Marco coming to us was something of a miracle. She was born in our backyard. Each of us had our own cat. I had Tiger, my sister had Callie, and my mom had Marco. Right from the start she made it clear she was EVERYBODIES cat. She let me grow up in her world. I suppose a lot of people think cats are distant independant sorts. But all of our cats seemed to enjoy showing us their world.
Marco was different though. When you came outside and called her, she would shoot out from the bushes at a dead run. She’d meow loudly and repeatedly, and seemed to say “I’m coming! Wait for me! Here I am!” She reveled in attention. If you so much as cast an eye on her, she acted like it was vocal praise. She loved belly rubs and dutch rubs. But seemed to think normal petting was not enthusiastic enough 😉
She could also do tricks. She could hold conversations, play “Wrestle” (the only cat I’ve ever trusted enough to fight with. It looked like she was attacking but I never came away with a scratch.) she would jump and “dance” on command. If you told her to “lead” she would follow you around. You didn’t need a leash. All you had to do was explain what you wanted and she’d do it.
Well someone apparently didn’t think she was sweet. I don’t know who, I don’t know why. I couldn’t keep her indoors because she hated the house and it stressed her to much. But in her wanderings, someone poisoned her. Marco came home with trama to her head and extremely weak. We put her in a carrier. (She didn’t like it, struggled, but did not scratch or bite) and rushed her to the vet. The vet said she probably had Feline Lukemia. But the tests came back negative. It DID come back positive for Kidney Failure. They gave us sub coe fluids (it’s like an IV only under the skin) to give to her at home.
According to the vet, she had trama to her face and jaw, making it suspicious that someone had poisoned her.
Problem, how? She’s an outdoor cat. NO cat no matter how good is going to show up every day for someone to slide a needle under their skin. Then hold still for the 5 minutes it took.
When we drove home, we let her stay loose in the car. She sat on my lap and looked out the window. When we got her home, we did our best, I put her in the bathroom, hooked her up, and waited. She simply laid down and waited till i told her “ok” then she RAN for the door.
She showed up every day, at the right time, walked into the bathroom, got her fluids, ran back. Every day for a month. Then the poison got too much for her. As probably children read this site, I will not describe how it got to much for her, or why we had to put her down. But I will say this.
Marco was more human then the person who struck her down.
In loving memory of a great cat,
| Marco {the girl} Polo |
| Andrea |