Memphis

July 29, 2008 - September 24, 2013

Trimming his tiny toenails

I will never forget that morning going over to Doug and Jane's {my landlord neighbors} that morning to feed Tator, their lawn ornament horse.  I had received a phone call the night before from their friend who was feeding him in the evenings saying that Tator had gotten into the bucket of oats and was rolling around when she left.  I don't know a lot about horses, nor do I care to, but I do know that 1) horses shouldn't eat a lot of oats at once, and 2) if they roll there's a good chance of colic.  So I marched up to that old barn on South River Road fully expecting to find a dead horse.  Imagine the surprise when I found Tator standing by the gait, stamping his foot, wanting his food.  But the whole time all I heard was a god-awful crying which I thought was coming from a bird.  After performing my horse feeding and watering duties I searched around to find what was making that sound.  Then was when I found little Memphis, all by himself, cold {so I knew he'd been there a while, as I found him on August 1st} and crying on the concrete floor in the front of the barn.  He was so tiny, fitting comfortably in the palm of my hand, eyes shut and umbilical cord still attached.

Tiny little boy

I didn't know what to do.  As silly as it sounds, I'd never even seen a kitten that small.  I tried calling Doug and Jane, to see if they knew of a cat that had kittens, so I could put him back with his siblings and with his Mama.  Of course they didn't answer.  They had a neutered male cat, so I knew it couldn't be his.  Next I called Jared.  The only words I remember are "leave it" {something I was reminded of many times during the last five years}.  I knew I couldn't leave him, as he would die.  So then I called Stephanie, our lab tech.  She excitedly told me to bring him in.  They had a box and a heating pad and towels all set up for him, by the time we arrived.  Then off to Walmart I went to purchase some milk replacer and a bottle.  Dr. Donkin was a little upset when he learned there was a live animal in the lab office, as this broke a University policy, and banned Memphis to my office where he traveled in his crate for a few weeks.  Memphis became Emily and I's buddy during the day, and he never really seemed to cause too much trouble, for once in his life.  Memphis's eyes slowly opened over the next few days, although at one point we affectionately referred to him as one eye Jack, as only one was open.  

Playful

Look at that cute little potbelly

I fed him every 2-4 hours around the clock for about four weeks until it was time to start on some kitten food mush.  Not only did I feed that little guy, but also performed those other "motherly" duties, that I was unaware of when accepting responsibility, of helping little Memphis go potty.  I will also never forget that one morning at about 3 am when he was so constipated and crying that I resorted to helping him sit in some warm water in my bathroom  {which was as big as a postage stamp, and was even more crowed with a cat bed, litter box, toys, etc} sink which helped give him some relief.  I truly believe that's why he never minded water.  Odd for a cat, but that was the theme for our Memphis.

Meeting for the first time

Obviously they became friends

And some might say best friends

I was so nervous to let Memphis out of the bathroom to meet Berlin, as she was a known rodent killer, and at the time, Memphis was only as big as a rodent, but after the initial chase under the couch, they became quick friends.  Memphis grew up alongside Berlin, leading to him having a confusion of whether he was a cat or a dog.  He played fetch like Berlin.  He growled while she barked and growled when someone knocked on the door or rang the doorbell.  They had fun mousing together, although I have to give the award to Berlin, not Memphis on that one.  And anyone who knows Memphis, knows he loved his pink dog stuffed animal.     

Easily amused

Only Memphis loved the sink

Hiding in a grocery bag

Drunk cat .... hanging off the side of the cabinet

We quickly learned that Memphis was a strong willed boy.  I had just purchased a new couch for my apartment the previous spring.  He seemed to think it was his scratching post and a fun thing to climb.  I tried everything to ban him from doing so.  Cats hate water right?  Not Memphis.  He would hang on to the side of the couch while I squirted him in the face with water.  Cats supposedly hate aluminum foil, so I covered the couch {and the base of the house plants I had at the time}, but I'd come home to find Memphis laying in the middle of the couch, not bothered in the least bit by the foil.  Ultimately, I made the decision to have him front declawed at the time I had him neutered.  Something I never really regretted, as he loved to stalk you and attack.

There are many stories when it comes to Memphis, but two stories that I think I'll always remember.  The first goes back to that tiny little bathroom in my apartment on South River Road.  My best friend from undergrad, Meg, came back to visit.  We'd went out to the bars on the town for the evening.  Upon returning home, Meg had to go to the bathroom, but didn't realize Memphis was in the bathroom with her.  To hear her tell the story he was up on his hind legs batting at her while she was on the toilet.  She was scared, and rightfully so.  The second story dates back to when we had Kherington.  We were still at the hospital and Nana, Grandma, and Pops were at our house.  We'd left instructions on manning the household while we were gone.  At the time, Memphis had an automatic feeder, but unfortunately, it didn't work properly due to the food he was eating so you had to shake it for the food to drop.  Everyone read on the instructions that he had an automatic feeder and stopped reading.  Poor guy was starving and cornered Nana on the stairs, again batting with his front legs as if to say, "you are not going upstairs until I get fed!"  Nana quickly got the message and the issue was resolved.

Mischievous boy

Pretending he was innocent

Memphis, although quirky as he was, was a good boy.  We just always struggled with his litter box etiquette.  From the time he was a kitten, he never really squatted to go pee.  He would just get in, scratch around to find that perfect spot and then stand and pee.  This became problematic once Memphis's rear-end became taller than the side of the litter box.  Then we just moved to a covered litter box.  Problem solved until we moved to Pennsylvania, and he decided he would just pee out of the entrance hole to the covered litter box.    No problem for the Robert's, we moved Memphis to using a storage tote for his litter box.  This started from a UTI, which was no fault to Memphis, but still annoying.  We started on the $35/6 lb bag of C/D food.  No issue until Memphis decided once moving back to Indiana, into our brand new home, that he would use the sun room area in the basement as his litter box instead!  This was a problem, but one we tried resolving with a vet check.  We tried clean storage totes, we tried two litter boxes instead of one, we tried three different types of litter {which of course he "chose" the $25/bag litter}, we tried pheromone diffusers, we tried litter attractants sprinkle, we tried canned food to get more moisture in his diet, we tried a water fountain, we tried anti-anxiety medicine, and we blocked access to the basement and moved his litter boxes to the laundry room.  I even talked to a cat behaviorist on the phone!  In the end, Memphis just couldn't figure it out, and we had to stop and evaluate that we had done everything that we could think of to try or buy to help him, but he just had an issue that unfortunately we couldn't figure out.

Being ornery as ever

Such a pretty boy

I'm so sorry buddy.  We tried.  We really tried.  You were a good boy and we are going to miss you and your antics.  It was strange to walk down the dark hallway last night and not having to worry that you were stalking me and was going to attack at any moment.  It was so strange this morning waking up and you weren't there crying as if you'd been starving for weeks.  

Until the very end you were a pesky fellow.  You really gave that vet a run for her money while she tried to find your tiny little vein.  I was honored I could be with you until the very end.  I hope there are lots of birds to cry at and chase in kitty heaven.  Bubs, I hope that you have the luxury to go to the bathroom anywhere you please there.  Love you Memphers and thanks for five great years, we only wish it could have been longer!        

RIP  big guy