped by a year or so. It wasn't the same.