Channeling Fernando

Anyone who has known me well has known about Fernando. He was a big tabby cat I adopted years ago at the Baltimore Humane Society. He was a therapy cat at a traumatic brain injury unit at a hospital; he would get in bed with anybody. He was amazingly intuitive. He was my soul mate. When he died I mourned him like no other. It has been years and I still miss him every day. Right now our household has four cats, ranging in age from 21 to 3. Stella, 21, is our hospice girl. She gets her own room and a heated bed and fluids for her failing kidneys. We’ve had her for a year. She was surrendered to a shelter and there was no way she was going to live out her life there. Then there is Boo, who came a couple years ago with her sibling Sully. We had Sully only nine months and he was a sweetheart. Boo, at 14 is a scardy cat but very sweet. Sophie, a tiny orange girl arrived recently. She is about six and a love bug. A friend had to move and couldn’t take her, so here she is. We love her. That brings us to Argyle. Around two years ago, working with the Baltimore Community Cats program, we were releasing cats on Argyle Avenue, after they had been fixed and vaccinated. We opened the traps and they all ran. Except one. He was like, nope, I liked a comfy bed and room service. I’m not going back. So that’s how we ended up with Argyle. The vet figured he was a little less than a year at the time. He had paws the size of catcher’s mitts and now that he has grown into them, he is a whopping 18 pounds. Argyle is a troublemaker. He is an agile climber, and he likes to knock things over. He has more toys than most toddlers. He needs to be stimulated. Having Sophie has helped. She plays with him and burns off some energy. He is a rough and tumble guy. But last night, Argyle did something that amazed me. On one of my many trips to the toilet, I got dizzy and literally missed the seat. I hit my back on the seat and landed on the floor and likely cried out. In a heartbeat Jerry, And Argyle, were there. Jerry helped me up and Argyle stayed with me. When I was done, Argyle followed me back to bed and cuddled. He usually does not sleep with us, but there he was, making sure I was okay. I’m not expecting another Fernando— there will never be another Fernando— but I was so touched by his attentiveness and concern last night. Being surrounded by these creatures only makes life better.