Could have been...

a Farm Cat?

Maybe, but almost 14 years ago when this little fuzzy kitkat came into our life and made a place in our hearts we did not have a farm.

The one reason that we got him at all was because at the time Mr. Decaf joined us as I was going through chemotherapy for an Anaplastic Astrocytoma - the fancy scientific term for badass brain tumor and I wanted another cat.

We even had a name for him long before he came to us. One afternoon we were at Starbucks with some friends and we were going through the menu and commenting what coffee drink names would make a good pet name...you know - mocha, latte...frappaccino. Naaah...then I said DECAF! Oh yeah...that was it! Since I had a name and I wanted another cat we just needed to figure out where the cat or cat baby would come from.

Fortunately for us, our good friends wanted to let one of their cats get preggers and have babies. Score! The only thing that I was insistent on was that the kitten needed to be a boy. Later in the year there were kittens and ONE boy! Oh yeah...there we go!!

It was several weeks until all the kittens were weaned and we brought Decaf home on New Year's Eve (2004).

Since then he had been the best cat...EVER! Once we introduced Riley to him, Decaf decided that Riley would be easy to dominate. And boy did he ever. Constantly attacking the big orange puff ball. That lasted for a little while, they eventually were able to coexist - although I don't think that Riley truly accepted having to share his home with an unruly younger "brother."

Here we are thirteen and a half years later. This week we thought that he was just suffering from another UTI - granted it had been quite a while since his last infection. He started meowing and howling not long after and Tom was able to get him into the doc this morning. The doctor determined that it didn't look good for Decaf and he would not have much time left. The bottom line - his kidneys had shut down. At that point it was a no brainer - to not let him suffer anymore than he already had.

I am heartbroken because of the joy that our little buddy brought to everyday life, even with all of the pippish things that he would do like barf now and then and pee and poo far away from his litter box.

Overall, he was the most fun cat we could have ever hoped for and was quite the little clown. He had favorite things, his most favorite was a blanket that Tom has had since forever and it was ratty and had holes in it. It had the perfect texture that made it fun for playing while on the couch on his bed etc. He also especially loved playing with his feather toys while that blanket was out. He was also quite fond of paper - he would chew on whatever newspaper we might have been reading and tear it to bits. When Tom would get the fireplace ready for a fire Decaf would help out by charging the paper that was sitting on the floor and try to get underneath it. 

We have so many more memories of this little dude. Memories that definitely bring a smile while we feel so low. I will definitely miss every little thing about Mr. Decaf, but feel fortunate that we got to be his "parents."