It was only in October that Pippin could still scamper about the house, leap to the window sill and more; at his peak (and he peaked late in life), he showed phenomenal dexterity. Only two months ago, Gina saw him scoot up five stacked crates of my vinyl LPs and climb to top of of the heavy shelves, a foot below the ceiling, as he'd done throughout his life. One of Gina's associates met Pippin over the summer and was astonished that he was eighteen; "I thought he was ten," she confessed.
We have taken great care of our original bunch of five, feeding them quality food free of grains. The mother of the four born in 2003 died first, at seventeen, while the others have gone longer; Pippin's twin, Merry, is still very much alive. Pip may have hassled his sisters, but rarely did he get overly aggressive with Merry and among the cutest sights of my world was seeing them--the survivors--on the bed together, looking at Gina and me.
Pippin had absolutely plush grey fur. He was the only cat who could follow an image on the computer screen and seemed to be listening to Vivaldi's The Four Seasons when we had it on the stereo one day, not leaving the area and enjoying it. We called him "The Butler" because often if we arrived at the house together, he'd be right by the front door, sitting up and greeting us.
Gina and I weren't pleased when Pippin's love pinch gone wrong caused him to bite our finger once in awhile--it never hurt badly but he got called out on it. A table that had been cleared posed an invitation for him to bound up there and investigate the space. And he whined too much in recent times, perhaps due to his growing kidney problems.
It was both haunting and beautiful to be stroking his fur for the last time at the veterinary hospital on December 26th. We were lucky to have three family members at the house on Christmas Day and they all spent time with Pippin--he was surrounded by love. Early on, he became my favorite and I am going to miss him very much.
Gina's coffee cup reads, "one cat short of crazy." Now we're down to one kitty, so we haven't gone crazy. We sure are lonely, though.