Whisker Hump Wednesday (In Memory)

In the past few days I have been reminded, once again, of all the reasons I so love the Cat Blogosphere. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your condolences, your Kismet memories and your sympathy over the loss of my wonderful big man cat. It has been an extremely difficult and emotional time (and I am sure there it will be that way for awhile), but please please know that your support and your friendship mean everything to me and offer me comfort at a time when very little makes me feel better. And above all, knowing that Kismet is remembered and loved makes it a little bit easier for me.

In the spirit of Whisker Hump Wednesday (so appropriate!!), I wanted to tell you my side of Kismet's story. I love all of my pets, but Kismet was the first cat who was ever my very own, and I told him often that he was my cat soulmate and the cat love of my life. I really think we were meant to be together.



I first saw the big man cat in a cage at an adoption event at PetCo in Union Square, New York City. I had just moved to New York and left two cats behind - before I moved to the city, I was living at home in Wisconsin with my dad and two wonderful cats - and was missing them terribly, so I dragged my boyfriend to the pet store so we could at least look at other cats. And there was Kismet, all square-faced and huge man parts, in a cage, paws crossed, looking completely unimpressed. I remember the look he gave me through the bars of that cage, like, "Seriously? This is where they put me?"



I just loved him instantly. I asked the adoption rep if I could hold him, but he told me that they try not to let people hold the cats unless they are seriously thinking of adopting. My boyfriend and I were subletting a tiny apartment for the summer, a deal that included sitting for the resident cat, so adopting wasn't an option for me at the time. But I decided to start volunteering with the cat rescue organization (KittyKind), so that I could at least put in some face-time with cats while I waited to get a place of my own.



When I started volunteering, I looked for Kismet every day, but he was gone. I asked a few people what had happened to him but no one seemed to know, so I just assumed he'd been adopted. Then, a few months later, I got an email from a KittyKind rep, asking if anyone remembered a cat named Kismet. He'd been in foster care (the adoption fair situation did not WORK for Kismet; he ended up getting a urinary tract blockage from the stress), but was ready to be adopted. The rep wanted to know if we knew anyone who might want him, as they didn't want to send him back to the adoption fair situation that had stressed him out in the first place.



I IMMEDIATELY replied and said, I want him! (I remember typing and sending that email super-fast because I was sure there was a long line of people waiting for Kismet, and I wanted to be first.) A few days later I headed to his foster home to do a meet and greet. He was pretty uninterested in me, if I remember correctly, but he was just so HUGE and I knew I wanted him. I took him home shortly thereafter, and thus began our life together.



It's hard to explain Kismet to people who have never met him. He was the most vocal cat I've ever met. He ALWAYS had something to tell me, something to complain about, something to say, an opinion about EVERYTHING. Coming home at night was always fun because as soon as I put my key in the lock I could hear him run to the door, already mraw-mrawing about everything that had happened to him that day. He was hungry all. the. time. In the early years, he would wake me up by mrawing and then knocking my belongings off various tables, then running to the kitchen when I finally got out of bed. More recently, his favorite thing to do was sit by my face and wake me up by tapping my mouth with his paw. I'd open my eyes and see him sitting there, looking at me intently, like he truly couldn't figure out what was taking so long because GOOD LORD, WOMAN, IT'S BEEN EIGHT HOURS SINCE I ATE AND THAT FRISKIES CAN IS NOT GOING TO OPEN ITSELF.



He liked new people, but he liked to be introduced to them in a very specific way - he wanted to sniff your hand first, then rub on your legs, and THEN, and ONLY THEN, could you pet him. And, naturally, he would be talking to you the whole time. I think this is why a lot of people in my life thought he wasn't friendly, which wasn't true - he just wanted you to do things his way, and he wanted to talk to you about his feelings ALL THE TIME, and most people didn't get that. I didn't care. Because I got it.



He humped blankets from the minute I brought him home, and he liked to climb under the covers, but only if you didn't seem like you really WANTED him to.





He let me touch and play with his paws as much as I wanted to (which was a lot).



He would sit on the side of the tub when I showered and would guard the door whenever I washed my face and brushed my teeth. He stole food - would steal it right off your plate, no manners at all - and he loved to escape, to explore, to see what was outside and around the corner. He was fearless and he was interested in everything.



