jay-c, you guys fucking rock! Man, I am so sorry that your time with Bob was so short, but people like you give me a hint of hope for people in general. Thanks from an animal lover for giving a home to an ‘unadoptable’ cat.
I know you are hurting now. We lost a cat suddenly a couple of weeks ago. It is never easy.
I don’t generally hug posters without making sure they’re female and single (nothing personal, just trying to maximize my time spent, y’know), but you’ve got it coming to you.
Good on you for giving Bob a taste of the good life. I know it seems unfairly short, but at least it’s something. He was a beautiful cat, and he obviously appreciated what you did for him.
A bittersweet victory, but a victory nonetheless.
Your story even made me sniffle. I had a sickly animal die in my arms once. But even then I felt like at least it had been loved, and so was your Bob. You gave him six months he never thought to expect, and made him happy for six months.
6 very wonderful months. i’m so glad y’all brought him into your family, and that bob enjoyed “tree time”. i’m so sorry you had to say good bye so very soon.
i’ve been wondering how gracie was doing. i’m glad to read that she is enjoying life with y’all. how are the dogs you found homes for?
A sadly short life, but a full one. Merry Christmas, Bob.
jay-c, I’m terribly sorry for your loss. Please feel good in knowing that you gave that cantankerous kitty the best six months it ever had in your house. It had a wonderful time making friends with your other kitty and maybe even your dog. And you and your husband probably gave him joy in being his human underlings for those precious six months. 
He’s in a good place with the huge Christmas tree in the sky.
I guess you have to look at this as “lucky Bob” that he died in a loving home, not “un-lucky Bob” that he had such a tough life up to that point, or it’ll eat you up.
Good-bye, Bob. You were a good cat to your humans.
I’m so sorry for your loss, and so grateful Bob had the chance to know love before his time was up. Thank you for loving him, letting him love you, and giving him a peaceful, pain-free end.
I know that Bob would have taken those last six months with you even if he knew he would die at the end rather than another six years on the streets and in the shelter.
If love would die along with death, this life wouldn’t be so hard–Andrew Vachss
Your story got me thinking about all the cats at shelters that aren’t considered “adoptable”. I visited the local shelter for the first time today, and was told that they can adopt out the kittens pretty easily. But adults, especially those with backgrounds like your Bob, are harder to place.
I’ve got a cat right now and can’t take another, despite being lobbied aggressively by some of the shelter’s residents today. I gave them a donation instead.
But when the time comes I think I’m going to take in a hard luck case like Bob. You did a great thing in making up for some of his earlier hardships.
I am so very sorry for your loss. He sounds like a really great cat and that you made each other very happy.
I’m so sorry for your loss, jay-c. It’s wonderful that you could give Bob those last six months of happy life. You’re my hero for taking him in and showing him that humans can be worth trusting.
We had to let our beloved kitty go last year (lymphoma) so I understand how you feel. I held her as she went as well–felt like I owed it to her to be there to the end.
Maybe our Meep can meet up with Bob on the other side and show him around.
My condolences, jay-c. After reading your OP, and finished holding back the tears and sniffles, I gave my own kitty a great big hug. She was a shelter kitty too, although not as mistreated and jaded as your Bob was. She was pretty sick for a while, and I like to think that if I didn’t swoop in and adopted her when I did, she would have been put down not knowing there was someone who loved her in her last days. Bob was very lucky to have his family by his side. He wasn’t with you long, but I am sure those six months were the happiest in his life and wouldn’t trade it if he could have more years on the streets.
He was beautiful. We lost a cat to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy years ago. I’m so sorry for your loss, but so glad you took him into your home. Thank you.
Thank you to everyone who expressed their condolences. It means a lot. And Mach Tuck, you’re awesome for the donation.
