Tribute to Texas

Texas was a "dumped" kitten when we stopped at a gas station in Texas in the summer of 1987 on the way back from a visit to my husband's family. My son was 10 and was playing with her and I was petting her when the station attendant told us someone had dumped her off there and he was going to have to call the animal shelter to come get her. We took her home and she became part of the family, which at that time included two dogs who soon learned who the boss was. At the time we did not know if she was male or female and named her "Texas" because of where we got her.

When she was six month old she disappeared for two days and came home accompanied by a neighbor's tom cat. We discussed for several weeks about having her spayed and finally took her to the vet. It was too late, she was already a month pregnant and a month later had 4 healthy kittens. (Needless to say, as soon as possible after that we had her spayed.) We found homes for 3 kittens and kept Blackie, a long haired tom who, at about the age of 3, got out during a thunderstorm and was run over by a car. Texas continued to be part of the family, ignoring the various dogs who came and went and the other stray female cat, Munchie, that we had acquired (who is still with us).

I seemed to be her favorite person and she always greeted me when I got home from work and first thing in the morning. She would meow loudly like she was complaining about the way the others (people and animals) treated her or more softly like she was just letting me know how her day went. If I didn't answer her right away, she would follow me around until I did. "They" say cats don't beg for food, but she did, and she usually got it, even from my husband whom she usually ignored and stayed away from, except when he had food she wanted.

We knew she was getting old, we could see the signs the last two winters, and for several months Texas's condition had gotten progressively worse, she had trouble getting up into her favorite chair (mine), moved very slowly around the house, was not eating as much, and she got down to nothing but skin and bones. Over the last week or so, she was running into everything and barely keeping upright, and seemed to be in a lot of pain just moving around. We realized that she was almost totally blind and very confused. She would wandered into corners and just stay there until we moved her, ran into walls, furniture, everything, and she got into places we had trouble getting her out of. We had made her a bed on the floor, of a pillow and towel she was used to, but she did not want to stay on it, except when she was so tired she couldn't move. The last two days she wouldn't eat or drink, unless forced to. Friday night we tried putting her in a box with the pillow and towel bed, but she kept getting out by half climbing and half falling out, and one or the other of us was up most of her last several nights with us, just helping her out of "corners".

So, Saturday morning, 9 Feb 2002, we took her to the vet and had her put to sleep. It was a hard decision for us to make, but we feel it was the best for her. She is no longer in pain or wandering around where she might hurt herself.

Note from hellen5: I did not have a scanned picture of Texas, but I found this picture on a photo CD I have, and made a tube of just the cat. It was close, she used to lie just in this position, so I did some "fixing", lightening her chin, chest and forepaws, coloring her eyes (not quite right, they were a little more yellow). I put her on a towel I made similar to the one we used in my chair and on her bed, then added a background and frame and the plaque.