He let me spoon with him. He had the best and most delicious cat smell in the world.



I don't know the beginning of Kismet's story, and his adoption rep (who I've kept in touch with) doesn't remember exactly either. He thinks someone just left him at the pet store, but that never seemed right to me, so I just decided that he used to roam the streets of New York with a gang of chihuahuas before I met him. I don't know why he picked me, I just know that because he did, I'm the luckiest girl in the world.



I wish he'd had a big strong heart to match all of his personality. Our original deal was that he had to outlive me, but after he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, our new deal was that he just had to let me know when it was time. We made a handful of emergency vet trips where I left him in oxygen overnight and I told him, every time, that it was okay if he wanted to go, that he just had to let me know. I want to think that this - the way he left me, inches from my pillow on a Saturday morning - was just him letting me know. I worry, a lot, that he spent all night struggling to breathe and I just didn't know it. I hope he knows that if I had known, I would have had him in an oxygen tent in minutes. I hope I didn't fail him when he needed me. Most of all, I hope he knows how loved he was, but I don't worry about that one too much. There was no way for him not to know. I told him all the time.



Thank you all again so, so much for following Kismet's life with me. I don't know what will happen to the blog (I'll leave it up, always, but I don't know if I will update), but I do receive the comment notification emails, so please feel free to check in any time. If you would like to do something to honor his memory, please think about donating in his name to KittyKind. I am forever grateful to them for rescuing my big man cat, and for getting him the expensive urinary tract surgery he needed, and for providing me with the amazing Stephen, our adoption rep, who gave me advice and comfort during every single one of Kismet's medical scares, and now his passing.

Most of all, please remember Kismet. He was the most special cat I've ever known and the hole he left behind is enormous.

Person post

Hi cat bloggers,

My big, wonderful, grumpy, whisker-humped man cat left me this morning in his sleep. He died in bed next to me and, as a final show of defiance, made sure to pee all over the bed right before I woke up.

I hope wherever he is is a place full of Friskies (more than I gave him, which was NEVER ENOUGH), Cheez-Its, doors to escape through, blankets to hump, furniture to scratch, futons to pee on and persons to mraw at.

I can never thank you enough for the love and support you have shown Kismet over the years, especially when he was first diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. I'm so thankful that he touched so many lives. I will miss him forever.


Kismet, 2002-2011

My Person is hogging Mack

Innernets, I have not been able to blog in forever, because my Person takes Mack the mancat computer with her wherever she goes lately. And she LEFT US ALONE for THREE DAYS while she went to North Karolyna to find us a place to live, and I don't like it when my Person leaves, but I didn't pee on anything while she was gone, and you would think that to reward me for that she would let me blog but NO. And I have a great Man Cat Monday post that I CAN'T EVEN DO NOW because it is not Monday. So to explain to her my UPSETNESS, the night after she got back I spent a lot of time mraw mrawing and walking all over her and sitting on top of her and sitting next to her and patting her mouth with my man paws. Because not only was I mad and HUNGRY (ALWAYS HUNGRY), but lots of things had happened while she was gone and I had to tell her about them and innernets, do you think my Person woke up to listen to me? No. What she did was, she chased me down when I was sitting on top of the refrigerator and mraw mrawing at her (I figured she could hear me better if I was up there, and then when she wasn't listening I maybe pushed some things off the refrigerator with my man paws), and she picked me up and put me on the ground and told me I was being annoying. ANNOYING! I was just trying to TELL HER what had HAPPENED TO ME while I was gone and also, now that you're up, Person, maybe you could give me some more foods, because I know they are around here somewhere and I am hungry, but no, it did not quite work out the way I wanted.

Anyway, we are moving to North Karolyna in about a week and a half, so you may not hear from me until we get there because I doubt my Person is going to let me use Mack the mancat computer because she is on it all the time trying to figure out things for the move. And honestly, innernets, how hard is it to figure out how to move, you just get in the movable masheen and go, but apparently my Person needs to talk to Mack about it a lot. I am sure, though, that I will have MANY ADVENCHURS to report once we get there, so don't forget about me while I am gone!

And in case you were wondering my sister Sophie is still doing really good. My Person says she is just hoping we all make it North Karolyna without any drama, and she looked right at me when she said it, and I just looked right back at her because WHAT, PERSON, and also, I would still like more foods.

