Beeth-oven lovingly

To those I adore,

My very first pet Beethoven has died. As many of you know he became diabetic a few years ago. Well the disease eventually ate away at him so bad he could not walk in a straight line let alone have the energy to perform basic survival instincts such as eating. My father after one rough night brought him to the vet and put him down.

This happened a few days ago, and I have been trying to think of a way to honor my best friend for 15 years without sounding too much like a cheeseball. It comes down to the very fact that I cannot. So where to start, as always it is best in the beginning.

When we first moved to The Dalles it was the first time in my life where I had had to leave something I loved. I really loved Tillamook, I had a great childhood there and made a lot of good friends. So it was very tough on me and I think my parents saw the toll it took on me. I had a hard time making friends in The Dalles and after asking for a pet a thousand times my parents decided to let me get a cat. I can't recollect exactly where we went to get him, all I can remember is that we searched the papers and found an add for free kittens. We went to the place and immediately I saw him and chose him. I remember how very small he was and the entire ride home I couldn't take my eyes off of him, I couldn't believe I actually got an animal of my own. In the car I decided to name him Beeth Oven, but eventually everyone thought that was a silly name and it turned into Beethoven.

We were best of friends from the beginning. He slept on my bed with me most nights. He used to liek to curl up by my neck or in my armpit. ALways he was a very playful kitty when you wanted him to be unlike most cats who are extremely moody and tempermental. Beethoven was far from this. If you wanted to just pet him he would love every second of it because it was his favorite thing in the world to have human contact. When you wanted to play with him all you had to do was get a piece of string or let him drag on your foot.

During his early years he was an attack cat, because he would hide out of site and come from nowhere and attack your feet which always got my dad. I remember when my mom was canning cherries he decided to climb up her, oh the noises were so funny.

Eventually after a few weeks a new kitty came into our family and her name was Pebbles and she was Rob's cat. Beethoven of course was very curious of her, but at first she did not want anything to do with him. Eventually they became best of friends and were inseperable. With the introduction of a male kitty and female kitty we decided it best to get them fixed and declawed.

Gradually with several years passing Beethoven elevated from attack cat to fat cat. For many of you who knew him you knew why. At one point Beethoven got so fat that his stomach dragged on the ground when he walked and he had a tiny bald spot where the hair rubbed off. But he was my fat cat and I loved him. I used to through him on my shoulder where he would just hang out and I could walk around with him like a baby and he didn't mind at all.

Due to some unforseen event the cat's started to spray, I think it was the start of their geriatric days. So we moved the cats to outside. They did pretty well but anyone could tell they were raised as indoor cats since they hardly left the porch, especially Beethoven. There were several memorable moments of them being outside. My mother had one inparticular, I will try to transpose this second hand story to the best of my abilities.

One day my mother was outside doing some gardening and two elderly ladies walked by and were looking at this cat who appeared dead on his back with paws up in the air. They were remarking on how sad it was when all of the sudden the cat moved and the women screamed in suprise. Of course you know who that cat was it was Beethoven sleeping. Most cats do not lay flat on their spines because it pains them for prolonged periods of time but Beethoven was so fat this was the most comfortable for him and he knew he looked cute so he did it. Another one of my favorite stories is when he was still a kitten and fell into the bathtub with my mom, but that one you can imagine yourself.

Now back to his life. After several years of being an outdoor cat he finally started to get brave and explore our immediate neighboors. Somehow a dog (the neighbors below our house I believe) mauled him. He was missing for several days when my father finally found him in the neighbors bush hiding. My father knew something had happened and was carrying him back to the house petting him and noticed maggots in his fur. Beethoven had been bitten and there was a deep wide wound near the rear part of his spine. Dad cleaned out the maggots and saw the extent of the damage and took him to the vet. The vet said there was little chance of him being able to recover due to the severity of the damage. He stayed in the batthroom so that our dog would not bother him and so he would have a safe place. I remember visiting him in there and praying that he would live. I knew Pebbles missed him because she was at the back door meowing for several weeks while he was recovering. He did pull through after several scary weeks.

Awhile after he healed up we put him back outside where he now only left the porch to go to the bathroom or visit someone who was doing yardwork. He gained a lot of weight and got to the point where his belly dragged across the ground. A few months later he started to lose it and fast. It turned out he had diabetes. Luckily he was pretty fat so it took him a long time to get really skinny. We decided that if he ever got to the point he was in too much pain we would put him down. That finally happened a few days ago. He was only about 3 pounds, mostly bones and lose skin. Over Christmas I spent time with him, and said my goodbye to him I knew I would not be seeing him again and hoping that it was not true. Unfortunately I will not see him again.

Goodbye Beethoven, you were my friend.

Love,
Rick

To leave you with a quote:
"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow."
~Jeff Valdez

P.S. Sorry I do not have pictures.