Farewell Astoles

Tonight, I came home to find my oldest son's cat, Astoles (pronounced Astahleez) resting peacefully in my front yard, just beside the road. He had been clipped by a car sometime earlier in the day. A phone call to my son, and he was here before I had his friend buried.

My son got Astoles from someone as a tiny furball when he was living in an apartment that was not, shall we say, pet friendly. At one point he ended up in our care while his new master found another place to live. One day, presumably in our driveway, someone ran over his tail. A trip to the vet and close to a thousand bucks later, Astoles came home neutered with a bobbed tail, and he had been here ever since. He already had the markings of a Manx, and the stub just completed the picture.

I'll forever believe this cat convinced the puppy she was a cat as well. He and the puppycat wrestled and played all the time. Just yesterday afternoon, when my son and grandkids were here, the two of them were in puppycat's crate, nipping and playing. The word "cagematch" was uttered. She's gonna miss the wannabe manx, sooner or later. The other cats just don't play like he did..... they whip her ass.

The epitome of cool, he had grown solid and was definitely Alpha in the pecking order; even if he chose not to lord it over the rest all the time. When he had enough, he let it be known. He was, however, generally very loving and very tolerant of his humans, despite our flaws and inconsistencies, and I'll never forget that. There's a hole in the family now that won't fill anytime soon.

Rest well Astoles............ and farewell