vovat | In Memoriam: Wally, 2003-2023

Our cat Wally died early this morning, and that means we lost both cats in one week. It's a hell of a lot to process. Wally was such a constant presence, especially for Beth. In 2003, she was obsessed with Wally Cox, and she decided she wanted a cat named Wally. Then she actually found one at PetSmart. He was very friendly and affectionate, and liked to cuddle and hang around with people. He had very sleek fur, and was kind of floppy like a stuffed animal. According to the DNA test we had done, he's part rag doll. He tended to sprawl out when lying down, often with a paw stretched out, and seemed so relaxed most of the time. We would sometimes see him with his head resting against something that looked uncomfortable, but he didn't seem to care. He had some interesting ways of showing affection, including biting fingers. And when you were interacting with him and started to leave, he would sometimes grab your hand. He did a thing with his mouse toys where he'd bring them to a person or just into the bedroom, and then meow (usually with the toy still in his mouth) until someone acknowledged him. As he got older, he didn't always bring it anywhere, but just picked it up and meowed. And when we'd leave, we'd sometimes come back to find he'd brought a toy into the bedroom while we were gone. Wally actually enjoyed dry food, and unlike Reagan, he was pretty much never interested in what we were eating. The main exception was when he'd lick something salty, like chips or crackers. And he'd often sit with his tail in a J shape. Beth was his favorite, but he loved everybody he lived with, and sometimes got upset when people left even for a little while. This was true for other pets as well as people. He bonded with Beth's other cat David and her dog Dewey. During David's last days, when his eyes were crusted up, Wally would try to clean his face. And while he didn't live with Dewey after we moved away from South Jersey, we did bring him down there sometimes, and Wally was always affectionate with him. With Reagan, she didn't seem to care too much about him, but he was obsessed with her, often following her to see what she was doing. We think that's probably at least partially why he died in the same week. Last Saturday evening, Beth came back from seeing a concert, and he jumped up on the bed to lie with her. And the next afternoon, when we took Reagan away, he was sitting on top of the cat tree. He had been on medicine for his thyroid, and we had started giving him subcutaneous fluids (which he hated), but he was mostly quite active and as usual. After that, he started breathing heavily and not wanting to eat. The vet also said he had a tumor, and we had scheduled an ultrasound, but he told us the next day that he probably wouldn't last that long. So we brought him home again, and while he was in bad shape, he still walked around, and at least on Thursday night, purred. Beth was with him when he died, and I was in bed nearby. It's going to be so weird not having any pets around. I don't even know what we're going to do with the litterbox, or all the extra cat food and treats. I know that's not the priority right now, but it seems like somewhat of a loss of lifestyle as well.