We had to put him down today, and both Pam and I are sad. He was one of the most affectionate and interesting cats I've known. He had this odd habit of dragging out wool sweaters and blankets from where we preferred them in the bedroom to where he preferred them in the kitchen. Some of the blankets were heavy and Oliver was a small cat, so this chore took a reasonable amount of effort. He did this "work" at night presumably to avoid being observed for reasons known only to him.
His best buddy, Gus, died in March. We called them brothers although there was no blood relationship. Gus was the only other animal Oliver liked. He despised Jerry, a third cat who lived only a few years.
Oliver could be cranky and quick tempered with humans also and expressed his displeasure with a fearsome hiss. He did this to my sister Elaine at a dinner party we hosted this past winter, and it hurt her feelings because she's a cat-lover. Later when we were still at the table he climbed over a couple of people to get to Elaine's lap where he stayed as if he wanted to make up. It's significant that one of the people he climbed over was Pam who was his all time favorite person.
When he was younger and had bursts of energy, he would sometimes shoot through the house and leap up onto the drapes where he would hang upside down emitting a low growl. He was the most verbal cat I've known and had seemingly an infinite variety of sounds. Some nights or mornings he would place himself outside our closed bedroom door and go through a concert of his sounds in an effort to get fed or get attention.
He was fun to share a house with and beautiful to look at.We miss him.
Too many deaths over the past few months
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