Missing Our Blue-Eyed Boy

The one constant presence in our lives and home for these entire 15 years of marriage has been Smokey.  Smokey is our blue-eyed, grey Siamese cat who we rescued during a pet adopt-a-thon in Queeny Park in Saint Louis the summer before we got married.  After four years of living with diabetes and the onset of violent seizures, Tom and I realized late last week that it was time to say good-bye to Smokey.

After fifteen years there are sounds that become so ingrained in your daily life that you only notice them once they are gone.  The padding of paws and claws across tile floors or going up and down the stairs.  The sound of back legs crouching and then leaping off the ground into a chair or a cat tree and the thump of jumping down.  Paws banging on the side of a litter box and the meow/mauw that greets you multiple times a day.  Usually an indicator that someone is ready for food.  Siamese are typically very vocal, talkative cats, and Smokey was no exception.  And while we still have Henry and Colt, the house is strangely quiet.  A member of the family is noticeably missing.  Smokey is missing.   

After conferring with the veterinarian multiple times throughout the day this past Friday, Tom and I took Smokey to the 24 hour emergency vet clinic that evening.  We came home with an empty pet carrier and hurting hearts.  

Final Good-byes

When Tom and I met he had no pets and I had a domestic long-haired orange cat named Bear.  Tom liked to call Bear his red-headed stepchild.  Tom would occasionally call Smokey our love child because we got him before we were married.  Smokey and Bear lived together, with us, until we lost Bear in December 2013.  I wrote a blog about Bear back in 2014 if you'd like to read it.  Click here.

Final vigil with Bear.

Taken our first year with Smokey

Smokey settled right in and proved to be the sweet-natured, loving kitty cat that Tom suspected he would be.  Smokey was the most laid back cat.  He was very social too.  My brother has a cat that most people in the family have never seen because Oscar disappears whenever people are visiting.  That was not Smokey.  If we were having a party and dozens of strangers were in the house, Smokey would sit in the center of it letting people pet him and talk to him.  He was gentle but he was no push over, especially when friends' dogs were in the house.  The stare down would always end with Smokey victorious.   

 

Buddies from the start

Like most cats he loved finding places to hide.  He loved an empty box or a brown paper bag.  He loved to curl up under the beds and we'd often find him curled up in a basket in the closet under the stairs.  The door is open when we are using the dryer.  When we'd realize we hadn't seen or heard  Smokey in a while, we'd go searching for him and would often find him curled up in a laundry basket under the stairs.  None the wiser that he'd been shut in.  

Smokey was very tactile.  If there were magazines, school papers, or books on a flat surface, he would lay on them.  I have a purple crocheted blanket that my mom made that became his bankie.  He would knead it endlessly.  He'd also knead you.

His purple crocheted bankie.  And his doppelgänger Mauser on the right.

He was also great with computers.  One day I found my laptop screen transformed to black and white -- courtesy of Smokey.  We had to use the Internet to find out how to reverse what he'd done.  Apparently something like six keys had to be hit in the exact right order in order to do what he did.  

He was the best lap warmer -- and occasional butt warmer.  Lately I couldn't sit in my chair without him hopping up in my lap and curling up.  I miss that.  I miss him.  He was also a regular participant during my Italian classes.  Sitting in my lap while I did my online classes with Alice. 

 

Smokey was well traveled and he was a great traveler.  He was a bit stressed when we did our first major move with him.  Moving from our rented apartment to our first home in Saint Louis but he became a seasoned pro.  He made three Trans-Atlantic flights, endured two different hotel stays that were three months long and two months long respectively, and he made one cross-country trip from Missouri to Arizona.  He lived in six different homes.    

He would patiently sleep/wait in his carrier for hours.  Although there was one time  -- on our flight from Germany to Arizona -- that he'd apparently had enough and on the last leg flying into Tucson he managed to wiggle out of his carrier, pushing the zipper up with his head.  He escaped out between the legs of the person seated in front of me, who probably didn't realize there was a cat under the seat.  They were a bit startled and we were surprised.  We worked quickly to capture our little Houdini.   

Cat on Plane

Smokey had an ENORMOUS yawn.  We used to joke that he was like a boa constrictor -- capable of swallowing small animals whole.  But while he was maybe capable, our Smokey was a lover and not a fighter.  I know of not one single mouse, bird, or other creature that Smokey ever killed during his life.

Smokey with Minnie the Mooch.  A cat we had for a few years in Saint Louis.

He was a hand-holder and he'd hook his paw around your leg or arm -- holding onto you in the sweetest possible way.  He would also reach up with his paw and pull your hand back down towards him if you had stop petting him and he wanted more.

Smokey lived happily in a cat-only household until early 2013 -- when we got his first dog brother -- Colt.

Teaching Colt to be a cuddler too.

People laugh when we say that Smokey was the Alpha of the pack but it's true.  His dog brothers would move over or down when Smokey jumped up and they would position themselves in their pecking order when we all got into bed. 

Smokey at the head, Colt in the middle, and Henry at the foot.

We have countless pictures of our boys laying around together.  Here are some favorites.

Hotel life in July 2017

TV Time

Cuddling with Colt

Sharing Henry's dog bed

Getting some fresh air on the patio this past summer.

Our trifecta

Snuggling with Henry

Smokey's diagnosis with diabetes changed our lives.  All of a sudden we had a pet that needed daily care -- insulin shots twice a day and special food.  Periodic blood sugar curves and lots of trips to the vet in the early days.  We could no longer leave him alone for a couple days.  We had many friends over the past four years help watch Smokey and/or all the boys so that Tom and I could travel.  I am grateful for all of them. 

Tom had a special pet tag made for Smokey with the medical symbol.

On Friday we spent some time cuddling with Smokey before leaving the house.  Tom had given him a bath that afternoon because Smokey had lost bladder control during each of his three violent seizures that had happened in the past 24 hours.  We're so grateful he didn't have another seizure between having a bath and going to the vet.  He was clean, soft, calm, loving, and himself right up to the very end. 

Kisses for Daddy

Cuddles for Mom

Smokey was an absolute blessing.

Our sweet, precious boy.

We miss Smokey.  He was a loving and calming presence in the home.  I think Henry and Colt are missing him too.  The voice of reason and their daily adult supervision is gone.  They have acted up a bit since Friday but seem to be doing better with each passing day.  

People who didn't like cats liked Smokey.  It was hard not too.  He was a cool cat.  An affectionate and gentle spirit.  When Tom's dad used to come over to our house for weekly dinners in Arizona, we'd usually watch a movie afterwards.  Smokey would curl up next to Jack on the loveseat and watch the movie with us.  Jack, not a huge cat fan, loved Smokey.

I cried for hours on Friday and woke up with swollen eyes and feeling a bit sick to my stomach.  We had our annual Christmas party that evening so I quickly got busy with the final food preparations and set up.  I knew a few of our friends would ask where Smokey was so I let them know ahead of time to try and curb me crying at the party.

There were a few people who asked about Smokey, not knowing that he had died the evening before.  They felt awful of course when I told them what had happened but I told them to please not feel bad for asking.  Smokey was a huge part of our lives.  We have so many great stories and memories of him.  He was a blessing and we loved him.  While it might make me sad or tear up, I don't ever want to NOT talk about him and what a special cat he was.  We continue to reminisce about Bear and I know we'll do the same in the years to come about Smokey.   

So to wrap this up.  Here are two final photos of our Smokey.  We miss our blue-eyed boy but hopefully he's hanging out with Jack in heaven.  Keeping our hearths warm until our arrival. 

A selfie Tom sent me one day when I was at work.

Patrolling the perimeter of our yard here in Italy.