Spicey

I know this is a blog about dogs, but I felt the need to write a little something about my cat. You see, my cat has cancer. This does not surprise me. He's barely eating. Just eating some wet food right now. But I really knew something was wrong when I left a trash bag out for 2 days and he never even tried to get into it.
Spicey has never been a 'normal' cat. On the way home from the shelter, some 14 years ago, he let out gas (lots of it) all the way home. He got into the trash if I left it out. I couldn't leave food out. Ever. Or he would eat it. Didn't matter what it was. He ate SOAP. He licked aerosol cans. And he vomitted. A lot. ALL the time. His poop was, as my father put it, the size of buffalo poop. And it stunk! There were many times I wanted to dropkick him right off my deck. I'm not going to lie, he drove me nuts. It was definitely a love/hate relationship. I even seriously considered re-homing him. But when it came right down to it, I just couldn't bring myself to let him go. He is a love. Always wants to be right there with you. He LOVES going out on the deck and laying out in the sun. I hope he makes it a bit longer so he can enjoy that luxury a little while longer. As I mentioned, he came from a shelter. I really believe there's something going on with his brain. He's just never really been right. And now that he's really sick - no more vomitting. Go figure!
I will miss Spice. He's been a permanent fixture in my life for 14 years. He's put up with a lot himself. I had him de-clawed. That's right. I did it. But it was either that, or I couldn't keep him. He handled it quite well. He never went outside except to lay on the deck. He went from being the king of the house to taking a backseat to not just one, but now TWO dogs. And he always stood his ground and let both dogs know who's boss.
Even now, he still purrs like a train and lays on my shoulder looking for some love.
Spice, I really will miss you...