Janis

I received some sad news yesterday.

14 years ago I, and My First Ex-wife, got a second cat. Our first cat, Jim, had to be put down in 2000 after complications following eye surgery. After my divorce in 2003, I took Janis in.

In May, 2006, I took a job where I was in-residence and on-call 24/7 at an apartment complex. I had to find a place for Janis to stay. My Second Ex-wife and stepson took her in and I visited at least every couple of weeks.

In May, 2007, Shanti told me that I had to find a place for Janis while she took my stepson to visit her parents in India. Janis found a home for a couple months, but then had to bounce around for a month. Running out of places for her to go, Janis ended up in an apartment she hated- it was smaller than I liked, crowded with people, and there was one dog in residence with another visiting. I tried to find other places for her, but no good option presented itself.

I was told a few weeks ago that Janis may have run away. She had disappeared for a few days in September, so I wasn't concerned because she was found hiding in part of the apartment. After three weeks of phone tag I received confirmation that Janis hadn't come back.

I have to believe that she was picked up by a loving family. She had a tag on and nobody has called to say she's found her in any kind of condition.

She has been my friend for 14 years. I miss her very much, and hope she is living out the end of her life with a little peace with someone who loves her as much as I do.

She was grumpy, affectionatie, and extremely loyal. Shanti said that she was like me, the perfect pet for me, because "She's very sweet and hard to live with." She was the best cat in the world.

gargh =:[