{ The Oobie-Cat }
Nov. 16 2001
Marmalade Cat
He was a stray orange cat in the neighborhood who would walk
with me for several miles on my evening strolls.
He began greeting me at my car when I came home from work
and rolling on his back in my path until I petted him on his tummy.
He’d try to get in my front door – but I wouldn’t let him in.
I never had a pet and I didn’t want one.
So he would climb on the roof of the car in my driveway and meow
at me through the kitchen window over the sink as I
rinsed the evening dishes.
He worked on my sympathies like that all summer but I kept resisting.
My neighbor who had three cats and didn’t want any more put out food
every day and kept him well fed.
Finally on Thanksgiving when it began getting cold out I took
pity on him (and myself) and let him in.
But I had to be away for long hours during the workweek and
thought he wouldn’t like being alone so I convinced my Mother to take him.
She named him Ubu and could never stop telling stories year after year,
about what an incredibly smart cat he was.
After 5 years when my Mother could no longer manage her house by
herself and had to move in with someone else Ubu (I called him “the Oobie-cat”)
came to live with me.
Within a few days it was a though he had lived in my house all his life.
It was as though he had come back to his real home.
It was as though I who never wanted a cat had never
been without him.
It is hard to believe that a cat who was a stray could be so affectionate.
He slept with his face on the pillow next to mine (crawling over me to
the other side every time I turned over).
He demanded a certain amount of cuddling and stroking each evening.
He even (who knows how this happened) turned me into a person
who rocked him and sang “Oobie-songs” that I had made up.
(He loved it.)
He also loved a good argument and we had several each week.
He was a very vocal cat (everyone said he must be part Siamese)
and would yell at me when he wanted to go outside.
I’d say “No” he’d say “Myrow”.
Then I’d say “NO!!” and he’d say “MYROW!!”
Then I’d say “Don’t talk back to me!” and he’d say “Myrow-wow-wow!”
This would go on until I’d give in and say “Okay” in a voice of resignation.
He would always reply gently “Mer-ow?” with a questioning inflection,
as if to say “Really?” and I’d say “Yes really” and let him out.
Friends who were visiting when these arguments went on,
were amazed.
After several years of living with me Oobie starting eating more
and more and getting thinner and thinner. I took him to the Vet.
His whole body was x-rayed and one thing we found out was that
he had a bee-bee lodged in his tummy area.
It must have been there since his stray cat days but the Vet said
it was not the problem. The problem was a tumor on his thyroid gland.
Radioactive Iodine treatment was available at one hospital in the area,
but was very expensive and required a week’s stay.
Everybody told me not to do it – just let him die naturally
but I couldn’t do that. The treatment wasn’t painful other than emotionally.
He spent a week in a cage at the hospital while he took the iodine
in pill form. The nurses there told me they monitored him by video camera
and had never seen a cat meow so continuously for the whole week.
He never stopped crying from loneliness all the time he was awake.
When Oobie came home we were inseparable.
He was always sitting next to me no matter what I was doing.
Obie recovered fully and was sweeter and feistier than ever.
Last week my brother came to stay with me for a while.
He’d let Oobie out in the evening and Oobie began meeting me at
my car again when I came home from work and walking me to the door.
I’d follow him and he’d say “Mer-ow” several times looking over his
shoulder each time to make sure I was behind him.
After I was safely in the house he’d ask to go out again for a while.
(I guess the whole point was just to escort me.)
Three days ago (last Friday) it was dark out as usual when I came
home from work and I was waiting to make the left turn into my driveway.
A car was going the other way and I had to let him pass.
It never occurred to me that Oobie would come running out into the
street to meet my car. I didn’t even know it until the other car had passed.
Oobie was lying in the street rolling on his back.
My first thought was that he was greeting me in his old way and I yelled
to him not to do that in the street.
But then I realized what had really happened. And another car was
coming the other way.
I ran out and stopped it and picked Oobie up. I could tell his leg
was broken. He wasn’t bleeding but he had a tire mark over his stomach.
He was making painful sounds.
I was frantic. I put him in the car and tried to comfort him.
I ran in and called the Vet and got my brother.
We got a laundry basket and filled it with towels and put Oobie in
it in the back seat.
We talked to him and cried as we rushed to the Vet.
He wasn’t moving when we got there.
The Vet pronounced him dead.
I never knew I could feel so much pain.
Somehow when people in my life have died I have been able
to block it out. I know that’s not good but it’s how I survived.
With Oobie’s death though the pain came over me in full force.
It was more than I could stand. I just wanted to cease existing
so I wouldn’t have to feel it.
Seeing my therapist is helping me.
Writing this story so that all of you could know what a wonderful
kitty my Oobie was is helping me too.
I am so thankful I have found the “In Memory of Pets” website.
I know that somehow I will get through this though it
doesn’t feel like it right now.
In the coming weeks as I get stronger I will read your stories
about your beloved pets and I think it will be a
comfort to me.
Franni
| Ubu |