46 lives

It was 14 years to the month, that I lived in Iowa. My parents had just moved to Michigan for my Dad to pastor another church. I had just graduated high school and stayed back because I thought I had met the love of my life. All my life we had pets. We always had a dog, cats, fish, or birds and when my parents moved away, so did my pets. My whole life flipped upside down and I longed for a furry friend to cuddle. My roommate's boyfriend lived on a farm and where they had an abundance of outdoor cats. I really wanted one that looked and acted like my parents cat Chandar. When we came into the garage I saw a little dust bunny scurry on by, it was kitten that looked just like my parents cat! Immediately, I fell head over heals for the tiny kitten whose black and white stripped fur was so puffy yet not fully grown in. My sister ended up finding a kitten who was from a different litter, but the kitten that I had picked, his mother had become a wet nurse for him since his own Mom had abandoned him. We joyfully took the kittens back to my apartment and were so excited. When my sister informed her husband that she had gotten a kitten, he told her she couldn't keep it. Reluctantly, I kept him. I wasn't supposed to have cat in the first place, but couldn't take him back, so he joined his "brother" and stayed with me. I ended up naming my kitten Bangle. The reason I named him that was our other cat was named for a Bengal tiger in the Milwaukee Zoo, whose name was Chandar. Well, me being the sheer genius that I was, didn't realize I had misspelled his name. So Bangle became his name, although I toyed with idea of Monster, since he was a little batty. The kitten my sister had picked out was so docile. He had a blue gray color to him that gained him the name Indigo. It was funny that Indigo from the get go was so small but had a big voice. Bangle on the other hand was so big, bad, and tough, but couldn't meow to save his life. I had no idea how much work was in store for me. They were too young to be separated from their mother, so I had make them a formula out of baby food. They cried all night and needed so much attention, that I got the sleep of someone with a new born baby. Being that they were so little, to even litter train them was a task, since they were to short to crawl into the cat pan. Indigo ended up becoming my lovey. He was so sweet and easy to appease, where as Bangle acted like wild maniac, who was one taco short of a combo. I remember one time I was eating a Salisbury steak dinner when Bangle jumped into my dinner tray and ran off with my Salisbury steak that was literally bigger than him! Bangle was trouble! As he got bigger I'd find him in the bottom of the trash can in the morning, since he'd sneak into the trash to get scraps, but was to small to climb back out. So I'd find him day after day in the trash sleeping in licked out TV dinner trays (I was 18 and so that was basically my diet) without and remorse. Yep, he was not the brightest bulb in the bunch. I even made a strawberry cake with frosting one time, only to find kitty paw prints all over the cake. He didn't even eat it! He just went for a stroll and could have cared less!! So in the trash the cake went. I still fondly remember the both of them attempting to climb the couch, but getting stuck half way up the cushion. They were howling as they hadn't quite learned how to retract their claws and couldn't get back down. It was a sight! They were my first "babies." I loved them so much. They comforted and entertained me, they added joy to my life. After a year had gone by, the time came that my boyfriend and I broke up. Being that I was completely devastated, I needed a fresh start, and moving to another state seemed the best way to do it. So I moved to Michigan and moved back in with my parents, which for a stubborn girl like me, was irritatingly, very humbling. Thankfully, I had Indigo and Bangle to comfort me in bouts of crying and complete disillusionment. I felt like an utter failure in everything, but my cats still made me feel like at least I could do something right (to a non pet person this must sound nuts). It took me close to 3 months to finally come out of my room and rejoin society. In the mean time, debonair Indigo, in all his class, made himself at home with my parents 4 pets. He even came along side Chandar as his protege. We used to joke that Indigo would wear a Fedora and woo the ladies had he been human. Bangle on the other hand stuck to my room for close to a year. We joke that Bangle would be the wayward partying, pants hanging down his tush, hat to da back human. Still, they were my constant and faithful companions. Then a short time later I met Seth, who was not that excited about cats. As a matter of fact, when we first met, Bangle welcomed him to the family by peeing on Seth's North Face jacket. Let's just say, I couldn't believe he stuck around. Bangle quickly grew to like Seth especially when I moved in with my next room mate. Indigo adjusted nicely to my parents house, where as Bangle would throw a hissy fit any time he ran into any of the other pets. So when I moved out, Bangle was thrilled. With each major phase of our lives, my cats were there. Indigo especially was almost like a little therapist as he'd come and sit with me despite what mood I may have been in. Then came the births and deaths of our children. They seemed somber when we were and quietly padded to our sides while we grieved. Mya, our dog, joined the family after our apartment complex started on fire. Indigo welcomed her with open paws, while Bangle spazzed out to no end (he still doesn't like her). Indigo was the peace maker between the two and would settle the disputes between hyper active Mya and Crazy Bangle all with the flick of his tail. You could almost here Bangle thinking "sleep with one eye open Pup..." Indigo