On the road again

My Person offishully made friends with new Mr. Jahb, so we are going to be MOVING TO NORTH KAROLYNA!

I feel fine about the moving, innernets. Some cats get nervous and are resistant to change, but I am a large and advenchuriss man and I like going to new places, like out in the hallway or Out There or on top of the fridge (there's foods in there you know). It is good that my Person has me to help with the move because I have many talents that come in handy.

I can help navigate:

I see foods.

I can put together furniture:

The furniture is in here. I am pretty sure.

I can clean:

You missed a spot.

Sophie cannot do much of anything except for freak out when we are in the car and hide under furniture in the new 'partment. Sophie gets drugs when we go on trips, and we ride in the same carrier because she needs me around to feel safe. But SOMETIMES when we are in the movable masheen I have to leave the carrier to go in the front seat and see my Person and make sure that she knows where she is going and also to check around to see if there are any foods or other cats or vishus things hiding up there, because you just never know.

North Karolyna will be the fifth place I have lived. I have also lived with my Person in Brooklyn (above the eff trayn), Merruhlind, Virjinya, and now Whiskonsin. We also drove all the way to Californyuh and back, but my Person did not like that trip because I escaped in Noo Mexico and was gone for many hours in the middle of the night, and then when we drove back to Whiskonsin my broked heart did not like the meowntains in Colorado and I had foam come out of my nose and we had to stop at an emergency VETS in Nebraska and I am sad to say that I was too tired to even fight the VETS then, so it is a good thing that we will never live in Nebraska because that VETS probably thinks she can mess with me. Because of all of this my Person is nervous about the trip to North Karolyna. I don't really know what to say about that, innernets, because I am a big dude and sometimes on trips I just gotta do what I gotta do, but this trip is a lot shorter than the one to Californyuh and back so I don't know if there will be enough time to have any big advenchurs. Anyways my point is, I have been a lot of places and so I am a man cat of the world and the lady cats in North Karolyna better hold on to their ladyparts because I am coming soon!!

Thursday Thirteen

1. The VETS called my Person and said that all of Sophie's test results came back normal which I guess means that she passed, but I don't think it means she gets to grajooyate from anything, just that she probably doesn't have pankreea-tytus. The VETS said they are still not exactly sure what was wrong with my sister, but that she MIGHT still have pankreea-tytus, or maybe she just had a virus, or maybe her bowels are irritable. I have never talked to Sophie's bowels so I can't tell you if they are cranky, but they sure do stink sometimes. Anyways the VETS said my Person should just keep feeding Sophie her new foods and monitor her poops. I did not offer to help.


Beware of the back end, innernets.

2. Sophie is now eating different foods than me. She likes the new foods okay but not as much as she likes my foods, so she eats them slower. Because of this I eat my foods in the human litterbox room. (It is very undignified to eat in there, but I have to go where my Person puts the foods.) I am a big dude so I eat really fast and then I mraw mraw and paw at the door because I KNOW that Sophie's foods are out there and she hasn't finished them and if you SNOOZE YOU LOSE, KID, LET ME AT THOSE FOODS, but my Person never lets me out to eat them because she does not understand the rules of eating the foods.

3. This annoys me but so far I have not peed on anything even once about it.

4. But when my Person got back from visiting potenshul new friend Jahb, I did try to pee in her suitcase. Twice. But she caught me. Twice. She still has not unpacked the suitcase, but to keep me from peeing in it she just makes sure to keep it closed.

5. So now I sleep on it instead. HAHA PERSON!



6. My Person is talking to someone else who knows potenshul friend Jahb tomorrow morning and she said she hopes that Jahb will decide if he wants to be friends with her soon after that. I hope he decides soon and that he decides yes, because the friend Jahb my Person hangs out with now takes up way too much of her time.

7. By the time she gets home I have so much stuff to tell her that I just follow her around and mraw mraw for hours and it takes away from the other manly stuff that I need to be doing, like cleaning my whisker humps and prowling for hidden foods and watching the cat TV and ignoring that rabbit that lives here.


He doesn't help with the patrols or ANYTHING.

8. When we lived in Virjinya my Person's friend Jahb only took SOME of her time and I only had to mraw mraw at her about stuff for a little while before she was all caught up. It was a much better balance and my life was not quite so HARD then.

