Reminicence of a Main Coon Companion

This will be a slightly sad {and nostalgic} posting. Up until Aug. 2005, I had owned {or been owned by?} a very affectionate Grey {tabby-faced} Maine Coon cat, which was rescued from the Wichita, KS Humane society on Sept. 25, 1992. He had a very long life {almost 13 years}, and was a totally enjoyable pet.

The followind narrative is presented for your appreciation, as a memorial to a very affectionate companion. {I probably could not have written this earlier
-- creating the narrative has been a rather emotional, but theraputic experience.}

Some relatively unique highlights of the life of Greybeard are:

1.) Rescued and adopted from Wichita, KS humane Society by "dedicated"
cat lover. Crawled up onto the shoulder of the "softie", and began
purring into his ear. My new "owner" named me Greybeard, for a dark
grey streak of fur under my chin. :)
2.) Transported to new domicile by new "owner" -- first activity was
to "pounce" on a toy rubber ball on the floor, loose my balance, and fall
over. This toy ball was my favorite diversion when my "owner" would
play with me. He would also hold me in one hand and wave my tail in
front of my face -- that was somwhat annoying, but seemed to amuse
my "owner".
3.) Meet very snobbish, and unfiendly, feline "ruler" of new domicile --
16 lb. part-Siamese, "attack" cat. What my new "owner" truly saw in this
animal, I will never understand. We attempted to get along, but the
Siamese cat was just not very agreeable -- we essentially ignored each
other, most of the time.
4.) Attempted to "settle in" to "new" residence -- insisted on not being
separated from my new owner at bed time -- curled up by the pillow,
and showed my appreciation for the adoption by keeping my owner
awake while "purring".
5.) Lived a happy life in Wichita for 2 years -- enjoyed chasing the rubber
ball up and down a stairway. Would play "fetch" with my "owner" for
about 6 - 8 minutes, then I was bored....
6.) Rode on a single-engine plane from Wichita, to Sioux City, Ia for a
weekend excursion with my "owner". This was a challenging experience,
and I let my owner know that I wasn't really happy about it -- kept up
a steady "chorus" for several hours, but my owner left me in the cat
carrier, in the luggage compartment of this "contraption", and essentially
ignored me. I was very glad when that trip was over, and we returned
home. Maybe things will be less "eventful" for a while, now....
7.) Moved to new domicile with owner in July 1994. Unfortunately,
the "disagreeable" Siamese cat also completed this move -- and I
was "stuck" with him, for a whole week, in a tent.... After relocating,
we would share "space" on my "owner's" bed {when we were both
there, there was just barely room for my "owner" to lie down, too!!}.
That was about the only concession that I received from that snobbish,
four-legged creature. I don't think that he ever truly forgave my
"owner" for adopting me, too. I tried to get along, but I don't think
he ever truly accepted me. I know that my "owner" enjoyed my
company.
8.) Took a "road trip" with my "owner" in Sept. 1995 through Tennesee,
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisanna, and Texas.... AFTER my owner let me
out of the "cat-carrier", I enjoyed "sunning" in the back window of the
car, as we traveled various highways. Was very car-sick on one day.
Visited a former college roomate of my owner, who is also a dedicated
cat-lover, while in Houston.
9.) Moved again to a "temporary" location, with my owner in July, 1996.
The most enoyable part of this experience was that I could lie down
next to a large, "utility room" sink. When a human {most often my
owner} would come and turn on the faucet, I would put my front paw
into the water, then shake off the wet "stuff". Also, drink directly from
the narrow water stream. This repeated activity seemed to greatly
amuse the humans -- at least they repeated the process many times.
I think sometimes my "owner" felt sorry for me, since I could not sleep
on his bed while he was in the temporary situation. I think we both
missed sharing that time with each other.
10.) Moved agin with my "owner" to Kansas City, KS.... I have spent a
signifcant part of my life traveling in cars {or U-Haul trucks} when my
owner moved to different places, or traveled on vacation. It was OK
when he let me get out, and lie down under the rear window, but I
really didn't like being confined in that cat carrier "thing"....
11.) Enjoyed most of my "middle-age", and later years, keeping my "owner"
amused and taking up space on his bed -- mostly just to "spite" the
Siamese cat my "owner" also insisted on keeping around...
12.) Really began to "feel" my age about June 2005. I suspected that my
owner knew that my time left was very short. He had been giving me
insulin injections for about a year {and the Siamese cat, as well}. I
really started feeling very tired most of the time, and slept almost all
of the day and night, with very little appetite . My owner had been
very good to me, and we enjoyed each others company. I lived in
this location for almost eight years.
13.) My "owner" was away from home one morning, when I started feeling
very ill -- probably from too much insulin. {Remainder of narrative is
somewhat conjectural.} My owner came home in the afternoon, and
rushed me {while unconscious} to the veterinarian. My one serious
regret in life is that the "snobish" Siamese creature will probably
outlive me.... I was suffering from an insulin overdose, and
did not recover consciousnes after arriving at the veterinarian.
14.) I think my "owner" will miss me. I hope he has many fond memories
of our time together. I know that he was "distressed" because he
was not able to take me home from the last trip to the veterinarian.
{A solitary "wake" was held, in memory of Greyberd's life.}
15.) I hope my owner will think fondly of my life, and my thirteen years
of association with him....

The memory of my companion, Greybeard will live on. I hope anyone who reads this will appreciate my fond recollections of his life-long companionship. Thank you for sharing this experience of a cat's life....