Otis and Oscar.
In 1994, Nancy and I moved to Tucson, AZ to work for Hughes Missile Systems, and we bought a house on the side of a mountain. The house wasn’t built yet, so we rented an apartment at the base of the mountain close enough so we could easily walk up to the building site to check progress every day after work. (The house being on the side of a mountain has nothing whatever to do with this story. I loved the house, so I like to mention it.)
One day, about a month before the house was completed, we were driving around Tucson, and, in the spur of the moment, decided to drop in to the Tucson Humane Society “just to look”.
Within a couple minutes, we spotted these two tiny gray tabby kittens and fell in love with them. We were told they were litter mates. We couldn’t bring ourselves to walk out of the place without them, so we began the adoption process.
At that time, I think it was easier to adopt a human child in Tucson than it was to adopt an animal from the Humane Society. They gave us an oral exam on how we would care for them, and even how we would discipline them if necessary. (I think the correct answer was, “Cats discipline us, we don’t discipline them”.) We had to sign a statement promising that they would be strictly indoor cats.
Since we were still living in the apartment, they said they would call the rental office to verify that it was OK to have a couple kittens in our apartment. I knew they had a no-animals-allowed policy, so I quick-like ran out to the car and called the rental office to press our case for allowing us to have kittens there because we are good tenants and were moving in a month anyway, we would pay for any damage the kittens cause, etc., etc., etc. The rental office said OK, and I told them the Humane Society would be calling soon and would they please tell them it was OK to have the kittens in our apartment. OK, they would.
So with all the oral tests passed, approvals given and documents signed, we headed home with the new members of our family. We named them Otis and Oscar.
Otis and Oscar felt at home immediately and settled gracefully into thier new life. It was great to have them in the family. They behaved and didn’t damage anything in the apartment. One of them did destroy a new toy, however.
One day not long after we adopted them, Nancy and I heard a growling sound coming from another room. We went to look and found it was Otis who had part of a toy in his mouth, and he was dragging it around the room and growled this big, grown-up cat growl as he did it. It was hilarious. Oscar was just watching and looked amused. A couple minutes later, the toy came apart. We took it back to the pet store and told them a little kitten had done the damage to a toy that was designed for an adult cat. They refunded our money. We never heard Otis growl like that again.
Otis and Oscar were consistently great cats and good friends. When we moved to San Diego in 2001, they protested a little, but adapted nicely to their new home. We took them on a long trip in our motorhome. They protested once in awhile then too, but, on the whole, they enjoyed their time with us, and they enhanced our trip.
After that, they put up with a move to Minnesota and some snowbird trips to Arizona. They fussed a little (Who would blame them?), but they tolerated the long days in thier travel box quite well. They went with the flow, which is something we always admired about them.
Before our first snowbird trip to Arizona, Oscar fell ill. He was diagnosed with renal failure. He was put on a special diet and medication, but shorty after we arrived in Arizona, just as he was starting to enjoy being there, he got very sick. We had to have him put down. It was a very sad day for Nancy and me. We still miss Oscar and always will.
Now old man Otis is sick. A few days ago, he stopped eating the cat food that he has enjoyed for many years. He is a little lethargic and is loosing weight. We try to get him to eat by giving him all the tasty stuff we denied him before, such as tuna, kitty treats, etc. He eats some, but not as before.
Otis’ symptoms are the same as Oscar’s, so we know another very sad day coming.
Nancy and I will tell you that these two guys enriched our lives tremendously. One of the best things we have ever done was to make that unscheduled stop at the Humane Society that day in 1994. A once in a lifetime deal.
A bright spot we can find in this is that Oscar and Otis had good runs at life. Oscar was the equivalent of about 72 human years old when he left us. Otis is now about 80. Bright spot or not, it doesn’t make me feel any better about what is coming.