28/10/2024
I've been putting off doing this. But I want to remember him. Capt. Jack went to his forever sleep last week 💔. He was named after a character from Dr Who, that was unable to die...not the pirate, even though he ended up with one eye 🧐.
Anyway, he was a gentle cat, unless you tried to pat him, or walk past him, or look in his general direction 🫠. He would actually take food from your hand very carefully, and ate his dinners like the princess he was, but would slash you for merely existing in 'his' house. Fluffy bu**er.
He loved people, not us, but other people. You may have seen him sunning himself on our front steps, or been greeted by him if you visited or dropped a kitty over to stay. He loved a good yank on his tail more than a cuddle.
He loved breakfast, second breakfast, elevensis, lunch, smoko, dinner, and supper.
He preferred to make the kakka in the bath tub, even though the litter box was right next to it. He caught exactly two rats, one already in a trap, (he brought the whole rat and trap to show me), and the other had clearly been dead a while.
He enjoyed terrifying the dogs and blocking them from using the steps, or sitting in the middle of the doorway.
Last year, he started to jump on my lap every afternoon while we sat in our camp chairs to throw the ball for the dogs. He loved a good scratch under his chin...right up until he didn't.
He needed to be sedated to go to the vet, and he never worked out that 8pm treats were to get him in his 'private bedroom and ensuite' every night. He was surprised, every single night that he was unable to get out.
We called him the 'zombie' cat, because he had some weird health issues, but he was always so strong and stubborn about not actually dying.
Even the day I was ready to take him to the vet for the last time, he rallied, and went downstairs and hid for the day. But, and I know he hasn't accepted yet, we took him in the next day.
Every morning for about 10 days, I woke up expecting him to have passed. He just didn't want to.
He's sleeping peacefully in the back yard next to Kairo.
I hate this part of sharing the life of an animal. I know we have limited time with them, so I try to make their lives happy.
It's never 'just a cat', or 'just a dog'. Sometimes they are our tethers to this world.
So, Capt. Jack, Jacko, Jack-Jack, Jackie, Jacqueline....you were loved, and you are missed, and you are always in my heart ❤️