I cannot say enough good things about Ohio State’s Veterinary Hospital, too. It took an hour after Bob passed for me to finally find a way to leave. A busy emergency room, packed with people, and they let us take up one of their only three rooms for over an hour. Yesterday, a package came in the mail - in it was a card, with a handwritten note from each person who’d worked on Bob, expressing their sympathies. The ER doctor, whom I’d barely spoken to that day, had made a plaster cast of Bob’s pawprint, and had drawn Bob’s name in the plaster. Obviously homemade, but the most touching and meaningful thing anyone could have done. I mean, we have already sent Bob’s remains to a funeral home to have him cremated, we’ll have his ashes in a little urn, but this little pawprint is somehow better, you know?
So back to the update part of the story… last weekend, we drove to the shelter in Cincinnati, cash clutched in our hands, intent on making a donation in memory of Bob. There are a lot of cats there that are just plain unadoptable - too many behavior problems, too feral, etc. - they’ll live the remainder of their lives in the shelter, which is no-kill, but they probably will not find homes. We can’t take them home, but we can pay enough money to ensure that at least one has adequate food and veterinary care and lives as comfortably as possible. The amount of cash we had, it turns out (which wasn’t much), would sponsor an entire room of unadoptable cats for a year. We were pretty overjoyed at this news, and decided to sponsor Bob’s old room, since he was once ‘unadoptable’ himself.
I’ll give you a brief description of the shelter - an old cinderblock warehouse, 22 rooms, with 10-20 cats roaming free in each. No cages. Cats are categorized by issues (shredders, pissers, fighters, FIV+), or food needs (hairball formula, fat cat, etc). So Bob was in a room of lots of longhaired, hairball formula needing, crabby cats who tended to pick on other cats, but generally didn’t pick on each other because they were all too freaking big and mean and had sorted out their pecking order years ago. And nobody wanted them, so they’d been there for a long damned time. And while Bob was one big bruiser of a cat, there was one cat that always seemed to get the best of him. Coincidentally, it could have been his identical freaking twin - Kurt. Cute as a button, but mean as a snake. And for a brief moment, we considered adopting Kurt over Bob. Truthfully, my husband wanted Kurt more. Until Kurt tried to claw my husband’s face off, leapt onto my back shrieking, then tried to cap off that performance by pissing in my purse. He then smacked Bob in the face for no real reason and sat in the corner, glaring at us all. Kurt was one asshole of a cat.
So we sat for a while in Bob’s old room, looking at all of the familiar faces we recognized from our previous visits with Bob before he came home. Kurt, of course, was still there, and still evil as all get out. After a while, an unfamiliar face wandered over. A longhaired, enormous Maine Coon tabby, he’d been shaved, so that he only had long hair on his head and in puffs at the end of his tail and around his paws. Very comical, really, and identical to what had been done to Bob before he came home, due to all of his knots and tangles. We vaguely remembered this cat as one that we’d liked, but that had been very unfriendly before, acting nearly terrified of us. This time though, he was purring, rubbing on our legs, begging for attention. “I’ve never seen Finnian act that way with people in the three years he’s been here,” a shelter worker commented, puzzled, “he’s the resident scaredy cat.” She called other people over to come see the spectacle. My husband and I didn’t speak, met eyes. Finnian, having had enough affection for the moment, strolled across the room, and without provocation, stood on his hind legs and smacked Kurt square between the eyes, once with each paw. Mission accomplished, he climbed onto a shelf, and fell asleep. I’m pretty sure I heard Bob laughing. I know I did.
It’s too soon to tell, but I’m guessing that Finnian is going to be finding his way to my home in the near future.
What a lovely update, jay-c - I’m sure Bob would have been very proud! Finnian sounds adorable though, how soon will you be posting piccies?
Awesome.
I think it was in my e-mail to you, we talked about the cat-afterlife?
Here’s what happened: Bob found a way to get word to Finnian about you. Told him all about how you had the Most Excellent Place, and then whispered a little about the Adorable Gracie.
My sister likes to tell people when she dies she wants to be reincarnated as a cat in my house, sounds like you have the same reputation in the world of cats!
I wish you’d post more, jay-c. You seem to brighten my day a little every time you do. Well, aside from the times you make me cry bucketfuls of tears.
A truly excellent thread. Gave me some sad tears for Bob, and a smile when I read about Finnian. I’m looking forward to reading how things turn out, jay-c. You write about your dear ones so beautifully.