9. Sadie was wondering if I still wear shirts. (How YOU doin', Sadie?) All of my mancat shirts are in a place called Storij. Most of my Person's stuff is there since we had to move back to Whiskonsin so suddenly. HOPEFULLY if potenshul new friend Jahb decides he wants to be friends with my Person, she can go to Storij and get her stuff (and MY shirts). But for now, I am nude all the time. Drink it in, laydeez.



10. Right now the partment we are living in is in a big huge building of lots of partments so I have not had a chance to run Out There. But sometimes when my Person comes in the partment I TAKE OFF into the hallway! It is a very long hallway and I just trot down it, mraw mrawing the whole time so that any persons I pass know who I am and that I am a big dude who lives by them, just in case they didn't know. I never get too far before my Person comes out and scoops me up and says, "Where do you think you are going?" And I am all, "Down the hall, Person," which I think is pretty obvious, innernets, espeshully since she SAW ME GOING DOWN THERE, but my Person does not understand these things.

11. I have not gone into the hallway lately because the HOTS are here. I hate the HOTS. My Person has kept it nice and cool in the partment for us, so I am not going into that hallway no way no how, except if my Person left the door open I would HAVE TO even though the HOTS are out there, just because exploring is a manly thing to do so I would have no choice.

12. Obveeissly, those types of responsibilities come with being a man cat. It is hard to be me.


Thinking about my hardships.

13. I am glad that so many of my friends are still blogging and that so many people still remember me (not that I REALLY thought you would forget me, but who knows?). It is good to be back, innernets!

Man Cat Monday

But first a little update on my sister. After staying at the VETS while my Person was gone meeting potenshul new friend Jahb, Sophie is back home and doing fine. She is still not 100 percent herself, but she is a LOT more herself than she was last week, which means I have hissed and growled at her some because she has started bugging me again. My Person considers this a good sign, but I think it is mostly just annoying. We are both eating the foods and pooping. The VETS is sending Sophie's test out today and we may not get her scores until next week which is like A YEAR, so for now we are just hanging out and waiting. But for now things are good!

My Person said she liked potenshul new friend Jahb, but she has to talk to some more people who know him. But the other people who know him that she already talked to said that things look good and we should hear about that by the end of this week.

ANYWAY, ON TO THE IMPORTANT STUFF, NAMELY ME.

If you are new to my blog you may not know this, but I am the original man cat and I invented Man Cat Monday. I thought it would be a good way for man cats around the innernets to be manly, and also to get pointers from me on how to be a big man cat. So if you are participating in Man Cat Monday today, leave me a comment and let me know so I can come check you out.

Here is me for Man Cat Monday:


Watching the cat TV. Note how I totally ignore my Person and the camera. That is because I am too busy watching the cat TV to pay any attention to her. This is very manly.


Exploring the 'partment. I always look around for foods or other cats or vishus things that could get me or my Person. This is obviously very manly.


Showing off my ear hair and my whisker humps. Both manly.

Happy man cat Monday, innernets! I hope your day is manly. Let me know if you are participating!

My bachelor weekend

My Person is leaving today to meet her potenshul new friend Jahb, and she is taking Mac the mancat computer with her, so I won't be able to blog while she is gone (did she ask me if this was okay? No. No she did not). Sophie is going to the VETS while my Person is gone and Henry, the rabbit we live with, is at bunny camp, so I have the whole 'partment to myself. I can't decide what I will do. Maybe open a cigar bar or have some ladies over.


Decisions are exhausting.

Anyway, I wanted to let all of you know that my sister ate all of her foods while she was home AND she pooped! She did not each much breakfast yesterday, but my Person figured out a little later that it's because Sophie does NOT like cold foods. (I tried to explain that FOODS IS FOODS, KID, but she did not care.)

While she is at the VETS they will give her a lot of digestive tests, and just between you and me, innernets, I don't know how that's going to go, because I don't know how smart Sophie's digestives are. One of those tests is supposed to tell us if she has pancreeya-tytus, so we should know by the time my Person gets back! So if you could keep the purrs coming that would be great.

Let me know if anyone wants to come over while my Person is gone. I have two litterboxes all to myself and a big bed to sleep on and a whole WALL of cat TVs! Otherwise I will talk to you in a few days, innernets!