Yoda - Cat of the Week

It's difficult to write this week's "bio" because there's a very strong possibility Yoda won't be with us much longer. He was recently discovered to have substantial cancer growing in his liver and kidneys, and it's quite obvious to us he's going downhill quickly. In the meantime, he's acting his usual self, and doesn't show much evidence of being sick, except that he's lost a frightening amount of weight. These pictures are from his more "beefy" days.

For years, Yoda was the neighborhood thug, as in, this was HIS neighborhood. He was mean, fearless and BIG. He pounded every male cat that crossed his path, and impregnated every female. People tried to trap him, a few shot at him (he still carries around a BB in his chest), and just about everyone hated the sight of him. At the time he wasn't our cat - supposedly he belonged to the neighbors next door (though I seriously doubt he ever "belonged" to anyone.) Said neighbors fed him (occasionally) and their dysfunctional/psychotic son claimed ownership and carried him around like a sack of potatoes. He was always getting injured in fights, or picking up some upper-respiratory crud, whereupon we'd scoop him up and patch him up, only to have him return a few weeks later with something else wrong with him. Finally, he showed up on our doorstep late one night, staggering, bleeding from the nose and groaning with each breath. Enough! We took him to the vet and left him there until they got him completely repaired, including shots, dental work and neutering. In the meantime the neighbors had been evicted (no surprise there) and spent the week Yoda was in hospital moving out of their house. When they asked, we denied any knowledge of his whereabouts, so they left without him. After nearly two weeks in the hospital, we brought him home and explained to him that he was going to be an indoor cat from now on. He quickly decided he'd landed in Cat Heaven, and settled in easily to regular meals of good food, cushy cat beds all over the place, zillions of cat toys, lots of windowsills in the sun, plenty of bathroom sinks (his favorite place in which to lounge), and regular petting and brushing. He's become a wonderful pet over the years - affectionate, playful, mellow, and always, but always, eats everything put in front of him. He's still a bit of a bully, but old habits die hard, and the other cats have accepted him, for the most part, with only an occasional swat or hiss when he tries to push them around.

Here he is a few days into the "indoor" life - still looking every bit the thug he was...

If you happen to be where Yoda wants to be, you can either move, or he'll sit on top of you...

It's a good thing there are plenty of sinks in this house!

Over the years, we've determined the only bad thing about having pets is that you always outlive them. We'll miss Yoda terribly when he's gone, but, in the meantime, we'll give him the best of everything we can, and promise to help him transition with dignity when the time comes.