Grandfather Kitty, Love of my Life

by Coye Hadorn
(Largo, FL 33771. USA)

My first tuxedo cat was from New York, adopted from a shelter when I lived in Connecticut. He was aptly named Kitty since he was so small and young, but as he matured he became very smart and would walk with me sans leash, following me for 30 minutes or more around my neighborhood. On occasion a fellow walker would remark, "There's a big cat following you!" As if I didn't know. I just smiled. At his largest, he grew to 16 pounds when he was 16 years old, but he had lots of good times left! His vet assured me, "No, Kitty does not need to lose weight, he's just fine." Later on as I grew older, so did he, and our family began calling him "Grandfather," although he was neutered and had never reproduced.

I love to travel and ultimately he learned to love that too, and he became quite a cosmopolitan, widely-traveled kitty who learned to look both ways before venturing to cross our quiet street in Florida. By that time he had lived in 3 states and had learned to kiss family members on demand (most of the time). We also took him with us to live on a farm in Tennessee and that was his favorite home, but not mine! I was a city girl although I loved to camp out from time to time, in the mountains of North Carolina, and "Grandfather" loved that too, so much that he was too friendly to all the other campers and one family actually tried to "steal" him away from us! I wouldn't have believed it unless I had seen it.

One day he decided to go to school with my Uncle, and there I was, worried to frenzy, searching for him when I got a phone call that "Kitty" was fine and hanging out in English class with the children. Then one evening he decided to go dancing with my parents, but they did not realize it until they heard "meow" as they were entering the building. Since he had no appropriate dance partner they cut short their evening out! And my wonderful Mom and Dad still remember the time Kitty broke into their house when my Mom had tried to keep him in the garage one night (allergies you know) when I was away on a trip. Somehow he had jumped up on a 6-foot high open window, pulled the screen loose and stealthily jumped on their bed, to which my Dad (who had been sleeping soundly) was startled from his dream and called out, "Help, something heavy just landed on the bed!"

Grandfather Kitty lived on and gave us much laughter, joy, & love, and died naturally, on my screened-in porch, lying dreamily in a beam of sunlight as he moved on to a better world at the age of 22. I still get chills & sometimes tears when I look back, but mostly fond memories for the love of my life. Since then I've adopted two more tuxedo cats, but that's another story or two.

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Mar 14, 2011
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Grandfather Kitty -- One Special Fellow!
by: Jean In Tennessee

I LOVED you story of Grandfather Kitty! His fondness for social gatherings reminded me of the story by James Herriott ("All Creatures Great and Small")about a stray cat he and his wife rescued and named Oscar. Oscar loved to go to the village gatherings and became a regular at the Women's Institute meetings in their little English village of the 1930s!

Obviously you were blessed to have him in your life and your family for all those years and he was as blessed to have you! Great memories, great stories! Thank you so much for sharing.

Mar 12, 2011
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From Granna with Love: Smart, Elegant, Polite
by: Sarah

I kept Kitty once while my daughter vacationed. An animated crowd of visitors were enjoying lunch with me when I felt a soft "tap, tap, tap" on the back of my chair. Turning around, I saw his big, beautiful, golden eyes staring intently, with just a touch of "please." I said, "Oh . . . Hi Kitty, do you want food?" Pausing briefly, he pranced elegantly to the front door. By this time every guest had stopped talking and was admiring Kitty's glistening coat of nearly perfect black & white markings. He stood still, patiently. (Come on, Granna, how obvious can I be?) As I opened the door he thanked me with one long, sweet "meow." Smart, elegant, and polite, too, a true tuxedo dream! I'm the Mom of Grandfather Kitty's mother (uh, owner) and I can verify that my daughter's father never cared much at all for cats, until Kitty came along. Kitty shared curiosity, joy and love, and will always be remembered as a special part of our family. God bless all you animal lovers out there.

Mar 12, 2011
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Would He Answer Back?
by: Ken

What a wonderfully cute tale! Sounds like Grandfather Kitty was much loved and loved right back. You can see from the writer's words that Kitty was a unique member of that family, and if you asked him, he might have even answered! Love and best wishes to all you cat lovers out there.

Mar 11, 2011
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A long, wonderful life
by: Claudia - Admin

Hi Coye,

I enjoyed reading the story of Kitty (aka Grandfather). I especially enjoyed the part about him walking on the street with you. What a fun cat! You have so many wonderful memories to remember him by.

My cat Max is almost 13 years old and I wish he lives as long as Kitty did. Thank you for sharing!

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