My DurDur was an round-headed – Colorpoint Shorthair flamepoint
obviously pedigreed stray who came to my door in Jan. 1984 when I lived
in a suburb of San Jose Ca. – I had two other cats then:
Hopitus a fat orange-and-white Manx and Mr. Fuzz a Chinchilla silver-spray
Persian (these guys were also strays I had taken in over the years but you
could tell they too were pedigreed cats. )
Anyway I told DurDur I didn’t need another one to feed and removed
him out the front door three times during the afternoon of 1/24….well he
decided he wanted to live there and came back three times so then I had three.
He fit right in with the other two (none of them were ever allowed outside)
even when Hopitus developed diabetes and had to have twice-daily
insulin injections……when I moved back to my home state of Fla.
in order to be able to buy a house (couldn’t afford the Ca. real estate)
they all came with us in a caravan of one pickup truck with small trailer
attached and one Ford sedan with a back-seat setup I fixed with a big net
between the front bench seat and the back where the three cats stuck it out
on the cross-country trip on top of some boxes and luggage……it took a week
and a half because the truck kept breaking down (four times in all) and
you tell me the Lord was not looking out for us because every time the
truck broke down THERE WAS A CAT-FRIENDLY MOTEL within
walking distance!!!!!
Anyway we finally made it back to South Fla. and they all settled in…..
that was Sept. of 1987…..we had adventures along the way with DurDur
deciding he wanted to be a TruckStop Kitty in Needles
(got loose during potty time and hid in a semi’s wheel well) and
Hopitus had an insulin reaction in WichitaFalls Texas but a kind vet on
the phone there told me what to do for him and the trip continued……
DurDur was my best Bud and when I held him his tail twitched with pleasure…
he had china blue eyes and was what you would call long and lean….in fact,
my significant at the time wanted to call him “Stretch Limo” but I said
“DuranDuran” (who were very IN in 1984) was the name for him…..
when Hopitus went to kitty heaven in late 1989 (just as we bought the house)
a new cat who is a red Oriental Shorthair came to live with us and he
and DurDur bonded as brothers. They were inseparable and if you looked at
them sleeping it looked like a two-toned two-headed cat sacked out there.
They loved and groomed each other.; The vet said two years before DurDur
left us that he had 1/3 kidney function but he lasted with good care and
special food for almost another two years and I was grateful that I had him
that much longer and that it did not appear that he suffered much or that
his kidneys did him in (a bad way to go) because from what was going on
it looked like the anemia (he got weaker and weaker and refused food but
didn’t seem to be in pain) so I was his hospice nurse till the end in my bedroom…..
once in a lifetime you have a cat that loving and willing just to hang out
by his Mom wherever she would be in the house…..I always say that but sooner
or later another stray comes along and worms his way into our house
which by the way has an old Akita who lives peacefully with all these cats
(five cats now) and us…..I introduced him as a puppy to them all and the vet
said as long as he grows up with them they will let him know who is
running things in your house and it won’t be him….that certainly did come true….
he wouldn’t hurt a hair on any of them but they sometimes lash out at him if
he steps accidentally on a tail or two.
DurDur I know you are waiting for me along with Hopitus and
Mr. Fuzz at the foot of the Rainbow Bridge and when Mama comes
to pick you all up in her arms and take you across with her it will be
such a happy time for all of us!
DurDur you were always my beloved fave kitty and since you left
not one of your fellow cat brothers have been able to take your place as
my Love cat boy. My comfort is that you did not suffer in your natural
exit right with your loving Mom and that you sleep next to Mr. Fuzz
right in the backyard.
DurDur someday we’ll all be together again forever
and then not one of us will ever leave again……….
Love
Your loving (still grieving since 12-5-97) Momcat.
| DurDur |