Vince

(Taken by Jim, my Fort Worth neighbor, over two years ago.)

You probably don't read this blog regularly, or at all, so it's weird to refer to old stories I have written about.  This post concerns a cat that my neighbor rescued in December 2018 who recuperated in our garage.  I told that story here.  When I wrote that story, the cat - called "Simba" by my wife - had not been rescued.  The story of his rescue is written here.  Too long, didn't read: a graduate student at UNT adopted him.  When I was still in Fort Worth, I'd volunteer to look in on Vince - the grad student gave him that name because of his ear - when needed.  I liked to go over there, hang out with him - he was a very loving cat - & occasionally sit on the balcony with him.  Vince didn't seem to mind being indoors - he seemed to have a sense that he'd spent so much time outdoors that he should be an indoors cat from now on.

The truth is, there was very little feral about him, so he must have once been an indoors cat.  The theory is that some family who lived in the apartment complex near where he spent most of his life probably abandoned him when they moved away.  He was a tough guy - his face told you that story - but he loved to cuddle, he loved to simply be near humans - heck, he even seemed to lose his trademark hiss after a time.  It broke my heart to leave Texas & not be able to see him again.  But I knew he was in good hands.

The grad students (whose name is Holden) doted on Vince.  He apparently started an Instagram account just to show him off.  (I don't do Instagram so I don't know where it is.)  When the pandemic started, Holden drove to Ohio where his family & his girlfriend are, & my wife told me the cat simply rode in the back seat - without a carrier - &, when Holden stayed at his girlfriend's, Vince was forced to live with three golden retrievers, all of whom were immediately made aware who was in charge.  You want proof?  Here's proof:

The wife tells me Holden actually walked Vince on a leash.  I was already dumbfounded about a cat that would travel without a carrier - my own cats would go nuts in a car left alone to wander - but I could no more walk my cats on a leash as I could teach them how to fly.  But Vince was exceedingly chill - the almost-perfect house cat - & certainly the best first cat for a young person like Holden.

It goes without saying that living rough for years - I'd say Vince had been a "feral" cat for eight years or so - took its toll.  Vince was FIV positive, which never bodes well, & he had other issues related to the injuries that brought him to our garage in the first place.  The infection in his cauliflower ear was never resolved, & it moved from time-to-time to his eye.  There were other issues that I am not entirely privy to - but suffice it to say, keeping Vince well meant more than a few vet visits.

Of course I'm speaking about Vince in the past tense now.  We found out today from Holden that early Tuesday morning Vince had a seizure from which he never recovered.  From what I understand, it happened too fast to get him to an emergency vet, & since it was the very early morning when Holden woke to discover his condition, there was no telling how long he had been seizing.  That's a nightmare for every pet owner, & I can't even imagine what Holden has been going through.  I lost my first cat to feline leukemia when he was just five years old & I don't think I've ever gotten over it.  Here's what I texted Holden when I found out:

So sorry to hear about Vince.  You adopted him knowing he had years of hard living that eventually would catch up to him.  But his last year was the best of his life & he obviously was happy & well-adjusted.  Thank you for giving him the housecat life that was denied him for so long.

This may be the last picture I took of him before I left Texas:

He was a beautiful cat with an amazing personality.  The folks who abandoned him have no idea what they lost.  Honestly, if I knew we were staying in Texas, we might have adopted him.  As it was, he came to us when he needed help, & we were miraculously able to give him, like I said to Holden, the life he so deserved.

Goodbye, Vincent.  I'm glad you found Holden & I'm glad your retirement into senior housecat living was so glorious.  We should all be so lucky.