In Memoriam Part 1

The tough thing about animals...if they run away, you are in a constant state of wonder. Wondering if they have found a new home, or became one of those faceless balls of fur on the side of the highway, or are still out there looking for their home. As the owner of a lost pet you are denied the right to mourn because there is no body, no closure. I can think of stuff that might of happened to Mercury that could rival any human made horror story. But I prefer to think of him at peace, where ever he has ended up. This blog entry will be long because this will be his story....and through him ours. Five years worth of stories.

I have always had a cat in my life, Ian grew up allergic...so when a stray wandered to our door in our tiny first efficency apt in Tulsa, OK (July 99), I took him in. This cat was small and nasty..it bit our chins at night and demanded tuna instead of cat food...The personalities clashed and so off to the pound we went. After giving the cat to them I convinced Ian just to walk through the kitten adoption section. We came to a cage with kittens named after all the planets and removed an orange ball of fur...who immediately started to purr...and shred Ian's jeans (his claws were so long from staying in that steel cage). We put our money on him and 3 day later picked him up after he was neutered. I distinctly remember driving him home with him sitting on my shoulder, mewing loudly in my ear. Mercury was the loudest purrer ever, he loved to be a lap cat, liked his ears being rubbed, didn't mind you touching his paws (good for trimming sharp points of claws), did not like toys or treats (I swear), and could not stomach any kind of human food. He was also the stinkyest kitten ever...maybe it was our tiny apt...but that kitten could wake you from a dead sleep after a visit to the litter box. Ian's allergies started up...looking back I think it was Tulsa/dust/and a tiny bit cat...but Ian started to doubt he could live with Merc. Luckily we moved (Oct 99) into a 2 bedroom rental house and things improved.
Mercury became an outdoor/ indoor cat...it just happened. He got cut up quite a bit during our time there...I know cats slashed him, and Lord knows what else. Often it got infected and visits to the vet were frequent. In Dec of 2000 It was time to go back east and we packed up 2 pickups with everything we owned. It was time to leave and Mercury was no where to be found (He hated it when we packed...and this took the cake) He arrived the VERY last minute and was thrown unceremoniously in a truck and driven across the country.