Angus’s graceful, gentle spirit is now flying with his angels and the souls of his beloved cat friends that predeceased him. His broken physical body is finally set free—no more severe arthritis and stiffness, no more neurological back pain, no more discomfort from nasopharyngeal polyps, no more herpes flare-ups, no more upper respiratory inflammation, no more difficulty breathing, no more steroids, antibiotics, pills, Adequan and B12 injections. No more suffering. Angus’s mortal body was afflicted with several chronic conditions, especially later in life, but Angus still embraced and lived his life with exceptional exuberance, gusto, joie-de-vivre, and the deepest love. He was a lover-extraordinaire, a larger-than-life personality, a fearless leader and caretaker to his cat family, and a magnificent athlete with the sweetest, most gentle temperament. He was the best kitty companion a fellow cat could ever want.

His cat friends adored his gentle, loving nature and he embraced them in his care-taking arms happily and readily. He nursed and nurtured old Dusty, big Ole Red, sweet Angel, and anyone else who would take his boundless unsolicited love and affection that he willingly offered and gladly gave. Angus’s compassionate, deeply caring spirit comforted our many rescue cats that we provided a home for over 18 years, and he felt called to the duty. If a cat meowed, Angus would instantly sit up at attention and immediately leap to the cat friend in distress. Once he knew everything was ok, Angus would then relax, knowing all was at peace in the house, and harmony in life was restored. Angus was the devoted, caring, loyal friend that we all desire and need in life. He made the world a better place.

Angus was my second foster cat. I had started fostering cats in 2003 and had just fostered a mama cat and her four newborn kittens that were rescued from our county animal shelter on their “A-24 day”—or final day of life. When the last kitten was adopted, I received the call to foster Angus and two of his fellow cat mates. He, along with several other “barn” cats, were on their way to our local county animal shelter, and likely would never make it out of the shelter—especially as one-year-olds. So the founder of the local cat rescue nonprofit I had started volunteering for– intervened–and took the 10 one-year-old barn cats (from three different litters), off of her hands. Angus was one of three cats I agreed to foster. They all went up for adoption, and two were adopted immediately that next weekend. Thankfully, they went as a pair. That left Angus.  

But during that same week, we had discovered that Angus had a non-descending testicle, otherwise known as a “Cryptorchid” cat. That meant one of Angus’s testicles did not descend into the scrotum, and in most cases develop in the wrong place inside the cat’s body—often near the kidneys or within the abdomen. The condition only affects around 2 percent of male cats, but it can be very problematic as the male cats mature, so surgery is needed to find and remove the lost testicle. The next week, Angus went into surgery and was neutered at the same time. Post surgery, Angus’s surgery site became badly infected, so back to the surgeon he went for a second surgery and recovery for 2-3 weeks with the dreaded “cone of shame.” By the time Angus had finally recuperated and finished all his convalescing, we had become completely smitten with him – we fell in love! So Angus became our third and last “foster failure” cat. Now we had a total of four rescue cats, and three foster failures by 2004—all seven had been abandoned, homeless cats living outside in very bad conditions. 

Angus was easy to fall in love with. He had this sweet, kind spirit, an over-the-top bold personality, an extremely confident nature, and the deepest loving soul. Even at one year old, Angus was a lover boy extraordinaire. Everyone that met him was smitten by him. Not only did he exude mountains of charm, he was bountifully good hearted and profusely good natured. Angus had no ego, and because of that, every human and fellow feline loved him. He embraced everyone—treated everyone equally and fairly, and was the nurturer, caretaker, and peacemaker of all of our cats. He protected them, mothered them, comforted them, and they leaned on him and curled into his warm, loving heart.

Angus was an extraordinary gymnast, he had innate agility and strength, and the courage to make gymnastics look easy. He vaulted, leapt, did flips, mid-air twists—all with the greatest of ease, height and scale. He could jump six feet in the air from all fours, like a Mexican jumping bean. His body responded to his every whim and desire. He could run like the wind at break-neck speed where all you would see is the dust kicked up behind his feet. He would leap from our 7-foot-tall cat tree to the next 7-foot-tall cat tree, then down to the bed, in a blistering fast moment, with aplomb and amazing grace. His muscled and large, graceful body moved with the stealth of a panther, the strength of a lion, and the speed of a cheetah. Angus was extraordinary. And dashingly handsome with an exquisitely carved aristocratic face, beautifully mottled black-brown fur, and a body any kitty-cat would kill for. But Angus’s beauty went far deeper than his killer-handsome looks, he truly had the biggest heart in the world. 

I will forever miss Angus’s loving hugs every night while watching TV. He had a habit of jumping up on my lap, then stretching up standing on his back legs and wrapping his long loving arms around my neck, hugging me for as long as he could as we watched TV, then lying down beside me until it was time to turn out the lights.

The house is quiet now without his voice, his calls to me, his tiny high-pitched meows talking to me–letting me know he wants me to pick him up and comfort him. It feels like an empty nest, and all of a sudden is strangely silent.

I will miss everything about Angus’s incredible, loving spirit that can never, ever be replaced or duplicated. Angus was one-of-a-kind like no other. 

Thank you my sweet boy for sharing 17 beautiful years together. May you be free as the wind now, may you be happy, joyful and may your spirit be near us—forever and always. We love you, we miss you, and we are forever grateful to have shared your life with you. Fly free dear boy, fly free.

A Special Thanks:

The biggest thanks to our most wonderful veterinarian, Four Corners Animal Hospital and Dr. Becker and Dr. Kubicka in Concord, CA, who have worked so hard and have always has been there for Angus, and for all of our cat family, to keep each one healthy and comfortable well into their geriatric years. They always have our deepest gratitude.