In Memoriam - Beloved Cats of the Past

I wanted to wait an appropriate amount of time before entering B.J. Honeycat into the Memorial, which is the list of beloved cats who are no longer with us.

B. J. Honeycat

BJ was a cool cat. I wanted him to be mine, but he really became Spouse's. Unless he was feeling poorly. Then he came to me.

His life began poorly. First he was with a family of four, but the little boy turned out to be allergic to cat dandruff, so he went to my brother and sister-in-law. They had a hobby farm. In fact, that was where Spouse and I boarded our horses. It wasn't working out well. The other cats picked on BJ, and as a result BJ was in a constant state of terror.

I can still remember the day I walked into their kitchen from outside. Spouse's brother was preparing himself some kind of snack. He opened a cupboard door (it was an old house and the cupboards were up high). There, hiding on a shelf, was BJ. The brother cried out in anger, grabbed BJ by his scruff, and threw him down to the floor. BJ splayed out flat and then raced back up into the cupboard. Brother repeated his act and BJ repeated his. Up to this point I was too shocked to move. But when BJ hit the floor the third time I quickly bent down and grabbed him. I carried him to a closet which ran under the stairwell and set him down in the dark. Then I left and drove home right off.

Spouse was there. I explained what had just taken place. We went to our landlord (we were renting half a house) and he agreed we could have a cat - providing we gave him extra security deposit. We wrote a check out right then. Then we both returned to the hobby farm where we suggested we could take BJ. It was agreed, and we took him and came home.

I remember I was holding him as we entered our place. BJ was shivering. Moved again. We weren't in the house more than a minute and BJ began to purr. I knew why. There was no scent of other cats. The apartment was small. Just a living room with a tiny, tiny kitchen attached, and a door to a bedroom with a tiny bathroom attached. The in-laws sent us home with a litter box and some food and we showed BJ where those would be. Then I let him wander. He wouldn't stop purring.

He went from a thing of skin and bones to a hearty animal. In fact, he actually got a bit big. He topped out at sixteen pounds. I know cats get heavier, but that was plenty heavy for him.

When we got Baby Boy he pretended to hate him. But when he thought we weren't looking he would actually play with the kitten. Then he'd see us and whop the little cat and stalk away. Eventually they became good buddies.

BJ always remained shy. Should company stop by he would hide. Even when Son was born BJ didn't come around much. He became annoyed that we didn't give him the attention we once had. Baby Boy had figured out how to get around that. He learned that wherever the baby was, if he was nearby, he would get affection. BJ never figured that out.

The day came when we noticed the litter box was always wet. Always. We brought both cats to the vet. BJ was the cause. He had diabetes. We weren't exactly poor then, but money was tight. And to treat BJ was going to cost a lot of money. More than we could afford every month. So the decision was made to put him down. He was Spouse's cat, but he sat with me that day. He always sat with me when he wasn't feeling well. I cried and told him what we had decided to do. He looked at me and rubbed his face against mine. Then he purred. That was my last moment with B.J. Honeycat.

NOTE: You know, I wrote that BJ never figured out about the baby. And yet look at the first picture. That is Son laying beside BJ. But I think BJ didn't know we were watching. BJ didn't want to let on that he liked anything.

.