This past Monday, my cat Texas died
before I tell his story, I have a little back story first
when I was a boy, I had a cat named Sam
Sam got very sick
he stopped eating
we took him to the vet
the vet gave him a shot and a tube of gel that was loaded with calories
this was to feed to him since he was not eating
I did that when we got him home
but Sam shut down more and more daily
finally, he couldn't even move
he was just lying on his side
moaning in pain from the hunger
we didn't have the means to take him to the vet again
so we just let him die
he moaned throughout the whole night
my brother Rube and I stayed up with him until the very end
when he died he had such a painful look etched on his face
it was the most painful thing I've ever witnessed
Sam suffered until the very end
later it was clear he had feline leukemia
In the Summer of 1996 I made the big move from my parent's house to Austin
I was to move in with my brother Rube after living with my sister Elvia for a month
they were both huge helpers in that move
when I arrived at my brother's house I moved into one of the bedrooms
later in the evening I was in the room lying on the bed
I heard a small whimper
it was coming from under the bed
when I bent down and looked I saw a cat in the very back under the bed
he looked scared and wide eyed
I knew my brother had a black cat but I've never seen this one
I called out to him and he just stared at me
when I first saw him I thought he looked like Garfield
I went and asked my brother who that cat was under my bed
my brother said," oh that's Tex."
I asked my brother what the deal was with him
my brother goes on to tell me that Tex was bought at a pet store as a gift for a significant other
he was named Texas because he was kinda burnt orange like the University of Texas' colors
well because of a breakup Tex was left homeless
so he was left on Rube's doorstep
I asked,"how long has Tex been here?"
Rube told me a couple of days
I asked if Tex has been under the bed the whole time
my brother said yes
since Tex was bought as a kitten and was the only cat in an apartment he was very sheltered and knew nothing of the rest of the world
so I grabbed a bowl
poured some cat food in it and went into the room and shut the door
I put the bowl on the ground by the bed and sat on the floor
Tex slowly came out
he looked at me and meowed
then he went up to the food and ate it
when I got up to get the bowl Tex ran back under the bed
I went and filled the bowl with water and Tex drank it then went back under the bed
I went to sleep
the next morning I went and got the litter box and brought it into the room
Tex came out and used it
we repeated this later on in the day
only this time when I went to bed, Tex came out and jumped on the bed
and came over to me purring
and that's how we started
we would move here and there and all the time I would make sure Tex was ok
we got a little out of hand with the number of cats as the months passed by
the kittens liked Tex and he like them but the older cats would pick on Tex
one time they were all outside playing
Tex would never ask to go outside but he would stand and look out the window
I realized that Tex had never been outside before
so I left the door open and sat on the porch
Tex came out slowly
when he got to the grass he stared down at his paws
he had never felt grass before
after a while he would go outside with the rest of the cats
and I could stop supervising him
one night he came back dragging himself
he could not move his hind legs
he must have been grazed by a car
I didn't have the money to take him to the vet
so I just made sure he didn't move too much
so again I would bring him his food and water
only this time I would lift him up and put him in the litter box
and when he was done I would take him out and clean up after him
he made a full recovery eventually except his tail was bent and he could never lift it again
and he ran sideways now
one other time he made the mistake of getting too close to a momma cat and her kittens
she snapped and tore into Tex
I jumped in and got her of of him
he ran to my room and hid for a week
I cleaned his wounds and made sure he was ok
eventually it was time to move back home
I brought Tex with me
he and I both moved into the den
although I moved Tex many times for the 5 years I had him in Austin this would be his home for the rest of his life
and he loved it
a pet door for him to come and go as he pleases
a huge backyard
and my Mom was the next best thing to me because she loves animals
the only drawback is there is a huge field across the street and many cats have been killed crossing the street to go play and hunt over there
one night I saw Tex running across the street
he was coming from the field
I was horrified because not too many cats last long when they start doing that
but the best thing happened to Tex one night
he went to the field and got his ass kicked
he came back home cut up, scratched and his eyes were both shut
I took him in and mended all of those wounds
when he recovered he never went back over there
a few years ago I was in Houston helping Rube move
when I got back my mom had told me she had run over Tex
my heart stopped
I thought for sure she killed him
but she told me she got his tale
she split it right open
she took him to the vet and they cut it off
when I got home he was on my bed
with a nub for a tale
he meowed when he saw me
he opened the stitches and it got infected
we took him back to the vet and the doc cut the rest of it off
now he had an ever smaller nub
and he had to wear the animal cone of shame to stop him from popping the stitches
but he got over that too
it seems Tex had a hard life
but despite that he was a very happy cat
he absolutely loved people
if you've ever been to the den then you've seen Tex come running in
no doubt he jumped up on your lap
he was a lap cat
he loved the attention
despite all that happened to him
and plus he always had me
to help him through all of these little obstacles
even carrying him if necessary through the really tough ones
in December I noticed he looked a little sad
and he was having trouble eating
my Mom and I took him to the vet
they found a lump in his mouth
they cut it out
he looked good at first
but then he started to get much worse
he looked like he had the mumps on the side of the mouth where he had the surgery
and he was drooling and bleeding a little bit
and the smell from the drool was horrendous
and he had stopped eating
my Mom called me and I came down
she said that he had gone into the backyard and was unresponsive to them
so when I got there I went to see him
when he saw me he stood up and meowed
and he started to purr and lean into my hand when I pet him
I saw his swollen mouth and all the drool
I knew what I needed to do for Tex
my Mom had asked me to leave him outside because that drool was getting everywhere and smelling up the den
but that night I opened the door and called out to him
he came in and slept with me
on my chest for the whole night
the next day we took him to the vet and had him put to sleep
the vet confirmed that it was cancer
it was going to take over his whole mouth and suffocate him
if the cancer didn't kill him first
or the starvation
either way we got it early enough for him not to suffer
we went through a lot but we were not going to beat this last hurdle
but what I could do was save Tex from Sam's fate
my Mom broke down pretty bad when she was saying goodbye to Tex
I saw him still alert and alive
but in trouble
I said goodbye to my buddy and scratched his head
my last gift to him was a peaceful death
he just went to sleep
I got a lovely little poem with Tex's paw print on it
my Dad helped me bury him and told me Tex was a good cat and that he could see Tex loved me very much and that I was good to him
Dad even shed a little tear
Tex lived a full life
he was around 16 years old
goodbye Texas
I love you buddy, I'll never forget you
