Goodbye Bashir
Oct. 6th, 2015 12:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jephmatYesterday morning my large tabby cat Bashir passed on when he was struck and killed by a car.
Bashir was more like a dog than a cat. Nine times out of ten, when I drove up to the house, he would come running up to greet me, meowing loudly. Sometimes he would jump into the car, and you could actually close the door and drive around the block and he would look out of the window like a dog. He loved to go for car rides. (Which made taking him to the vet much easier!) Sometimes I would see him a block or two from the house when I was driving home, and I would stop and he'd jump in the car and I'd drive him home.
I refered to him as my "genetically attached" cat. He would follow me around the yard when I was gardening. If I went from the front yard to the back yard he'd follow me and just sit nearby while I was raking leaves or cutting ivy, as if he were supervising. He slept with me in my bed almost every night. He would bother me when I was at the desk, when I was working, when I was playing video games, when I was writing. Whenever I got on the floor to do leg exercises or foam roll, he'd run up and headbonk me and try to play with me.
Oftentimes it could be annoying, getting headbonked at 2 AM, or having a cat nose in your face when you were trying to debug a program. The thing was, he was always around. My other cat Jadzia is oftentimes aloof. She hardly ever sleeps on my bed, she never ran up to me when I drove up, or when I got down on the floor for foam rolling. Sometimes she follows me around the yard, and occasionally she will ask for pettings or to play. (She loves the red dot.) But she wasn't around nearly as much as Bashir.
As much as he stuck beside me Bashir was also a wanderer. He wandered all over the neighborhood. In a way it's not surprising that he met his end this way. I always knew it was a possibility. He was sometimes reckless about crossing the street, and I would holler at him and chase him back onto the sidewalk. He was much more of a wanderer when he was younger, going all over the neighborhood. In his older age he stuck to home much more often, and I assumed he had it figured out, how to move around the neighborhood and stay out of danger. I assumed, after awhile, that he really would live to a ripe old kitty age. I thought we had at least five more years together before age started catching up to him, and probably not even then. At ten years old he was still very healthy and robust and active. Usually he stuck to the quiet side streets when he did stray from the house, such as the one I live on, but his body was found on a main street, a very busy street not too far from my house, where he rarely ventured. Animal services, who picked him up, were able to find us because of his mirochip.
I once wondered aloud on my Facebook, "Why must my cat love me so?" (In reference to his always sticking by me and harrassing me.) Yeah, this seems like a big deal for a cat, but like I said, he was more like a dog than a cat. For more than ten years, he was a part of my everyday life at home.
Last night I spent the night at a friend's house. This morning I droppped him off at the vets, so he can be cremated. I gave him one last kiss and one last scritch in the front yard before I took him into the car, because that's one of the places where we spent so much time.
So tonight I will sleep in a cold and empty bed, without a big tabby cat keeping me warm. So many things around this house remind me of him: Getting down on the floor to exercise or foam roll, gardening in the yard, working or playing on the computer, or just even driving up to the house; All of those regular, everday and routine things I do remind me of him. Call me a crazy cat man if you must, but this pet's passing has affected me more than any other previous pet's departure. I've lost cats and dogs before, but this one is the toughest loss.
Goodbye Bashir. You were a big strong cat full of unconditional love, affection, and loyalty. My life just got a lot more cold and lonely.
Bashir was more like a dog than a cat. Nine times out of ten, when I drove up to the house, he would come running up to greet me, meowing loudly. Sometimes he would jump into the car, and you could actually close the door and drive around the block and he would look out of the window like a dog. He loved to go for car rides. (Which made taking him to the vet much easier!) Sometimes I would see him a block or two from the house when I was driving home, and I would stop and he'd jump in the car and I'd drive him home.
I refered to him as my "genetically attached" cat. He would follow me around the yard when I was gardening. If I went from the front yard to the back yard he'd follow me and just sit nearby while I was raking leaves or cutting ivy, as if he were supervising. He slept with me in my bed almost every night. He would bother me when I was at the desk, when I was working, when I was playing video games, when I was writing. Whenever I got on the floor to do leg exercises or foam roll, he'd run up and headbonk me and try to play with me.
Oftentimes it could be annoying, getting headbonked at 2 AM, or having a cat nose in your face when you were trying to debug a program. The thing was, he was always around. My other cat Jadzia is oftentimes aloof. She hardly ever sleeps on my bed, she never ran up to me when I drove up, or when I got down on the floor for foam rolling. Sometimes she follows me around the yard, and occasionally she will ask for pettings or to play. (She loves the red dot.) But she wasn't around nearly as much as Bashir.
As much as he stuck beside me Bashir was also a wanderer. He wandered all over the neighborhood. In a way it's not surprising that he met his end this way. I always knew it was a possibility. He was sometimes reckless about crossing the street, and I would holler at him and chase him back onto the sidewalk. He was much more of a wanderer when he was younger, going all over the neighborhood. In his older age he stuck to home much more often, and I assumed he had it figured out, how to move around the neighborhood and stay out of danger. I assumed, after awhile, that he really would live to a ripe old kitty age. I thought we had at least five more years together before age started catching up to him, and probably not even then. At ten years old he was still very healthy and robust and active. Usually he stuck to the quiet side streets when he did stray from the house, such as the one I live on, but his body was found on a main street, a very busy street not too far from my house, where he rarely ventured. Animal services, who picked him up, were able to find us because of his mirochip.
I once wondered aloud on my Facebook, "Why must my cat love me so?" (In reference to his always sticking by me and harrassing me.) Yeah, this seems like a big deal for a cat, but like I said, he was more like a dog than a cat. For more than ten years, he was a part of my everyday life at home.
Last night I spent the night at a friend's house. This morning I droppped him off at the vets, so he can be cremated. I gave him one last kiss and one last scritch in the front yard before I took him into the car, because that's one of the places where we spent so much time.
So tonight I will sleep in a cold and empty bed, without a big tabby cat keeping me warm. So many things around this house remind me of him: Getting down on the floor to exercise or foam roll, gardening in the yard, working or playing on the computer, or just even driving up to the house; All of those regular, everday and routine things I do remind me of him. Call me a crazy cat man if you must, but this pet's passing has affected me more than any other previous pet's departure. I've lost cats and dogs before, but this one is the toughest loss.
Goodbye Bashir. You were a big strong cat full of unconditional love, affection, and loyalty. My life just got a lot more cold and lonely.
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no subject
Date: 2015-10-06 08:00 pm (UTC)I'm so sorry for your loss.
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Date: 2015-10-06 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2015-10-06 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-07 09:38 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2015-10-07 01:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-07 03:22 am (UTC)I truly understand how you feel, as I had a similar experience with my Spencer (in icon). I had such a close relationship with him, and I miss him so much almost 10 years later.
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Date: 2015-10-07 03:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-07 05:20 pm (UTC)I'm so sorry for your loss. :( Bashir really must have been a wonderful cat.
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Date: 2015-10-07 09:40 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2015-10-13 11:17 am (UTC)