Adopting throw away pets. Benji the Cat.

This little guy was the last of a litter that was put up for adoption in a veterinarian waiting room in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There were 6 kittens in the litter.

The office staff said the other 5 went almost immediately, but for some reason this little guy was left behind.

I was dropping off one of my cats for an overnight stay for a scheduled treatment.

I told the staff that if this little guy was still there when i picked up my cat tomorrow i would take him home with me.

I am not sure if it was fate, or they just kept him aside for me, (i suspect the latter) but he went home with me the next day when i picked up the other cat.

For the first year of his little life, he was treated several times for a "blood" dyscrasia (an abnormal condition of the body).

He had an extremely high white blood cell count, indicating some kind of infection, that never seemed to be resolved even after several bouts of antibiotic treatments.

When he was about 8 months old, the vet wanted to do a bone marrow test, XRays, more lab tests, etc...

The little guy (i named him Benji) was eating, drinking, pooping, playing, etc..., all the normal things a little kitten does.

He was thriving and growing normally.

The costs of those tests were prohibitive, to say the least, so i chose not to have anymore treatments or tests done on him.

The vet said that without further treatment for this kind of blood dyscrasia (which was unknown at this time - he could never find the cause) the kitten would not live more than a year.

So i decided to just let him live his little life, as long as it would be, as peaceful and happy as i can make it.

He gave me many years of pleasure and laughter.

He learned to play fetch at an early age and amused all my friends, family and visitors with his untiring game of fetch.

When he was just a few months old, {in those long gone days of smoking cigarettes}, one day when i took the last one out of a pack, i crumbled it and tossed it at him.

He batted it around the floor for a time then picked it up in his mouth and was carrying it around.

I called him to bring it to me.

To my surprise, he did.

I threw it again, and he brought it back.

I threw it again, and lo and behold he had trained me to play fetch with him.

After i quit smoking i tried many other items, but he would not fetch them.

So, one day while at work i noticed that one of my co-workers who still smoked, had a soft pack, so i asked her to save it for me when it was empty.

I took it home, crumpled it up and threw it and we started playing again.

Even up to the time when he started getting old and slower, if i found someone who could provide me with an empty pack of cigarettes, he still played that fetch game with me.

The other thing that he did, from the time of his kitten hood was play with water dripping from the faucet.

This too would amuse him for hours. He would bat at the water with his paw, let it drip on top of his head, and grab the drops of water in his mouth.

He would sit outside the shower waiting for me to finish, and i would leave the faucet on at a slow drip so he could play with the water while i was drying.

Sometimes, he would just get up on the vanity, or go into the shower, tap at the spigot, and meow for me to turn it on so he could play.

So, he then had me trained to turn the faucet on for him.

He thrived and survived for 18 years - happy and healthy - until he finally died of old age from a stroke.

He was my little champion/companion and buddy for 18+ years.

I made a musical slide show DVD to celebrate his life, and i have posted a shorter version of it below , if anyone cares to view it to help me celebrate his life.

I will miss him, and remember him always.

by d.william 9/12/2010

Losing a beloved pet can be devastating to the family. Cats are characterized as independent, but rely on us for their very existence.

This is a last tribute to my recently deceased cat, Benji (orange tiger cat) Born 1991 Died 2009