The All-Too-Short Story of Evil

Hi Everyone!  Abby here.  Ms. C is on the road today, so she did not take any pictures of me before she left, so she has decided to instead do a tribute to the cat that came before.  I shall let her speak for herself.

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Ms. C: I think most of us have been through our share of tough times, and when we make it through those times, we should always find some way of rewarding ourselves.  Back in 1998 when I found the light at the end of the tunnel, I decided that it was time for me to get a cat.  it would be my first pet, and rewarding for both me and the cat who found its new forever home!

So, I went to the SPCA.  I was looking for a cat to take home with me, because I know everyone always wants those cute kittens (sorry Abby... I love you even though you are a kitten!).  I spent a lot of time looking at those kittens and cats before I saw her. 

Perhaps you have had this moment too, when you go to look for a friend, and then it happens. You make eye contact with The One.  I don't know how I missed her, I walked around that place in circles for quit awhile before I saw her, sitting on her haunches in her litter-box.  I felt like running back out to the front area where the volunteers were, but I made myself walk.  

"I found her!" I told them.

Before I knew it, they had her in the cardboard box, and I smiled and laughed as she meowed the whole three miles home.  When I opened the box at home and she came out, she never hid.  Instead, we took a nap together.  We had both been through a lot!  It was a wonderful bonding experience, and we were fast friends from the first.

Her name-card said her name was "Magic," but I decided that she would have to earn her name. She really earned her name when I tried to bring a second cat into the picture.  A friend of mine had a landlord who told him "either the kitten goes or you both go," and that is when I learned something about my cat's nature.  No Other Cats were to be tolerated.  After three months (and the unwelcome kitten found a more welcoming forever home), she earned her name: The Big Black Evil Cat! Or Evil for short.

She was large, and extraordinarily friendly to all humans.  If a group of friends were over, she sat down right in the center of everyone so she could be close to us all.  Even though she was declawed (before I got her), she was not a biter.  In fact, she saw biting as a real rudeness.  Have you ever met a cat that was exceptionally polite?  She was one of those cats.

Even though her name card at the SPCA said "Magic," I found out later that she had had her picture in the paper the week before as "pet of the week," and they made the poor camera-shy feline wear a silver party-hat.  When I first got her, she was terrified of cameras, but got over it over time.  The picture in the paper said her name was "Big Black," and considering her extraordinary size, she definitely fit that description!

My lap was always the #1 best location she wanted to sit in.  She could leap to an incredible height, so we often played games with shoelaces and scarves.  Abby will be happy to see that I got the same sill pictures of Evil as I get of her!

Unfortunately, her life was much too short.  I took her to the vet one week for what looked like some kind of spider bite, but it turns out that just about any kind of insect could have produced the trauma she was experiencing since she was no longer producing any plasma for healing wounds.  Three weeks later, she died.  The bone cancer was throughout her body.

We will miss you forever, Evil!  You were a truly wonderful friend.