My sister lost her cat, Stormy, to cancer last week. The world is a much sadder place without him.
He showed up in Ellen's life 11 years ago as a kitten. She couldn't resist him, so she started to feed him. He must have known that this was the best home he could find, so he stayed. Ellen's life was never the same, again.
The most notable aspect about Stormy was his lack of teeth. He had an autoimmune disease that caused his body to attack his teeth. The vet suggested pulling them all out. It seemed like such a drastic thing to do, but the vet was right. The teeth were causing him discomfort--most of them had fallen out, anyways. Without his teeth, his tongue had nothing to stop it, and he often had it sticking out of his mouth. He always had the cutest expressions because he had no teeth.
He could still eat dry food, but his favorite was Fancy Feast canned food. He could easily eat 4 cans a day--and sometimes even more! Since he was such an active cat, he just burned it all off.
He had a dog named Stubby. Their friendship was just a wonderful thing. He was a big dog, but that didn't keep Stormy from pouncing him and chewing on him. I saw him once tackle him and take him down to the ground. Stubby was so patient with him; it was just remarkable.
Stormy's greatest accomplishment in life was converting Ellen's boyfriend, John, from a dog person to a cat person. John went from only handling him with long gloves to protect him, (He had no teeth! What was he worried about?) to doting on him and treating him like the royalty he was. For Stormy as always a gentle and loving cat--and just so charming!
He had a beautiful purr. He loved when Ellen would feed the birds. He would go out and sit of the seeds and wait for them. Sometimes, he would even dance for them. He had some fine cat ballet maneuvers. The squirrels used to tease him. They must have known he wouldn't harm them. He never harmed any of the wildlife in his yard.
I have an old t-shirt that says, "Owner of the world's cutest cat." (Who can really own a cat?) I wear it, but I always knew that my cat isn't the cutest cat--Stormy was.
The world is a much sadder place without him--and we will all miss our little Stormy.
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