Rory, Cat, Requiescat in Pace

Rorschach (Rory) b. ca. January, 1991 d. August 27, 2007 A Faithful Feline Forever.

On the twenty-seventh day of August, 2007, at four hours past noon, our cat Rory died of heart failure. He was nearly 17 years old. Rory is survived by his companions in feline mischief Emily and Apostrophe, and by Michelle and I, his faithful staff.

Rory (short for Rorschach) was born to an unknown mother cat sometime during the winter of 1990-1991. When he wandered into Shal and Annette's yard that spring, he was estimated to be only about three months old. Rory came to live with Michelle and I within a few days. He came to us with a clean bill of health and his first round of kitten vaccinations thanks to Annette and Dr. Sylvia Domotor. Dr. Domotor has been his first choice of veterinarian for his entire life, and she was with him when he died. We named him Rorschach because the tabby patch on his body was shaped like a perfect ink blot. He quickly became Rory for day-to-day usage, at least partly out of an urge not to have to spell Rorschach all the time.

As a young cat in our condo, he amused us by following us everywhere, sitting on my shoulder, and sleeping curled up tightly in my armpit. That first spring he was too small to climb the stairs easily, but stubbornly managed them one step at a time anyway.

When we moved the following winter to our current house, naturally he came along. We weren't too worried about the relocation because he had never been allowed to be outside unsupervised. The move itself was uneventful, and with one minor exception he immediately took over the new, larger, space.

His first experience with ceiling fans unfortunately coincided with his first experience with large expanses of linoleum flooring. The new house came with a ceiling fan in the dining room, and linoleum over the entire dining and kitchen spaces. On his first exploration of the house, he was uncertain about the cold flooring. About the second time he wandered into the dining room someone had turned the fan on. He got out into the center of the floor, then realized something was wrong. Hunkered down, he scanned the room for the threat, saw the large, moving fan blades, and panicked. At that point, he learned that it is not easy to accelerate from a standstill on clean linoleum....

Once we were all well established in the house, Emily wandered onto our doorstep. When she and Rory touched noses through the screen door, we decided that it might be safe to capture her and add her to the family. After she got a quick visit to Dr. Domotor, we solved the often thorny problem of introducing the second cat to the house by leaving on vacation for two weeks. When we returned, neither cat was speaking to us, but they were fast friends and remained so to the end. For his last weeks at home, Emily was helping to clean Rory up after syringe feedings, and generally grooming him in his last few days.

Our third cat, Apostrophe, was also a stray. We watched him grow up from a clumsy kitten barely able to walk without tumbling, into a lanky, amiable klutz. He argued persistently for months that there was room for at least one more cat inside, and we finally relented and moved him indoors full time after the second trip to a kitty ER to have punctures on his backside cleaned out. Rory took the addition of a third in stride, and in time they too became fast companions.

So, Rory, requiescat in pace. You touched many lives, and are missed by all who knew you.

And Now, in Cat News

I haven't written much in this space before about the cats that actually own my house and run my life. That is mostly because I have been more interested in technical topics or entertainment. The existence of cats and that they are in charge was generally not germane to either of those topics.

Lately, our oldest cat Rory (short for Rorschach for the perfect ink blot mark folded along his spine) has himself become the source of technical musing. He went lame, and the lameness developed into mild paralysis of his hindquarters. Concern for his health resulted in a trip to the vet, where attempts to cure the immediate problem revealed deeper problems and resulted in a lengthily stay. He returned home for a week, but has had further difficulties and had to return to professional care.

Because of these difficulties, we have had the opportunity to see more of the inside of a well-run veterinary hospital than we ever had before.

Some background might help here. All of our cats have been seeing the same vet since they were found and adopted. All three were originally strays that volunteered for the strenuous post of indoor cat with a small household staff to keep in order. Their vet is Dr. Sylvia Domotor who now operates Dr. Domotor's Animal House in Monrovia employing several other vets and a sizable staff. She has been their vet since well before she founded her own practice. The cats remained her patients because we have always approved of her handling of them. For that matter, we have had nothing but good experiences with all of her other vets and with the rest of her staff.

And as we go through these difficult times with Rory's health, we are touched again and again by their kindness and professionalism.