Eulogy for Ian
I took him to the vet and learned, to my infinite sadness, that he was in the end stages of kidney failure and there was no cure.
Just the week before he had been hanging out on my desk, helping me at my computer. Now he was a shadow of his former self.
I made the difficult but necessary decision to end his suffering. I brought him home and gave him a funeral service and buried him alongside Gus, Pasquale, and Lucy.
Ian had come to Dr Monteith 10 years ago by being abandoned on the doorstep of the vet clinic in a crate with a couple of other adult cats.
He took this in stride, and immediately made himself at home at the clinic. He presented himself as a Grand Ambassador of the Feline Race, greeting everyone in a friendly and dignified manner. His very demeanor announced that he loved the world, and expected to be loved in return!
I brought him home with me and he calmly accepted his new lot in life as the natural progression of the way of the universe. He was friendly to my other pets but brooked no nonsense from them.
He simply loved people. He greeted every new person he ever met, and when my neighbors had deck parties or yard sales he went out and introduced himself to everyone in the crowd.
My other cats have always prudently made themselves scarce in these situations. Not Ian!
Amusingly, he was so appealing that several people offered to adopt him over the years. This, in a world full of cats that need homes spoke volumes about his unique personality.
He had some funny quirks. Some 5 or 6 years back he got angry at me for putting flea drops on his back. It was one of those summers that saw a flea explosion and I had to treat all my pets. For some reason, this year when I put the drops on his back he took extreme offense and literally began ignoring me!
He stopped helping me at the computer, and would stalk by with his head held high and refuse to be petted. This went on for well over a week. I mean, I was being deliberately and very obviously snubbed by a cat!
In the meantime, he began disappearing at night. He’d come in and chow down on meals during the day, but would then hightail it upriver and vanish until the next day.
Have you ever had someone give you the silent treatment? I was getting the feline equivalent! I could feed him but he wouldn’t talk to me…or even acknowledge my presence!
What was he up to? I suspected he’d found new people friends, which was fine, but did they think he was homeless? Surely he was too well fed and prosperous looking to be a stray cat….but it sure looked like Ian was dumping me for someone else.
On a hunch, I walked up a few houses where a family had recently moved in. There were two little girls in this family and Ian especially loved kids. I knocked on the door, and when the young mom answered the door I must have sounded like a crazy lady as I began explaining about Ian and why I thought he might be visiting them.
The mom immediately looked so stricken and frozen I knew my hunch was spot on. When I described Ian as a fluffy orange cat, one of the daughters asked if I meant yellow…and she then brought Ian out from the living room where he’d been reclining in all his majestic glory on their couch.
It was funny. The mom didn’t want me to think they were trying to take my cat, and I wanted her to understand that I had not hurt Ian, that he was loved and he had a home but how do you explain that your cat was punishing you over flea drops?
As I had suspected, Ian had simply moved in. He’d show up at their patio door and paw at it like a cat in need. I assured them that Ian could still be their friend, but asked that they please shut him out at night so that Ian and I could have a chance to kiss and make up.
As soon as Ian had to return to sleeping in my house I was forgiven and all was well between us again. Our “marital spat” was over!
Ian became enamored of an elderly Yorkshire Terrier named Natasha that visited my neighbor with her person upon occasion. Natasha was kind of cranky, and did not like anyone but her own human. But she and Ian would lay for hours under a car in our shared driveway, nose to nose, and simply blissfully inhale each other’s essence.
I had to be very careful when I left the house to walk my dog. Ian thought following me up to the store was great fun. I’d carefully scout the yard before I left because this habit was dangerous. Too many cars! But he would craftily sneak along, following me, darting under porches along the way. I wouldn’t know he’d outwitted me yet again until I’d come out of the store to find him rolling around waiting for me with a big cat smile on his face!
Ian was a rare character and a simply wonderful companion. It was a privilege to share life with him for these past years and he is sorely missed.
He had a good life and touched the hearts of everyone he met.
Rest in Peace my Friend ….
Stephanie Kelley
