The magic of T.C "Top cat" by lynda schollins

The magic of T.C "Top cat"

by lynda schollins

T.C,was one special cat. He came to us, when we lost our sweet Mindy. Mindy died unexpectedly, Here is her story. She was adopted from a litter that was born in A Congolian floor plant. The workers refered to the litter as the congo cats. All of the kittens found homes including the mom, and my boyfriend took the black and white tuxedo kitten and called her Mindy.He had Mindy long before he met me, I came into her life quite some time later, when I met BoB. Eventu ally we moved in together, and I joined their household. Mindy was not crazy about the idea, and at first mearly tolerated me. She was her daddy's girl. As time went on, she accepted me in her own way. her way was the only way, and there were no other options. She would only let me get close when she wanted me to, she made it clear, that I was not her first choice for companinship. We developed a mutual understanding between us, that daddy was # 1 in her world. As the years passed, she mellowed, but believe me, before that time came, we had our moments. One day she liked me, and the next day she wanted me to be gone ,Pronto!! She was the boss. When the day came to say our good-byes we never knew it. Bob took her to the vet because she was coughing. They checked her out and said she was ok, and that we could pick her up in the morning. We turned our answering machine off knowing all was well and went to sleep. In the morning we got up and got ready to go and get her, and bring her home.What we found was that Mindy had died sometime during the night. They tried to contact us, but we had, you guessed it, turned off the damned machine.needless to say, our hearts were ripped out of us that day.We were totally crushed, and vowed to each other, that there would never be another.... We walked around in sadness for months on end. We finally started to talk about getting another cat because we missed her so. We toured the animal shelters,but just couldn't find that connection that said I'm yours, and your mine, so more time elapsed for us. Enter T.C. He came at a time when we were at our lowest. A friend had called to offer his sympathy, and told us about a kitten his father had found on the side of the road, while driving his bread truck route. He said the kitten had come out of the woods, and he couldn't just leave it there, so he brought it home. He went on to say that his father was allergic to it and couldn't keep it. He asked if he could stop over with the kitten,so we could see it.At first I hesitated,but then I heard myself saying ok. I also told hin that there were no guarantees, and that we didn't want to feel obligated to take his orphan in. He agreed,and then came by. The reason I said that was mostly for Bob, because Mindy was his, long before she was mine. You probably know how the rest of my story goes. He did come by, showed us the kitten, stayed for about a 1/2 hour and said he had to go. We told him he could go, and the kitten could stay. It was love at first sight with this unique little grey kitten, who grew to be a unique grey cat. the years brought us much happiness, and we were totally devoted to our fur boy. When he was 7yrs old he developed urinary tract problems, and became blocked. The vet said most people would have put their cat down due to the expense of the operation he needed, but we wouldn't hear of this and said we would find the money needed for " Our Buddy " Funny how somethings are meant to be.I received money from a "fender bender,and Bob Hit a small lottery. T.C, which stood for Top Cat, now Became T.C, or total cash!!! We laughed about this for years. T.C had What is called a urithrostomy, and we were able to provide both him, and us another six years plus.All very good years with the ex ception of one more operation for some scar tissue from the first operation. This past month, March 18th to be exact,Our journey together came to an end. T.C was getting up there in years, and the vet said he had an enlarged heart. Again we did everything they told us to do, all the testing done, we waited with baited breath. The results from the plural effusion, thats fluid taken from the chest,were negative, no sign of a cancerous tumor.Bob and I had already made the decision that if it were positive we wouldn't put him through any discomfort that chemo would bring. We breathed a sigh of relief that this was not going to be the case for us, and our very special boy. The vet told us that our boys problem could be managed with medication,and for that we were grateful.We were resigned to the fact that T.C. was getting older and problems were sure to occur. We were not ready to say good-bye, and thought he would remain with us a little longer, with the love and care we had always pledged to provide. Sadly, He left us before we had the chance to again take care of him, and provide . The day he died was catastrophic.It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining, so I asked him if he would like to go outside. This was a daily routine with us. He was trained to a leash as a kitten to enjoy the outdoors with safety in mind. Of course now that he was older, the leash was no longer needed, and he knew what his bounderies were. We went outside for the last time that day. Now he's gone, and a piece of our hearts have gone on with him. He was our joy,and I could tell you story after story about the KING of our house. This house was owned and operated solely for the comfort and convenience of THE CAT!!!! T.C. GET IT????

Comments would be appreciated by the author, lynda schollin