Stimpy 1992-2011

Xmas 2007.

We had to say goodbye to our dear meezer, Stimpy yesterday. He'd had a long life of adventure, surviving raccoon attacks, numerous abscesses, ear infections, kidney & liver failure, nearly bleeding to death from an injury to his paw, falling off a third storey balcony & probably more that I'm forgetting. He was the most ferocious animal when it came to other unfamiliar cats or dogs, but always gentle with people. Even when babies & toddlers pulled on his whiskers, poked him in the ears & tried to haul him along by the tail, he'd just wince, or walk away if he was really annoyed. His yowl could be heard from a block away & he always wanted to talk. We got used to people on the phone asking if that was a baby crying in the background. Typical Siamese that he was, if not sleeping, he needed to be between you & whatever you were concentrating on, be it a newspaper, a sewing project or a laptop.

The boys napping.

Sometimes I think our other cat, Pingu, kept Stimpy young. Pingu was about five years younger. Introducing a kitten to Stimpy was nerve wracking, but after about two weeks, Stimpy had a change of heart & stopped trying to kill him. They were best friends after that, regularly sleeping in a pile & cleaning each other's hard-to-reach spots. They wrestled & chased each other around the house, Stimpy growling at top volume. (The first time I experienced the 'midnight crazies' I was seriously worried: Stimpy was charging around the house at frenetic speeds, skittering around corners & making a sound I can only describe as demonic.) Watching them play-fight was fascinating because their styles were so different. Pingu's was a bit more WWE, with body slams & clearly telegraphed, ham-fisted manoevres, whereas Stimpy's was something like a Kung Fu: tightly controlled sneak attacks, often from the side.

Stimpy the Tolerant.

Pingu was only with us for 11 years, until just after Christmas 2008. By that time, Stimpy was 16 & his cataracts made seeing all but very high contrast impossible. We decided not to stress him out by introducing another cat, though we worried he'd be lonely. I think he did miss Pingu: for weeks it seemed like he was searching for his old friend. Stimpy started to slow down gradually, becoming more cautious & less playful, mostly likely due to the cataracts. He slept even more, though he was still as noisy as ever. I believe he was happy until very recently, when he started to get thinner quickly. We brought him to the vet & treated him, hoping he'd recover. He was so patient with the baby's constant attacks & we desperately wished he would live long enough that Sprout would be able to remember him.

Sadly, Stimpy decided to go this past weekend, refusing to eat. Monday morning, we bundled him into a backpack that I wore on my chest on the quick bike ride to the vet's. I held him on my lap as the vet gave him a sedative & then an overdose of anaesthetic. It was quick & painless.

We already miss you so much, Stimpy.