posted on Dec, 21 2019 @ 06:03 PM
I've had a couple cool kitties in my life. We had one, his name was Scooter, well, he wasn't ours really, but he adopted us. I was overseas for
several years and when I'd come back there would be this giant feral tomcat sitting on my stoop. He was all white with some black on his face. He
was a big cat!...and he did all the stuff tomcats do. He'd fight, he'd howl and he was the toughest cat on the block. Had a chunk missing out of one
of his ears from a battle (probably with a skunk or coyote). Scooter was a bad-ass...and he was completely wild. He had lived his entire life
outdoors and he didn't like people at all.
Whenever I'd come home Scooter would be there. The lady across the street said she fed him from time to time and named him "Scooter" because he'd
always 'scoot' the minute he saw anyone. So she'd leave food out for him, and then look out the window and watch him eat it. Scooter was full-on 4x4
with all of his claws.
Well, the lady across the street didn't really take care of him, and when my wife and I got back we tended to him a bit and made sure he had regular
food and water. Scooter was always around, but he'd dash off the minute he saw a person. At the time my wife had an indoor cat, a calico. She was a
nice cat, but not really. Scooter would come closer and closer, but if you ever got near him he'd run off. So one day he was in the yard (scratching
on the tree) and we just ignored him. Next thing we knew he came inside the house (much to the other cat's ire, but he didn't care...silly female
housecat...he'd eat her for lunch and she knew it!)
That cat turned out to be the best cat I've ever known. His head was giant (about the size of a super grapefruit) and he was smart. The most well
behaved cat I've ever known. Even my wife's cat loved him after a while, and my dogs would go snuggle with him, or he'd go snuggle with them when it
was cold. He was everyone's friend.
One time he got stung by a bunch of hornets (like 20 of them) and we had to take him to the vet. We'd never taken him to the vet before, and weren't
sure how he's react. His face was swollen up like a basketball and the vet needed to give him a shot. The vet asked if we could control him because
most cats hate shots. We were like...we don't know, this is the first time for this cat! Vet steadied him and gave him a shot of benedryl...and he
just stood there like the little warrior that he was. Vet said..."This cat is just ambivalent about everything...and that's amazing, you've
trained it well" But we hadn't trained Scooter...Scooter had trained us.
I loved that cat, and I'm not much of a cat fan, but Scooter was a good guy. When we moved out to the country, Scooter came with us. He lived here
with us, eating mice, rats and baby bunnies, until he was a very old man. I was sad to see Scooter go, but I walked him across Rainbow Bridge with
honor...before the coyotes could. He earned that.