By Angelia Lawrence submitted via email
All of our cats, indeed most of our pets, have been rescues. We have had some wonderful companions. We currently have three dogs, two cats, and one bunny. However, no shade or less love to our current fur babies, Linus was the greatest cat I ever had.
My son had been wanting a kitten and I had always said no because of allergies if their dad visited. One day we were at a local pet store and a cat for adoption really responded to the kids and their dad was amenable so I changed my stance and we applied but someone else got that cat first. My son was in tears so we had to find a cat.
We headed to a nearby shelter where we had gotten our dogs. My daughter and her dad went cage to cage and soon found the cat that wanted the least amount of interaction with people and declared it to be the one for us. I was the only person, including staff, that could get Spunky out of her cage. She is still with us.
I had gone into the cat playroom with my son at sat down. There was a hugely overweight cat named Awesomesauce who growled at us but immediately a grey male cat with white mittens made a beeline for me, jumped into my lap, laid his head on my shoulder and his front paws next to my neck. He began purring in that instant. I told the children, “This is the cat you want. He wants to be loved and petted.” So, of course, we ended up with two cats.
While my daughter harassed Spunky trying to get her to be more sociable, Linus laid on the back of our couch. He was lethargic and his nose was running. He developed a really high fever and we rushed him to the after hours vet when he had been with us less than four days. He had a terrible respiratory infection but we were able to get it cleared up.
We noticed that he couldn’t retract his claws on his front legs. His ankles were misshapen and you could feel that the bones had been crushed at some point. His gait was a bit strange and he was much taller in his back half. I called the shelter to inquire if they knew what had happened to him but they had not even noticed during their routine exam.
Nevertheless, Linus remained a cuddle bug. Then one day, our dogs got into a tussle. We had one dog that was a Shih Tzu/terrier mix and another that is a boxer/lab mix. I was yelling at them to stop when out of the corner of my eye I see Linus lurch himself from his resting position into the air and across the living room to land on the back of our larger dog and sink his claws into him. The fight ended.
We were all amazed. The flight path was unbelievable on its face. Linus had been asleep. He had flown something like six feet through the air. This was the cat everyone else called lazy!
This was not the only time that Linus would exhibit this behavior. Anytime there was an altercation between pets, Linus would pounce onto the back of the aggressor and end the mayhem. He was SuperCat!
His purring and hugs were so good for my stress and anxiety as well. He did one more thing that was truly amazing to us. I suffer from chronic migraine. Linus would wrap himself around my head.
I loved him so much. I think he knew. When he was ready to go, he disappeared outside. I think he knew I would not have handled losing him very well. I miss him every day and I don’t think I will ever meet another cat that is as special as Linus the Great!
By Angelia Lawrence
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