A few of my own thoughts on the passing of Kesa, beloved feline and my wife's companion of 11 years:

What can I say about a cat that loved cantaloupe? He'd go nuts when we cut open a 'loupe in the kitchen, trying to climb the counter and meowing up a storm of pitiful pleas for some. When we put some in his dish he would guard it zealously from our other cat, China, as if she might try to steal it, while China looked on in awe and a little disgust, probably wondering what all the fuss was about. Then Kesa would launch into the little orange cubes, devouring them as some cats would some fresh fish or chicken. I'd never seen anything like it. I'd thought cats were colorblind, but whenever we ate anything orange, Kesa was right there to check it out just in case it might be cantaloupe that for some reason didn't smell like the favorite fruit.

He also liked pizza and just about anything else that didn't have chocolate in it. He was the living incarnation of Garfield, and I often imagined him making the big bucks as the live action version of same. Or maybe the best example of Morris the Cat, sitting on a chaise lounge, sunning himself and looking generally uninterested in anything the humans might be doing. But Kesa was also the most affectionate of cats, often coming to get me when Janet was out, so we could lie on the couch together and have pettin's for a spell. He had the loudest purr of any cat I ever heard, sometimes reaching high pitched throes of ecstacy that sounded like the cooing of doves or the chirping of some very large crickets. He'd even purr in his sleep, sometimes mixing purring with snoring, a very bizarre sound to wake up to in the middle of the night. Of course his favorite place to sleep was between us in the bed, his head on a pillow and his round furry body snuggled in under the covers. He always craved body-warmth, probably a comfort to his old bones.

I don't know what it is about cats, how they always seem so intelligent when you observe them closely. They have feelings which are discernable to anyone who has feelings and recognizes them in others. Oh, I know, other animals have feelings too, and I'm not denying it. I was always a dog person until more recent years and accept the canine expressions of affection and playfulness as one of the other great gifts of the maker. So far as I'm concerned, all mammals have "feelings" and emotions. Anyone who can read body language in another human should be able to grasp the vernacular and catch the inflection of other mammals in domestic or natural settings. I just think cats are special for their ability to plan ahead and remember specific events. Cats wait in ambush! They know from past experience that the place where they saw a mouse go by more than once will probably yield another eventually. With dogs, on the other hand, out-of-sight is out-of-mind, with the possible exception of their own beloved nurturers. My cat, China, knows when I'm expected home, and is always waiting at the door for me. If I don't show within the appropriate period, she goes crying to Janet or camps out on the nearest chair. If I come home earlier than usual from the office, she's often nowhere to be seen, still sleeping up in the master bedroom or tending to some other cat-business. She acts surprised when I wake her at an odd hour of the day, as if she wasn't expecting my return at that moment. So don't tell me about cats being insensitive, mindless, loners. They are nothing of the sort.

And Kesa was a king among cats. I will miss him...@  8-!( |