9 Lives

It's a little known fact that cats have nine lives. Today was a sad day.  Montana, my eldest cat at 17 years had to be euthanized.  He was old and did his best to hang on. I shed many tears and brought him to the vet by myself feeling guilty for not having put him out of his pain sooner.

Montana may have not lived a rough nine lives outside as he enjoyed the comfy indoor pampered feline life.  However, Montana lived his nine lives in a different manner.  Montana was older than my children. He was a trooper. He survived through five dogs, two cats and two kids. Montana lived a different kind of nine lives.

He was always the smallest pet in size but took no shit.  It's like the others knew he was the oldest and regardless of his small size and lack of front claws, they would give him the respect he deserved. If he was at the food dish, the other cats would wait until he was finished.  If he was on the bed, the dogs needed to sleep elsewhere on the bed because he was not moving. He did not play with cat toys except for the elusive 'cat dancer' and he was a victim of cat nip.

Montana did not desire a great deal of attention, unlike his fur kid siblings, but when he requested your attention, one had to step up and stroke his ego.  He would test his toughness by sneaking outside on a rare occasion only to hunker down next to the house for a few days realizing his life indoors wasn't so bad after all. I may have found Montana in the mountains but he certainly wasn't one to retreat back to his roots permanently.

In general, I have found people are either a 'cat person' or not.  There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. I've had cats my entire life.  They are fierce independent creatures who demand what they want,  when they want it and on the terms they dictate. Yet, they snuggle and seek you out when they know you are not at your best.  They are the rulers of the house.  Montana actually taught one of my dogs to clean himself like a cat. So whenever I see Gus licking his paw and swiping it over his ear, I will think of Montana.

Domestic cats are sneaky contortionists with amazing balance and a sixth sense.  They are the fiercest hunters in the animal kingdom hunting about 1000 different types of prey. Montana never let me down as he caught his fair share of mice in my home even in his older years. You can take the cat out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the cat.

Montana was loved and he will be missed. Rest in Peace my friend.