We couldn't see this cat. But oh, could we hear him! "Meow...meOW...MEEOW...murrROWWW!"
Finally managing to catch a glimpse of the purveyor of this fine feline vocal artistry, we discovered that it was an orange tabby that appeared to be blind in one eye. He was clearly wary of humans, so we gave him his space, but he continued to serenade us over the next few afternoons.
As our tabby buddy gradually acclimated to our presence, he became comfortable enough to venture from his grassy fort. Strangely enough, the first one he approached was my toddler. Maybe he was less threatening because he was so small? But it struck me as odd because nervous cats are often even more nervous around small children, with their loud noises and unpredictable behavior.
Whatever the reason, my son was the only one who could get close to the cat for a while. He thought this kitty was great! I was less enthusiastic; we had recently lost a cat and I figured taking care of a dog and a small child was enough for me. I was not really all that interested in a new pet at the time.
But we put out food and the cat hung around. Once in a while he would be gone for an afternoon and I assumed that was the end of it, that he had moved on. However, he always showed up again in a day or two.
As often happens in Missouri, meteorologists were predicting a late winter storm. We were pretty concerned about our furry friend, Temperatures were supposed to drop pretty low and it was going to be wet and cold and miserable out there. After much discussion, we decided to bring him inside. We weren't sure how he would react, but we would have felt horrible if we left him out and he froze. (I now am aware of feral shelters, but they weren't on my radar at that time)
We coaxed him to us with some treats; he was familiar enough by now that he had lost most of his wariness, but like most animals he could sense that something was up. Braving the claws, we picked him up - which he took surprisingly well - and hauled him into the house.
Once inside, the cat - predictably - freaked out.
He ran and hid. Then found a new spot to hide. And another. And another. He made it quite clear that he was not at all happy about this new environment. We let him be, allowing him to take his time to adjust. By the time the storm had come and gone, it was clear we had a new pet. Though his outdoor adventures were cut off after he left half a baby bunny on the back porch for the toddler to find.
We didn't give the cat a name. Just called him "kitty." Until about a year later when we picked up another stray and figured we should probably name them both. Since he only had the one good eye, we chose Mike Wazowski over the more obvious "Cyclops."
It turned out to be even more appropriate in December of 2007. He developed glaucoma in his blind eye, so Mike truly became a one-eyed cat.
Since we picked him up out of that cul-de-sac, Mike has lived with us in two different homes and his family has included three dogs and two other cats (though not all at the same time). We're not sure how old he is - they just said "adult cat" at the vet when we first took him in - but I'm guessing around 12-14.
This cat has more than nine lives. I'm sure of it. He survived whatever blunt force trauma blinded him in the first place, glaucoma, and having his eye removed (in which they discovered a tumor). Over the last couple of years, he has had a couple of serious health scares in which he became severely dehydrated with dangerously elevated sodium levels.
We now believe he has a brain tumor that affects how his body controls his electrolytes. It has also taken most of his sight. In addition, he was diagnosed with early-stage kidney disease around the same time we lost poor Boo to kidney failure.
Through luck born of desperation, we managed to stumble upon a treatment plan that works. For around a year and a half now, we have kept him stable and his blood work has been excellent. This cat survives on pure stubbornness and I'm positive he's going to outlive us all.
A very happy birthday to our Mike Wazowski. And here's to many, many more days napping in the sun and many, many more nights sleeping in the middle of the bed on your heating pad. You're a major pain in the ass and you use my arm as a trapeze in the middle of the night, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We love you, kitty.
