In Memoriam - Boo Boo Kitty - Jan 1990 - Sep 2008

I am sad to say that our dear little sweet Boo Boo is now in kitty heaven. He took a header off the sofa last night and was in extreme pain. The only thing we could do was take him to the vet to help his journey to kitty heaven easier. I am so very much dealing with the moral dilemma of whether or not it is right in God's eyes for us to take the role of Life Manager for animals. In this case it was distressing for both Lola and me to see Boo in the condition he was in. Perhaps when I have some quiet time to think I'll come to terms with this decision. I know Boo would have been happy to go and not be in pain, but how does God view this decision??

Boo was a wonderful cat. He was sweet, quiet, gentle, polite and always very proper, quite the little gentleman. He would tap his paw on us when he was hungry and was always so tidy in the litterbox but such a slob at the dinner bowl. He was never a lap cat, but instead would snuggle up parallel to the person of his choice and sleep as close as possible. He and Scooter were the best of friends and would groom and sleep with each other for hours. Even for the past few months Scooter kept watch over Boo at night from a close distance to the sofa. We will all miss him greatly.

Boo Boo came into our home in 2000 at the age of 10 years. He was one of four cats that were loved supremely by my friend Christie, a woman with whom I worked at the office. Christie was a great lover of all animals and was not afraid to stand up for their rights. She had some health issues, and in the summer of 2000 she encountered what was thought to be a gall bladder problem. She checked into the hospital and during the time we all thought she was recovering from gall bladder surgery she was actually battling a disease called hemochromatosis. None of us knew anything about it until she was found dead in her home by my boss, another co-worker and the police in October 2000. It was quite a shock to all of us and after a few days I found out the police had sent 3 of her 4 cats to the local animal shelter. The fourth one, Boo, had not been taken because he was in hiding and wouldn't come out and the police didn't want to spend all day finding him. Instead, one of Christie's neighbor friends said he'd go and feed Boo at her townhome until her lease ran out, and in the meantime try to find him a new home. Christie once told me that if anything ever happened to her, she wanted to be sure her sister got her cats. In this instance, I was under the impression that the sister could not take all the cats, but was going to adopt Boo. Within a week we had new owners lined up for the three cats who were sent to the shelter. I called the shelter to tell them there were people who wished to adopt the cats when Christie's sister signed the paperwork to adopt them out. They agreed to call me when this happened. A few days later I called back only to find out that the shelter had euthanized all three cats after the paperwork was signed. Their story was that the cats had all contracted upper respiratory infection. I was outraged, as were the others who had volunteered to adopt the cats.

I had been contemplating on getting Scooter a buddy for a couple months prior to Christie's untimely death because he was bored and started to pull tufts of fur from his tail area, leaving them like little fuzzy gifts for me all around the house. When I found out that Christie's sister was not able to keep Boo (Christie's favorite) and that Boo was still at Christie's townhome being cared for by the neighbor until her lease ran out the end of October, I called the neighbor and told him I would like to take Boo. Christie had done some cat-sitting for me in the past for Scooter when I was out of town a few weekends, so Scooter was familiar with her smell and absolutely loved her. Apparently the two of them watched the Animal Planet on TV together, had lunch together and sat out on the deck. Scooter was totally spoiled by her and loved every second of it. When I brought Boo home in the cat carrier on October 31, Scooter was overjoyed. From that day forward the two of them were in LOVE!! They have been buddies ever since.

I have so many wonderful memories of Boo, whom I dubbed "Boo Boo Kitty" and I find it hard to think that he is no longer with us. Scooter has lost his best friend and is so sad, and yes, we can tell that he is very sad. I know that perhaps in my own mind that Christie and Boo Boo are now together again, and that makes me very happy.