Hi, some of you might remember me. I also post as the Major, from
Michigan. I'm owned by Felix, Sabrina, and Talia. I'm mostly a lurker
these days, but I felt moved tonight to talk about a friend's friend.

My friend from Arizona just emailed me to let me know that he had to
put Kato down today. Apparently, he was suffering kidney failure and
some form of cancer, and the vet informed my friend that this was the
best course.

Kato was 15 this year. He was an opinionated, vocal, blue-point
siamese, and he always held a status in the household above that of
mere "pet". I remember how he would sit at the side door when my
friend came in, and scold him if he felt he'd been out too long, or
how every night around 11 or so, he would get up from where he was,
stride halfway down the hallway, and turn and wait, expecting my
friend to follow him, since it was bedtime. We all knew who was boss,
and so did Kato.

Kato was curious about other people, but he didn't really get
comfortable with too many of them, even my friend's family. When they
divorced, my friend's ex-wife originally took him, but called after a
week saying that Kato was miserable, and that he had to go back home.
The lady in question had a lot of issues, that I won't go into, but I
can't help thinking right now that at least for that moment, she knew
exactly what was in Kato's best interests, and by extension my
friend's as well, and put the two of them back together as it was
meant to be.

I guess I was also on Kato's acceptable list. He would often climb in
my lap and sleep on me while I talked or watched football at the
house. I guess you could say he's somewhat responsible for me being a
cat person. I remember it was New Years 2000, we'd had a party at my
friend's house, and I stayed the night there because it was a GOOD
party. I woke up on the couch in the morning, and Kato spent most of
the morning sleeping on me. Another friend's wife remarked how happy
he looked, and how when I got my own living situation striaghtened
out, how I needed to get a cat. Either she knew something, or she
affected my thinking, because within 6 months, Felix and Sabrina had
me and I can't imagine life any other way.

When he left for Arizona, my friend gave me his recliner. Kato had
loved to sit on the back of the chair and look out the window. When I
moved it into my place, my three immediately took to doing the same
thing, almost as if he'd left instructions. Maybe so, but tonight,
sitting in it, I can truly say that I did feel Kato's presence, and
I'm so glad that I ended up with that chair. It's strangely comforting
in what's been a very unsettling couple of weeks.

Thanks for reading. I know he wasn't my cat, but he's been such a
fixture among the circle of friends I belong to, that I couldn't let
the night pass without honoring him in some way.

You can see some pictures I took of Kato at:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frozenghost213/my_photos

They're in the the album title Yahoo Photos, about 2/3 through the
album. (Of course there are also pics of the Warriors Three (Felix,
Sabrina, and Talia) as well. Older ones, as Talia is MUCH bigger now.

---The Major