It is the cat that is here for a heartbeat, that is missed the most. The cat you know you will spend years with, who is gone in an instant, that hurts the most. The vet likened it to a basketball player who is in good health and then just falls over and dies. You never showed a sign of illness, cats do hide illness well. Only in the last hour did I know something was very wrong and then it was too late. Your heart just stopped. A young healthy beautiful boy one minute and gone the next. It is almost too much to bare.
I trapped you in June, 1999, thinking I had another feral cat. When I released you instead of returning to the colony, you sat under my husband’s car and cried for three days and nights. A big clue that you were tame and someone, somewhere threw you away. Tame cats can not live in the colony, so in you came.
Skin and bones, in a few months you were so big that you needed a puppy collar, with your red heart name tag. How proud you seemed to have a collar and name tag. How quickly you fit in and became part of a very large extended cat family. All of the cats adored you. It was not uncommon to find you sleeping under a pile of cats.
Martin, you were a gentle giant of a cat. Your large size did not prevent you from being graceful and quick. You were a cat amoung cats, always calm always loving, almost more like a dog then a cat.
You would mother the kittens in the crowd and you never asked for more than a few kind words, a few pets and some food. You took a small piece of my heart the day you left. I grieve for you greatly. I thought you would be with us for a very long time, instead you had more important things to do on the other side and you left. You were here for a heartbeat and then you were gone. You imprinted our hearts with your love and you are missed. Thank you for the time and the joy you gave to me. Go in peace and go in love my dear friend. You will always be remember and always be loved.