Boots

Boots crossed the rainbow bridge today. Selina and Chessie were on the other side to meet him. He was not our first Boots. The first Boots was about 7 years old when he died from antifreeze poisoning (nasty neighbor!). Not long after we lost Boots I, Catie came home from school and announced that her friend Carol's cat had a litter of kittens. She looked very solemn as she explained that, if Carol didn't find homes for the kittens, her dad would take them out to the woods and shoot them. While I doubted that Carol's dad would ever shoot a kitten, I agreed to go and look at them.
The kittens were in a box in the garage. One of them was black and white with a half moustache, just like Boots I. I told Carol that we would take that kitten when he was ready to leave his mom. Not long after that, Boots II came to live with us. He bonded closest with Chris. When we left Charlotte, Boots stayed with Chris. As he matured, Boots gained weight. Chris nicknamed him Tubby. Tubby loved three things: Chris, naps, and canned food. When he heard the top of a can of cat food pop, he was first in line! Probably why he was called Tubby! When Chris moved in with us, Tubby came along.
Tubby had some jealousy issues with the other cats in the house. He began thinking outside of the box. Literally. He would go to the cat box, then poop right beside it. We tried to correct this bad behavior, but Tubs was stubborn. He had to live in the basement. He got along well with the basement cats. He also got all the canned food he could eat.
Over the last month, Tubby started losing weight at a frightening rate. He didn't run when canned food was opened. He was pooping outside the box again. Yucky smelling loose poo. He had trouble getting up and down the stairs. His coat became dull, as did his eyes. Last night, Chris said his final good by to his old friend Tubby. This morning, I took Tubs for the long ride. When I started the car "Tears in Heaven" was playing on the radio. Boots was too weak to protest riding in the car, something he has always hated. He only weighed four pounds, down from his usual ten pounds. I held him as the vet gave him the injection that would end his misery. Gradually, his eyes closed and his head slipped off of my arm. I petted him for a long time. I cried. As I walked out of the vet's office, it started to rain.