goodbye my friend

Winter doesn't seem to be a good season lately. After losing my grandpa at about the same time last year we had to let our cat O'Malley go to cat heaven. He had kidney failure and we're glad he didn't have to suffer long. We're all very sad because he was a member of our family and everyone who knew him loved him - he was great with strangers and all neighbours, friends and visitors were under his spell. After several days of mourning and not knowing what to write about his death or wether to write about it at all I decided to share his story with you.

On a particularly wet and cold November afternoon in 2006 I saw a cute cat with big round eyes and felted fur sitting in our backyard and looking longingly inside our warm and cozy living room. There were many knots in his fur and big parts of it were felted - it didn't look like he had been combed in several weeks. My parents weren't very amused about having a strange cat sitting in their backyard (at that time, we had already had our cat Mira. She's very shy and often gets into fights with cats from our neighbours so my parents didn't want a strange cat to invade her territory.). I had pity on him and gave him some food and put a box with a blanket inside next to the door.

I checked in regular intervals whether he was still there. I knew that you're not supposed to touch  stray cats because they can have all sorts of bugs etc. but I couldn't get his fluffy fur and his big round eyes out of my mind. 

So that evening after my family had gone to bed I sneaked downstairs and - of course - he was still sitting there. The second I opened the door he began to purr and I took him into my bedroom so neither my family nor our cat would see him. I put a blanket on the floor along with some food and a bowl of water. I tried to fall asleep but couldn't stop thinking about that cute cat. A couple minutes after I turned off the light I heard some 'tap tap' noises and something heavy landed on my legs. He came to my side and lay down right next to me, purring really loudly (I was afraid he would wake up the others...) as I petted him. Right the first night he slept in my bed and when I woke up to my alarm clock he was laying next to my feet.

Our other cat Mira is very shy and never slept in my bed nor would she ever sleep on my lap. So having a very cuddly cat was something completely new and amazing to me. I don't exactly remember what happened the following days but my parents figured out pretty quickly that they couldn't just ignore that cat in our backyard. He didn't have a tattoo in his ear so we took him to the vet to check whether he's alright and whether he has a microchip so we could find his owners. Surely someone must miss such a cute kitty?

But he didn't have a microchip. We asked around everywhere and put up posters saying we found a black and white cat but nobody seemed to miss him. We had all his felted fur shaved by the vet and he started to look like the most handsome cat we had ever seen. The vet estimated his age at about 10 years when we found him. My parents tried desperately to get rid off him(kidding... they were just trying to find his proper owners and they didn't want him to invade Mira's territory any longer than absolutely necessary). They told all our neighbours but nobody knew where he came from. Our neighbours told us about some friends who had recently lost a cat and were looking to get a new one. They came over to look at him and they probably would've taken him if I hadn't been a big mess and very protective about him.

We've had him for several weeks already and I couldn't imagine giving him to strangers. I felt like it was my responsibility to care for him since I was the one who found him / let him in. Luckily the people saw what a mess I was and didn't have the heart to take him away from me.

He had so many great qualities that I want to remember. He was really good with people. Whenever a visitor came to our house O'Malley would greet him and he'd get everyone to pet him - even the people who usually don't like pets/cats liked him. He even left quite an impression with my mom's boss when he came to 'get to know her'(as in an informal job interview) so he even helped her get her current job. Whenever someone got home he would go to the front door to greet whoever just came. It's a really great feeling to get home and there's someone waiting for you and happy to see you.

Here are some things I loved about him in no particular order: the cute 'tap tap tap' sound when he walked across wooden floors or tiles with his furry paws. His very loud snoring. The way he would lay down on you when you were laying on the couch watching TV. The elegant way he would cross his paws when he was sleeping. How he would sleep on his back when he was very relaxed and all you could see was white fur but the minute he turned around he looked all black. His whiskers that always stuck out into all directions and made it incredibly hard to take pictures of his face without focusing on his whiskers. The heat he would radiate when he lay on your lap or stomach. How you could still knit or read when he was sleeping on you. How he would lay on the back of the couch right behind your neck and place his tail around your neck. How he would chase after Mira across the backyard but he would always stop right before the boundary to the neighbour's backyard and watch her while she kept running for hundreds of meters. How he would always follow us around the house and into the backyard. He rarely stayed outside when we went inside. How he would always lay down on any kind of paperwork / homework anyone would try to do. How he always wanted to be everywhere we were. Often he would scratch at the bathroom door and I could rarely shower without him laying on the bath rug. Once he even poked his head through the shower curtain but he didn't like getting wet. The way he was always a good boy at the vet. How he would sit outside and wait for someone to open the door for him - he never meowed, he would just move his lips and wait for someone to open (or scratch at the door...). How he would always inspect every box or suitcase. How we would call him Schnubbel or O'Malley and he'd look up when he heard his name. The deep purring sound he made when we combed his fur - for a minute, then he would start to punch the brush. How he would always be creative in finding new sleeping spots - my dad's record player, a stack of newspapers, underneath the Christmas tree, The way he would never beg for human food but always wanted to be close when we ate; he would sleep on my lap while I ate without a problem while Mira had to stay outside so we could eat without having her constantly beg for food. The way he would fall asleep next to me for years. How he made me feel at home the second I walked in and saw him. 

We'll never know where he came from and what's his whole story. But we do know that he spent more than 7 wonderful years with us and that it was the best time of my life. We might have given him food and shelter but he gave us back so much more. We'll never forget his unconditional love and he'll always have the center spot in our hearts.