Cat: George Washington (DSH) – Las Vegas, NV (Mar 07, 1992 – Oct 28, 2011)
George Washington was more than a cat. He was a friend, a companion, and a confidant. He was an expert at hunting leaves, scrabble, and squeezing into boxes half his size. Always a professional, he wore his red tie with pride, and greeted all visitors who came to visit.
George only allowed me, from the age of 6, to pick him up and play with him. I would put him in the recycling bins and take him for rides around the house. I hated playing hide and seek at my house because George would always follow me and be a dead giveaway to my hiding spot.
Every night he came and laid next to me, with his head on the pillow next to mine. Once I fell asleep, he would leave and go do whatever it is a cat does at 2am. But he always came back in the morning to wake me up and put his head on the pillow again. He did this until I moved away for college.
When I was in high school, George almost died a couple of times from multiple ureter blockages. After the third one, we couldn’t afford to keep treating him, and we thought we would have to put him down. The vets helped us out, put George on a special diet (that he hated and wouldn’t eat) and luckily George didn’t get a stone again. He didn’t have to go to the vet for years.
I watched George grow from a kitten, to a striking young lad, to a funny senile old man. He decided a year ago that he would only drink water from the toilet, only pee on the towel NEXT to the litter box, and walk around the house yelling at anyone who would listen. If you didn’t give him enough attention, he’d bite your leg.
One of the funniest memories I have of him is jumping up on my sister’s lap, licking her face, then peeing all over her, completely out of the blue. I laughed so hard, I too almost peed my pants.
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