Preface: This blog originated when we first moved to Colorado in 2006 as a way to communicate our new adventures to our friends back home in Michigan, and others in faraway places. It was not a business website, it was just a personal blog. It evolved over time to focus mainly on the farm. But every now and then something personal slips through. Such as today.
Schroediger (named after the physicist Schroedinger - but Larry is dyslexic and lost that N)
was the last pet we had that was a pre-farm pet. Schroed was acquired long before Larry met me and moved to Detroit. Schroed was 23 years old.
He was brought home while Larry was in college, just 5 weeks old and away from his mom too soon, he was bottle fed, so I hear, by Larry's roommates. As is often the case with cats that are weaned too soon, Schroed liked to knead, and drooled while he did so. Often on us, while we were sleeping. He slept on our heads in warm weather, and under the covers in our bed in cold weather. He was a feisty little dude when I met him, and stories were that he was a heckuva hunter in his days.
When Larry moved into my house with his two dogs and Schroed, my Akita thought we bought him the best little toy in the world, and just wanted to hold onto him forever. That poor cat. He outlived all the rest of our pre-marriage pets, and had a dandy little life on the farm. He used to spend quite a bit of time outside, not sure if he ever really hunted here on the farm. At one point, after Boo died, we tried living with just him. (Mind you, I am thoroughly allergic to cats, and am on prescription allergy and asthma medicine thanks to our feline crew). The house was overrun with mice, so we've had a rotating crew of cats ever since.
It's always hard to say goodbye, and even sometimes hard to make the decision. Schroed had a pretty good life, and lived well past what we thought he would. We took as good care of him as he would let us, and was eating canned food for the last several months, and rarely left the bed, unless there was a nice fire going downstairs. He could usually be found in front of the fire, or on our bed. He blended right into our black comforter, so you had to be careful sitting down! He had lost a lot of weight, and just didn't seem happy anymore. Age was taking its toll on him. His last few days he was eating salmon, and sharing his canned food with Sally, who was recovering from surgery. It's never easy to say goodbye. Larry had this cat for more than half of his life. Even though Shannon is no stranger to saying goodbyes, this might have been the first time it really impacted her. She's been pretty sad. Schroed is resting over near Athena and Nina (and Otter, our cow). Hopefully there is a big bed waiting for him, and Hobbes is there to give him hugs, and Grish and Athena have welcomed him home. It's going to be crowded up there by the time we get there, if there is a "there". If there is, I'll be thrilled to see them all again someday.