There’s one less kitteh lol’ing today
Stinky, a.k.a. Stench Joseph the Third
This is going to be my only post today, as I’m in mourning. Yesterday we had to take our cat, Stinky, to the vet after he was found collapsed on the sidewalk. It turns out he had leukemia, lymphoma and a host of other problems. Rather than let him suffer, we opted to euthanize him.
I feel like shit about this.
No one knows how old he was. Stinky was full grown when he showed up Christmas day, 1999. We didn’t take him in; it was more like he chose us.
Everyone loved him. He was indifferent to the multitude of small dogs that reside in the area, and he liked being petted by young children. Stinky preferred to live the life of a stray. He would come in to eat, and when it was cold or rainy he’d sleep inside, but his favorite pastime was lounging in the flowerbeds, eyeballing the grackles and squirrels.
We have a serious stray cat problem in the area, but Stinky was always exempt from the numerous “sweeps”. Since he was fixed, he wasn’t contributing to the problem, and the neighbors liked having him around.
We knew Stinky was getting old. He had lost his fangs a few years ago; it took him a long time and several ass-whippings at the hands of younger tomcats to realize he was no longer cut out to be the Alpha Male.
What we didn’t know is that he was so sick. To the very end, he was the same old Stinky. In a sense, I’m grateful for that. That’s the Stinky I’ll always remember.
I have photographs of Stinky, but my favorite image of him has always been the drawing above, which was done several years ago by the daughter of a former co-worker.
It’s times like this that it’s difficult to come to terms with the finality of death, but no amount of wishful thinking is going to change the fact that Stinky is dead. That doesn’t mean he is no longer with us, though. He gave us a lifetime of memories, and he will always be fondly remembered.
Rest in Peace, Stinky.
I’m running out of naming options for these increasingly sick people. I started out a month ago with Church Burners. Then I had to add Ebola Boys. Church Burning Ebola Boys. Now what - Church Burning Baby Butchering Ebola Boys? That’s too long. Too unwieldy. Any suggestions would be appreciated. (Source: 
March 19th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Sorry man.
an da kittehs cri’d
March 19th, 2008 at 7:56 am
My sympathies. We acquired our first cat, Boxcar, when he used to pop out of the bushes at our apartment complex and follow us around as we walked our dog. He eventually moved in and was the best cat evah! He was a big ole friendly Main Coon and everyone loved him. When he was boarded at the vets, they didn’t even cage him during the day, but just gave him the run of the place. He died far too young and even 5 years later, I still miss him.
March 19th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Sorry to hear that, it’s always tough. I had a cat years ago that was doing fine until one day, I noticed he was a bit sluggish, just kind of laying around and sleeping more than usual. I called the vet and got an appointment at 2pm that day. By 1pm, the cat died in my arms, victim of complete renal failure, his kidneys shut down and he died of blood poisoning.
Wish I could say he went to kitty heaven or something comforting, but at least now he’s not in pain and you have your memories of all the good times. The sorrow will pass and it won’t be long until a new kitty adopts you and loves you so at least you have something to look forward to, even if it’s not very comforting today.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:31 am
My condolences to you and your neighbourhood. You’ll smile at his memory eventually.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Brings back memories if a feral field cat that lived by my house when I was a child. She never moved into our home but my mom never would have allowed it to happen if any of us wanted it to happen. This cat loved humans for some reason. While she was too wild to live indoor, she was not shy about coming up to any of us. She had a litter every year. The one act that touched me most was when she moved one of her litters to a more secure place. She came up to me and made sure I followed her to the more secure location. I loved that rough old cat.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Thanks for the kind words, everyone.
It’s a weird feeling. I can accept that Stinky’s gone, but it’s all the little details that bring on the denial. It rained last night, and my first thought was, “I hope Stinky finds a dry spot”. Once it dawned on me that he would never come scratching at the sliding glass door, I cried like a baby.
March 19th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
that’s horrible
I’d feel like i lost a kid if my dog died.. I guess it is inevitable at some point if you have pets. The only pet (cat) I ever lost actually ran away so we have no idea what her fate was.
March 20th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I’m so sorry. I’ve gone through this, and I cry like a baby every time. It’s what sucks about pets–we tend to outlive them. It’s a good thing they are so cute and awesome while they are with us, or we’d find it harder to keep opening up our hearts.
I’m so sorry for your loss