I don't, but I just really feel like a new cat or kitten will be the
only thing that really gets him out of his sadness. I hadn't really
comprehended how much they buddied around all day. (And I hadn't
comphrended how many of my routines throughout the day were based on
Dmitri)

There's a sweet cat next door who liked to sit on the deck railing
outside the front window and try to torment Jack and Dmitri. But they
just chirped at him and said Hi, Friend! He was hanging out on the back
porch for awhile, and once I opened the door, with both boys at my
feet. He hissed and spit and jumped a mile high and took off running.
Jack and Dmitri just looked at me like "What's his problem?"

So Jack may be ready, but I'll still have to do the whole intro thing
because the new guy might not be so ready to meet the king.

That poor cat next door is declawed, which really disturbs me greatly.
I've considered catnapping him myself. I do keep a can of mace outside
for him, just in case. (There's a pit bull behind a fence that makes me
nervous. He and I are friendly through the fence, but I worry he might
get loose one day, and the guy next doors has no claws.)

Anyway, I'm thinking I might start looking this week for a new friend
to adopt. It's sooner than I'm ready for, but I think Jack really needs
a brother to love.

LOL. This weasel is the funniest thing I've seen in awhile. Turns out
one of my uncles bought three when they first appeared at Cracker
Barrel, to torment their cats with. And apparently their cats love it.

OMG, how wonderful that he's come back like that!! That's the most
wonderful thing I've heard.

I'm loving this weazel. LOL. I started it up again and it chased poor
Jack around the living room. After awhile, I turned it off and let it
rest, and he spent twenty minutes doing that thing cats do, where they
want to touch it, but aren't quite sure if they should. So they spend
five minutes working up to it, then just barely touch it, jump back,
and then try again.

He's annoyed by it, yet intrigued. (Even though he's still mad it
touched his holiday mice) It's perked him up a little bit, and that's
all I could ask for. A little step at a time...

Suddenly, without warning, John Doe exclaimed (08-Sep-05 9:48 AM):

Maybe not so unlikely.  I remember an incident that happened many years
ago - 1986 I think - between my cat Mouse and my roomate's cat Cleo.

We lived in a farmhouse.  I got up to go to work one morning, and I
found Mouse and Cleo in our very large, very empty living room (poor
college students, don'cha'know).

They were facing each other, about 10' apart.  In between them was a
very scared, very unfortunate mouse.  Curious as to what was going on, I
stayed out of sight, and watched.

After a moment or two, the poor mouse would dart in some direction.  The
cat on that side of the 'court' would reach out, and bat the mouse back
into the middle.  The mouse would cower, then dart, and the next cat
would bat it back.  This went on for the 5 or 10 minutes I watched,
fascinated.

I finally had to leave for work, the cats were still playing tennis when
I left.

Now, I agree that it was a bit cruel for the mouse, but I didn't want to
discourage either cat from doing their job.  We had enough mice already.

So, you might not be able to teach Kitty soccer, but perhaps you can
teach him tennis :)

jmc