Buster
As you may know, buster_kitten was 18 when I had him put to sleep. What you may not know, is that I adopted him when he was six years old. He came to me, fully grown, with his own odd perks and foibles.
I was working at a retail shop in New Haven. One night, I dreamt of a small kitten drowning in a bathtub full of kittens. The others were dead, and I pulled this one out in a panic. He had a moustache and I was squeezing water out of him, and calling for help, when I woke up.
The next day I went to my retail job, and it was slow, so I was behind the counter writing in my journal. I was writing about my dream when a guy came in and asked if he could put up an adoption sign for his cat. I said sure, and when I looked at the picture, I saw it was the full grown version of the kitten I'd had in my dream. I told the guy I wanted him, right then and there.
Buster had to be top cat. When we lived with a kitten my roomate found, for a while, he would hold the kitten down with one paw, and calmly clean himself while the kitten struggled and tried to get away! Oh, he was clever in those days, and fierce! I saw him shove the kitten inside a room, and then hook his paw around the door to slam it shut one day! I also saw him puzzle out that to get a piece of string out from under a block on a shelf without the block falling, he had to steady the block with a paw while he pulled on the string beneath.
His previous owner had declawed him, but he beat up our landlord's pomeranian anyway. He was 8 then.
In the summer of 2003, he almost died. I was dating midnightstation, and my husband had just left me. buster_kitten stopped going to the bathroom and meowed pitifully. I took him to the vet, and it turned out he had an impacted bowel. Surgery. Then he stopped urinating. Another visit to the hospital. Then a tumor on his tail. "That's it!" I told him. "I'm out of money!" midnightstation helped pay his vet bills. I was touched. Buster lay on him and purred, and midnightstation had a new friend for life.
When I went through my divorce, Buster started sleeping in the crook of my arms. He slept like that with me for years. He only stopped because I got pregnant with Jaeger, and there was no room on the bed for him up by my belly anymore. He relocated to my feet.
Oh, he was cranky towards the end. You'd pet him, and he'd meow at you. It felt like he was yelling at you the entire time! But all the while he'd be purring a deep basso rumble, and drooling like a fiend. Meowing all the while. Visitors never knew what to make of it.
He was a lot of trouble. In his 10th year his regular incontinence issues (peeing on carpets mostly) got noticibly worse. We ended up building a 4 story house for him in the apartment. It's still up. It's 6' tall, and 9' square, and when we finished, he jumped in it immediately. He knew it was for him :) Soon we'll dismantle it, but really is a masterpiece of cat-architecture. I dubbed it "Le Chat-Eau" - "The Cat Water" - in homage to both Frank Lloyd Wright, and the fact that Buster liked to pee on things!
Buster was my dear friend, my dear companion. He was with me longer than any romantic relationship I've ever had. He kept me sane from New Haven, to Cambridge, and home to NYC.
We loved each other dearly. I'm so blessed to have had him in my life. I'm glad he chose me, and I chose him.
Buster's Throne
i had to do it. it was $13 at AJ Wrights. i mean, how could i not?! note Buffy DVD cases at right for scale.
Inside Le Chat Eau
Buster and me cuddling in bed. By midnightstation with my iPhone.
A Girl and Her Cat
A Girl and Her Cat, 2
RIP my sweet companion, my dear friend.
N.
I was working at a retail shop in New Haven. One night, I dreamt of a small kitten drowning in a bathtub full of kittens. The others were dead, and I pulled this one out in a panic. He had a moustache and I was squeezing water out of him, and calling for help, when I woke up.
The next day I went to my retail job, and it was slow, so I was behind the counter writing in my journal. I was writing about my dream when a guy came in and asked if he could put up an adoption sign for his cat. I said sure, and when I looked at the picture, I saw it was the full grown version of the kitten I'd had in my dream. I told the guy I wanted him, right then and there.
Buster had to be top cat. When we lived with a kitten my roomate found, for a while, he would hold the kitten down with one paw, and calmly clean himself while the kitten struggled and tried to get away! Oh, he was clever in those days, and fierce! I saw him shove the kitten inside a room, and then hook his paw around the door to slam it shut one day! I also saw him puzzle out that to get a piece of string out from under a block on a shelf without the block falling, he had to steady the block with a paw while he pulled on the string beneath.
His previous owner had declawed him, but he beat up our landlord's pomeranian anyway. He was 8 then.
In the summer of 2003, he almost died. I was dating midnightstation, and my husband had just left me. buster_kitten stopped going to the bathroom and meowed pitifully. I took him to the vet, and it turned out he had an impacted bowel. Surgery. Then he stopped urinating. Another visit to the hospital. Then a tumor on his tail. "That's it!" I told him. "I'm out of money!" midnightstation helped pay his vet bills. I was touched. Buster lay on him and purred, and midnightstation had a new friend for life.
When I went through my divorce, Buster started sleeping in the crook of my arms. He slept like that with me for years. He only stopped because I got pregnant with Jaeger, and there was no room on the bed for him up by my belly anymore. He relocated to my feet.
Oh, he was cranky towards the end. You'd pet him, and he'd meow at you. It felt like he was yelling at you the entire time! But all the while he'd be purring a deep basso rumble, and drooling like a fiend. Meowing all the while. Visitors never knew what to make of it.
He was a lot of trouble. In his 10th year his regular incontinence issues (peeing on carpets mostly) got noticibly worse. We ended up building a 4 story house for him in the apartment. It's still up. It's 6' tall, and 9' square, and when we finished, he jumped in it immediately. He knew it was for him :) Soon we'll dismantle it, but really is a masterpiece of cat-architecture. I dubbed it "Le Chat-Eau" - "The Cat Water" - in homage to both Frank Lloyd Wright, and the fact that Buster liked to pee on things!
Buster was my dear friend, my dear companion. He was with me longer than any romantic relationship I've ever had. He kept me sane from New Haven, to Cambridge, and home to NYC.
We loved each other dearly. I'm so blessed to have had him in my life. I'm glad he chose me, and I chose him.
Buster's Throne
i had to do it. it was $13 at AJ Wrights. i mean, how could i not?! note Buffy DVD cases at right for scale.
Inside Le Chat Eau
Buster and me cuddling in bed. By midnightstation with my iPhone.
A Girl and Her Cat
A Girl and Her Cat, 2
RIP my sweet companion, my dear friend.
N.