In our house, all the critters are slightly used, except the dog, but
she feels special, and that's another story. Jake the very large, not
just pudgy, rather large for a house cat, orange tabby, rarely takes
time for exercise, as it is definitely beneath him and his 21 pounds of
big hunk of five year old, man-cat. He is huge. his face is as big as
a saucer, and he has short fur. Some kind of Tibetan Mountain cat, I'm
told. But he is typical cat. Not much motivates him, and the hoomins
are only there in case you need to be pet or the food dish is empty.
Until Frank ferter came along.

Now, Frank ferter was a just get rid of it, ferret that was bought as a
gift for a man who had lost his ferret, but really didn't want another.
His wife, then after Frank turned 5, left in his cage alone a lot,
tried to find him a home, and I said yes. Right from the start, Frank
was an absolute love. He loved being held, pet, played with, and just
being loved. But he also just Loved Jake, right off the two became
buddies. Three ponds of silvered-out fuzzy-lovin'.

I'd hear tick tick, tick tick, pa-dump pa-dump pa-dump then pa-dump, pa
dump pa-dump. ka-tick, ka-tick- ka-tick, as they raced up the hallway,
then switched chasers and headed back down the hall. They so often
would do this, and it became the norm.

I was listening with a grin on my face as they ran the hall one day,
and after about twenty minutes, Jake came in and sat in front of me,
chased by Frank who then did a flying squirrel onto Jakes' back, then
rested his head on Jakes' shoulder as if to say " I'm tired too."

Now where's the video camera when you need it? Though we lost our dear
Frank-ferter at the age of 8 to lymphoma, I will always remember the
friendship he shared with Jake. It was special. Jake has gone back to
being just a cat, waiting to see if another kid like Frank comes along,
maybe, or glad because now he doesn't have to exercise every day, and
can snooze peacefully. I bet he dreams of those races though, and I
know he missed him, when he went to the bridge a year ago, after
battling lymphoma. Hardly seems so long ago.

Cindy & the Slightly Used Gang

To Frank-ferter,
you touched our lives forever
gone but not forgotten

[Posted in FML 7093]