The Incredible Shrinking Last Cat

His name is Skeeter

once he was so big he was mistaken for a racoon

he is one of two cats i took to Vermont with me from California / then he was one of three cats that traveled from Vermont to Maryland / and yes the same three made the journey to Utah

boy did he ever hate that trip / it took ten days / it was winter / in every motel he hid under the bed and i had to drag him out / one room had a KING sized bed / luckily i was able to move the bed to retrieve him / this was usually by hauling him out by the tail while he dug his claws into the rug / oh we had a lovely relationship

the oher two cats now sleep deep in the back yard while Skeeter claims the distinction of being my Last Cat

he keeps me from starting over with kittens

once he was so big that when you picked him up he was a huge and heavy armload / he was bigger than little dog, Dot / Skeeter hated being picked up so much (oh too much a BIG TOM) that the struggle wasnt worth it

he hated being petted / he hated snuggling or cuddling even though he often slept on my bed / i never heard him purr

he was born in a basket of coloured fleece that was in a rocking chair that was on top of a table (dont ask) at the Happy Trail Spider Works and Bubble Preserve / his mother was Late Sleeper

now he is really up there in years / he was finally neutered after being hit by a car in Vermont

he has always been my least favorite cat so it figures he wd outlast them all (dozens of cats over time)

his most irritating trait was meowing so loudly and so insistently for food that one time i grabbed him up and ran out the back door with him to the stream that flowed behind our house in Vermont / there was a foot bridge there and below a rocky rill where the stream rushed madly around the bend

i held him out over the railing as if i were going to drop him in

well shucks i just cdnt do it

(next day i read in the paper that a woman had thrown her new born baby in a river)

but this is now and Skeeter is the only cat / the last cat

this changes our whole relationship / i decided to kill him with loving kindness and plenty of rich food / chicken livers lightly poached rare / warm cream on cold mornings / and so on / his meows for food became more subdued / i detected an ocasional PURRRR

our most touching moment was the first night i came home from the hospital after the hystericalectomy two years ago / ____ lifted him up onto my bed (he was too heavy for me to pick up / he was over the weight limit and the bed is too high for him to jump onto) so he was picked up and he settled down next to me / and in the dark / in the night / when i touched him / his warmth and aliveness / i was so glad to be home / to be okay / to have survived the ghastly operation

i totally cater to him now / getting out of bed at all times to let him out or let him back in / giving him a little more sensible meals than chicken livers and cream

he doesnt eat much anymore / one eye cant see / he is deaf / i know this because i can vacuum around his basket and he doesnt budge or wake up / he drinks a lot of water / he is losing weight

he is shrinking into old age

someone said the other day, What a Big Cat !

no / he is smaller / much smaller

still big but smaller

i know when i pick him up now (no more struggle) it is easy to feel the difference

he enjoys a brief cuddle and bursts forth with PURR