In Memory

Oogie Moggie was born on our family room sofa sometime in the early morning hours. He was one of five kittens born and the only one to survive .. it was his mother's first litter, her name was Dabooh, one of our barn cats. She accidentally smothered the other four when I moved her to the nesting box. From the moment Oogie was born he was ugly, we swore that Dabooh had romanced a possum in her inexperienced first season. But he grew and matured and his appearance brought him loving attention from the family, he was never neglected. We would lean down and swoop him up, hold him close and say, "Oogie, you are so ugly .. you are about the ugliest cat I've ever seen!" He would purr and look up at us as if to say, "I don't understand how it happened, but as long as it brings me all this approval, hey I'm fine with ugly."

Oogie lived with us for about two years until he was fatally hurt in some horrible fashion. I found him pulling himself home with his front paws, the rest of his body was a powerless weight dragging behind. He lived for 5 days, never showing distress or pain, on my bed during the day and under the bedside table at night. He passed on into Rainbow Bridge without hesitation .. peacefully beside me as I gently stroked his left front paw.