Bride and I have had at least one cat since before we were married. We got Zappa when we moved into our second apartment together in Pasadena Maryland. Sybok was the last in the line of 4, Zappa, Junior, Pike and Sybok. We had Zappa and Junior together and then Junior and Pike together. Later Pike and Sybok. Pike was 14 when we lost him to kidney problems as well, that was 2 and a half years ago. We had talked about getting another kitty after he died but I just could not bring myself to do it. Pike was my kitty, he slept with me on my pillow every night for most of his life and losing him was terrible. When we took Sybok back to the vet yesterday morning he told us it was time and if we waited we would be prolonging his agony and that was not fair. He told us that we had done all we could do for him and even if we were millionaires we would not be able to do any more to save him. That is the second time we have had to euthanize a beloved 4 legged member of the family and as much as it sucks at least they were not suffering an agonizing death. DAMN this sucks, I can’t seem to stop crying thinking about what a great member of our family Sybok was, and on top of that this is the first time since 1989 that we have not had at least one cat.
When we moved into our current home we had only one cat, Pike and we were waiting to get another one until we got into this house. We moved in on our 10th anniversary in September and in November Bride started visiting the SPCA. She went back three times before she told me that she found our next kitty. She told me stories of how his colors complimented our house and how big his feet were. We wanted a big cat and have found that their feet, when kitty’s, seem to be a good indicator of their size when they grow up. We finally went to look and talked about just looking, well of course we picked up Sybok and immediately brought him to our vet for all the tests and shots before bringing him home. After about 4 hours at the Vet’s office he was introduced into our home. It was the day we were going to attend a John Prine Concert at the Florida Theater later that evening. It was a great concert and we rushed home to see how things were going with the animals. When we returned home it was apparent that Sybok was the Alpha male of the house. He was about 10 weeks old and he was the boss over the 4-5 year old cat and the 2 year old dog and he remained boss all the way through his life.
Sybok, weird name huh? Those who are Trekkies already know who that is but for those who are uninitiated, that is also the name of Spock’s brother. Pike was also named after a Trek character and for those who know ya know, for those who don’t, oh well. Pike seemed to tolerate Sybok and there relationship was an odd one, not unlike everyone’s relationship with Sybok. He was a weird assed cat and I loved him for it. Sybok was a great cat and he grew quickly. He was NOT a lap kitty, at all. When he wanted some affection he would come to get it, it mattered little to him what time of the day or night it happened to be. He liked being in the same room as us but never on our laps, never relaxing with us petting him. He would come around and let us pet him and then he would leave. He was the same way with the other animals in the house, especially Newton – our Boston Terrier. He would torment the dog, follow him around and bump into him. He would lull the dog into a false sense of security but licking his face or ears or leg and then CHOMP. He would bite him and the dog would yelp and run away. One of the funniest was when he got a hold the dog’s jowl and when he tried to run Sybok would not let go. You can imagine the hilarity of it, a little cat holding on to the lip of the dog that was bigger than him.
I remember when I first installed my HD projector to shot down in 89” high definition glory, it did not take Sybok long to show us he liked it. We were watching a discovery channel show, Planet Earth, and it was the ones showing birds. When the screen was covered with birds flying to God knows where Sybok came flying, literally, out of now where at the screen in an attempt to catch him some birds. After the initial attack, he realized they were not real but he would site on the table in front of the screen and just watch. Depending on the action he would stretch up to paw the screen, just to verify once again that it was not real. I wished I had a camcorder, that would have been a perfect commercial advertising the realistic clarity of high definition television. This is so hard to write out, I vacillate between crying and laughing, I miss my kitty so much. He was a great cat and he lived out a great life, not as long as I wanted but he gave us 9 years of happiness. We gave him 9 years of spoiled rotten existence, we did not get animals to show folks what great disciplinarians we were, we got them to spoil them and that is what we did.
I remember once when he was a kitty him and Pike got out, they pushed a screen out while we were taking a nap. When I got up I started freaking out because I could not find them. I saw the one of the screens ajar and my heart sunk, I went to the window and there they were. Both of them just sitting outside the window, the look on their faces was one of shock. It was as if the moment they went from the air conditioned comfort to the Florida heat the realization set in. HOLY SHIT it is hot, let’s go back in, but the screen flopped back and would not allow it. So there they sat, staring at the window, no doubt trying to figure out how to get back in. After getting them both back inside I knew that they never, ever wanted to go out again. Even when the door was left ajar, neither of them ever walked outside. They knew where the good life was and had zero interest in fending for themselves in the wild. Sybok was a great cat, I miss him. He would, EVERY night, come into the bedroom after we got into bed. He required about 5 minutes of loving before we went to sleep, every night. It was really weird because he did it every night and it was right after we got into bed. He would come up on my side and demand some loving. I would pet him and he would bite at my fingers and we had our good nights, every night. Every night that is except the last 2 nights, he was feeling so puny he sat under the table in the kitchen or the coffee table in the living room. I am not looking forward to going to bed tonight, I may sleep on the couch to avoid the inevitable.
Speaking of the bed he had another thing he loved to do. Whenever we were making the bed he would run under the covers as we flipped them over the mattress. Once we were able to get the bed made and leave he would, somehow dig his way under the covers and crawl to the middle of the bed, nothing more than a lump under the covers. He would sleep there, in the middle of the bed, under the covers for hours. It was amazing because we never figured out how he got in there. None of the covers were skewed, nothing out of place. It appeared that he was there when we made the bed. I remember once coming home, he would always come to the door from the garage to see who was coming home. One time as I walked by the fridge I see him, sitting up there and he takes a swat at me. Not sure what he was doing up there or how he got there for that matter but there he was. He did not do that ever again that I can remember.
I know there are kitty’s in our future, I just do not know when. The sting of loosing Pike still hurt and now with Sybok gone I feel lost, no cat for the first time in A LONG time. Maybe two kittens, maybe one, maybe soon, maybe it might take a while. I miss my kitty and found myself crying through writing most of this but he is not suffering and he lead a damn fine spoiled life. Here’s to you Sybok
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