Casey was my cat. I adopted her in 2003 after having a major scare while living alone in my apartment near the Charleston airport, in a not so good part of town, when I was only 20. I went to the SPCA to get a small dog. They didn't have any dogs that were within the weight/size limits of the apartment complex, so I decided to take a look at the cats.
The two that stood out the most were Sampson, a huge fluffy orange and white cat, and Casey, the black and white maniac, who was clinging to the bars of her cage and howling. They said she was approximately two years old (when I had her first check-up done, they said she was at least 5 by the looks of her teeth, which several had to be pulled). Why I picked her I don't know, but I did. 🙂 I paid the adoption fee, but couldn't pick her up that day. Since I didn't plan on a cat, I went to the store to get a litter box, litter, cat food, a small kennel, and the like. I set everything up for her, and took the little aqua kennel to the SPCA to pick her up.
It took three people to get her into the kennel... she howled the entire way back to my apartment like someone was sawing her paws off. I started to wonder if I made a mistake. When we finally got home, I took her inside and opened the kennel. She walked out, inspected the entire place, and hopped up onto my futon, looking at me as if to say, "Okay. This'll do."
We lived another four or five months in that apartment. I had made the decision to go back to school, so I moved home and used my rent money for tuition. My mom is allergic to cats, so she and my then step-father said I had to find Casey a home. I asked around to see if any of my friends wanted a cat, and finally I settled on a friend of mine who had a relatively small house, two small kids, and an entire zoo. I thought maybe Casey would adapt and learn to like the other animals. I sobbed after dropping her off, she stayed in the kennel looking terrified. Each time I saw a cat food commercial over the next several days, I would just lose it.
Finally my friend called me to say Casey hadn't come out from under the bed in three days to eat or use the litterbox. I begged my mom to let me bring her home, insisting that she would become an outside cat. She was declawed in the front, but they live in a very suburban neighborhood with a tall fence surrounding the yard. So I brought her home to keep her outside. That lasted about 18 hours, until she found a way to climb on the air conditioner, which was very close to my mom's bedroom window. Casey would sit on the a/c and howl. And did you know cats can get sunburns on their noses?
So we decided Casey could live inside, but she had to stay in my room. I was fine with this, but she didn't find this acceptable at all. She was constantly trying to escape, and when I wasn't in the room with her, she would howl at the door. This cat could howl, let me tell ya.
Casey was with me through my crappy marriage, even living in the tiny one-bedroom condo - my husband, myself, her, and Barkley, whom she despised. But I always put him in his kennel to sleep, so she could sleep on the bed with us. Heaven help you if you pissed her off though, she would shit right on your bed. She even howled the entire way to my mom's when she and I packed up my stuff from the condo and I left my husband, and moved home. Critters and all.
I think the one sweet thing she ever did was get on the bed next to Barkley, even though she hated him, because we all thought he was dying (that was before our $3000 gastro-intestinal virus requiring round the clock care... but that's another story).
Her hiding space in our small condo:
Her perch at the condo where she prayed (and stalked the mama bird and babies in the nest almost within her reach):
She always wore her sunglasses at night..
O HAI!
I hope you have a peaceful sleep Casey. I'm sorry I had to leave you with your grandma, but you had a much better last couple of years there. You had the space to play outside, an entire house to rule, and no crazy weeners to terrorize you. Your mom loves you, and always has. You were the best mean kitty who ever lived.