actually groomed Bangle and Mya. As a matter of fact, the vet said they had never seen a dog with such clean ears! Shortly after I found out I was pregnant with Eli, Indigo started to get sick. It ended up he had kidney disease, which we found out to be to much after Eli and Aurora were both diagnosed with kidneys. He almost died, and in my distress of all that was happening with our children, my family pooled resources to pay the vet to save him. Alas, he survived. I could go on and on about each time that they comforted us when we were in the deepest of despair, or made us laugh with their silly antics, they are little angels in furry bodies. Eli was especially fond of Bangle, probably because of his coloring. Mya would sit at his feet as the grand protector, but Bangle always caught his eye. My friend and I joke that Bangle only lasted as long as he has because Elijah liked him so much. After Eli passed away our pets were a part of our tiny inner circle. They never said anything stupid, they just listened and stayed by our sides. After I became pregnant with Isaiah, we noticed Indigo was having spells of uncontrollable jerking. We moved into our house and that seemed to be the final straw. He was falling down the cement stairs and couldn't stand to be petted, since it seemed to trigger seizures. After Isaiah was a couple of months old, we couldn't stand to see him suffer anymore. We had the vet come to our home, where we held him as he left this world. I was devastated, he was so charming and sweet and I still miss him to this day. We ended up burying him right in front of our flower bed in a hand crafted casket that Seth built for him. I have always loved animals and taken it hard when they died, but since the kids, it has made me ultra sensitive to death. My heart aches for anyone who has bury a loved one, even if they are a furry friend. Without Indigo to make peace anymore, Bangle unleashed his wrath on Mya any chance he could and still does. She just wants to play with him and seems to find it funny when he freaks out. Mya now mainly lives with my parents. She had a hard time adjusting to the kids and preferred the Nursing home to a Nursery. We always laugh that my parents are the retirement village for animals. Seriously, animals live forever in their house, they get treated so well. So Bangle now has full control of our home. He started to pee on our shoes about the time Aria was born. He rarely did it, except when he was angry. Anyone who has a cat knows they are fickle felines. They are quite independent and expect that you abide by their wishes. We have since bought vet approved food, cat nip to help him relax, change his litter frequently, everything the little buggar could need to live his kingly life. Seth is truly Bangle's favorite. Literally, as soon as the kids go to sleep, Bangle sits up by Seth's head and tries to groom Seth's hair. The funny this is, if Seth raises his voice anywhere in the house, Bangle will corner him and threaten him with deep guttural meows warning him (the cat has one fang and no claws, seriously he's no threat) to watch what he says. He's never once done it to me:) He loves the kids and they love him. I found Aria dragging him by the tail a couple of weeks ago while Bangle had this "why me?" look on his face. The funny thing was, he didn't try to run from her. Unfortunately Bangle is still peeing on the floor out on our back mud room. This is really hard because this is basically our entry door. I am a person who has a heightened sniffer, so cat pee and heat are a no go. Nothing more embarrassing then having people walk into our home to the wafting smell of ammonia. We had him checked out by the vet a year ago where they determined it's behavioral. Apparently, Bangle feels that he can leave a comment to anything he disapproves of. The final straw was him peeing on two pairs of Seth's shoes in one shot. Seth thought he was exempt from Bangles tyrannical reign, but alas, he was wrong. So we made the appt. after much threatening. This cat has escaped our death threats about 45 times, until Saturday. We finally made the appt., Seth dug the hole, he built him a casket, I wrote his epitaph all while we both tearfully asked Bangle "why!" Seth asked his parents to watch the kids while he went and did the deed. I cried at home feeling horrible, second guessing my selfish motives of having a non cat pee smelling back porch (although, I think it's not to much to ask!). So Seth got all the way there and talked to me on the phone while we spoke with tears in our eyes. They they informed Seth he couldn't be back there when they put him down. Seth called me back and asked me what to do. At almost the same time, we both said we couldn't do it. Relief spilled over my tear stained face as a smile broke out when I said, "bring him home." Seth told me he walked up to the receptionist and said "the Governor has granted to stay of execution (with a happy smile on his face), so we won't be needing your services." The lady wasn't amused. Seth called me and brainstormed about some new ideas how to help him stop his behavior. When Bangle got home I brought him in the house and petted him and told him he has to behave. Seriously the cat had no idea that he had escaped death by a few minutes. This cat has run through 46 lives. He has been granted one more chance. Sadly, I don't think it will be long before he uses up his pardon, but when he does, we felt better than one of us be by his side as he leaves this world. He may be neurotic but he's ours and we feel G-d wants us to treat our animals with kindness. As nutty as all this may sound, we are all he has ever known and we feel after all that he has been through with us, we owe it to him. I seriously have been praying to G-d to have him stop this behavioral stuff as really other than that, he's a great cat.