Peter
1987 to Sept. 8, 2003
My mother passed away in 1991 and my step-father followed her two years later in 1993. I inherited his four cats and my nephew who had been living with them when my mother died. I brought Sam (Samantha), Casey, Satin and Peter to live with my six cats.
I merged two cat households with two dominant queens. It seemed like a recipe for disaster. My house wasn't that large and I wasn't sure just what would happen. I moved the cats 100 miles from Sacramento to Reno. I moved them from a flea infested area to an area with no fleas! No scratching! I gave Peter a tranquilizer because of all of them he was the most skittish. Sam loved to ride in the car, she used to ride on my mom's shoulder around town, so she was the easiest to move. The others settled down and the two hour trip was pretty uneventful. Unfortunately Peter's pill didn't work until he was at the new house and it was kind of comical to watch him stagger around. I braced myself for war, but there was only hissing and growls, war never broke out.
Moving day arrived. My Dad and Step-Mother had come over to help. I moved everything except the bedroom and the cats. On that day I packed up five of the cats into boxes and headed for the new house. I had a bedroom set aside and we put their litter boxes and their food and their toys into the room and closed the door. I went back to the old house for the last five cats and the move was complete. I didn't have any trouble moving them and they hid in the closet of the extra bedroom for a couple of days. Eventually they started making short forays out into the new world. After my Dad and Mother went home the cats started venturing out further and further and staying out longer and longer. I had found a house with a long hallway and huge windows that looked over the back yard. At night they would race up and down the hall, making a terrible racket.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
And now the big question is: When the next to the last cat (either Satin or Peter) is gone what do I do? I would love to completely clean house, pull out all the furniture and vacuum everywhere!!! I have lived with cat hair since I was 13 years old and I don't know what it would be like. I could do that if I waited until the last cat was gone too. I would clean everything then go cat hunting. (I can't imagine not having at least 2 cats in my life.) I could take a long vacation and not have to worry about what was happening at home. I think a lot will depend on the last cat. If that cat can't be alone I will probably go searching for a companion to keep the older one company. At least that would be the plan. I would hate for the new cat to cause trouble for the last cat, but whenever you bring in a new cat there is usually some kind of stress! If the last cat does fine alone I won't worry about him and just wait it all out.
Well, in September 2003 I knew I couldn't let him suffer anymore and Peter went to the Rainbow Bridge. I kept my hand on his side while he went quietly. He is happy and at peace, well and playing with all the others.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Well, Satin has been alone for quite awhile now and he loves being a single cat. He is 20 years old now and awfully frail. I would be way to concerned that a younger cat would accidentally hurt him and so I made the decision to keep him an only cat until his time is through.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~