17 years of love and joy

I read your story about the fellow who lost his 10-year-old cat and my heart went out to him. Animals are amazing and they enrich not only our lives, but our children’s as well. We lost our cat in 2005 and not a day goes by that he is not in my thoughts in some fashion.

My husband and I were married in 1988 and he was stationed in Scotland. Soon after the wedding, we found a little flat and went looking for a little kitten because my husband promised we would get one. I had always had pets growing up so I was excited to start our life together sharing a beloved pet. We went to the Scottish SPCA and my husband spotted a tiny little tabby and white kitten in a cage by himself just watching us. We were charged 5 pounds for him and that was the beginning of a wonderful life for us and the little kitten, “Hack”, due to the cough he had when we got him.

This cat followed me everywhere. No leash needed and every time we moved, he moved with us. A total of 7 times. When we reached OH, we lived out in the country surrounded by woods and cornfields. My daughter was 7 at the time and riding a school bus and our driveway was a good 200 yards to the road. Hack would sit at the end of the driveway and wait for my daughter to get off the bus and walk with her to the house. He was so sweet, but what really astounded me with Hack was what I witnessed one day as I was hanging laundry on the line.

My son was toddling around in the yard just barely keeping balanced and was toddling towards the cornfields, but wasn’t so close that I could not get to him, but before I did I witnessed our cat run up to him and jump to my son’s hip several times in an effort to turn him around and my son toddled off in another direction. I was in total awe of our clever little cat.

You hear of animals saving family members all of the time, but it really touches a place deep in your soul when you see if first hand from your own pets. We were blessed to have Hack in our lives for 17 years and I am thankful for an understanding husband that chose orders stateside so that he would not have to be quarantined in his later years. There are not many people that base life choices and places to be stationed around the livelihood of the family cat. I am so proud to have a husband that understood. – Rhonda ♥