Due to a recent medical condition I’ve been sent home from the military. Since I’ve been back, my cat passed away.

Henry Sauer
25 June 1995 ~ 13 Jul 2009

Henry is dead. Long live Henry.

When I returned to my home in Dayton from my station at Ft. Dix, Henry seemed perfectly fine. He wasn’t quite so energetic as he used to be several years ago, but he never had any problems getting around or jumping up on the bed or other furniture. He still ran around the house from time to time, and regularly grabbed a hold of one of his toys and batted it about. He showed no sign of illness or injury. He was very content.

On Monday, 13 June, I laid down to take a nap. Henry jumped up onto the bed beside me. I reached over and wrapped my arm around him and squeezed him, kissed him on the forehead and then petted him while telling him how much I loved him. I gave him one last kiss before rolling over onto my other side to take my nap. Henry hopped down from the bed and left the room as I drifted off to sleep.

Later when I awoke I went out to the kitchen to get something to eat. For some reason I didn’t even notice that Henry hadn’t bothered to come around as I ate my meal. When I was finished I went back to my bedroom to gather my laundry and that’s when I found him.

There, laying on the floor at the foot of the bed was my best buddy of 14 years. At first I thought he was just sleeping, but then I saw that his eyes were open and a ball of mucus was hanging from his nose. The horror immediately fell upon me, and when I reached down to touch him it was compounded by what I felt. He was so rigid and firm. He was quite simply… dead.

Henry was an orange mackerel tabby of 14 years. He liked to eat, sleep, and shit. His remains were cremated and now sit on the nightstand beside my bed. I miss him dearly.

~~~

Though I had thought about it from time to time, I really didn’t know how I was going to react to Henry’s passing. I thought perhaps I would get a dog, or just be grateful that I was finally free from having to care for a pet. Circumstances drove me to take a path that I did not anticipate.

Hobbies: Eating, playing, shitting, sleeping.

No one else seemed too surprised that I got another kitten. Not to sound too shallow, but this kitten is simply an analogue in Henry’s absence.  While he is also an orange tabby, this kitten is not Henry. His personality is completely different, and his purpose was simply to help me eliminate Henry’s lingering ghost.

These toys are amazing!

It’s not official yet, but I’m thinking about naming this one “Alex”. Quite frankly I don’t think it matters what I name this one. He doesn’t understand the abstract concept. In contrast, Henry knew his name the moment I spoke it, and he would generally come or at least poke his head out when called.

So “Alex” has his first vet appointment coming up on Monday. It seems he has a bit of a persistent discharge building up on his eyes while he sleeps. It’s probably just a mild eye infection, but it’s best to have him properly evaluated.

He’s smart and catching on to the household routines quickly. He’s cute and furry, energetic and playful, fearlessly curious, and a level 4 bio-hazard when he farts. He’d make a good candidate for “Caturday” captioning, and he just inherited a first class ticket to easy street.