Category: Cats

This beautiful fluffy gray cat is Poncho.  He truly had nine lives with wide green eyes focused on the best outcome. Blessed with a relaxed accepting nature, Poncho made himself at home everywhere he went. This article is a celebration of his presence before he slips from memory. Poncho passed over the rainbow bridge about nine years ago. He came to me in the fall of 2009 during a time of change. Originally, he was a part of my parent’s household. He appeared one day in their backyard hanging around the shed for shelter and mouse hunting. He was not feral but considered a nuisance. Eventually, he moved into the home. Several years later, he came to live with me when my parent’s health took a bad turn. At the time, I lived in an apartment with a cat named Gigi. She was an aloof tortoiseshell I’d adopted a few years before. We were bonded and happy together. Poncho’s meowing presence wasn’t welcome just then.

Poncho lived with my parents for several happy years. Once settled in their home, he became a lap cat that loved to be the center of attention. The backyard, full of garden plots gone wild, gave him a fun place to roam and keep up his cat skills. My mother was not much of a pet lover but Poncho liked her a lot. It was obvious by the way he would walk confidently into the room, give her a look, leap onto her lap and gaze at her eyes. A tilted up nose meant he was expecting a cat kiss. When the gesture was returned, he’d get the purr going.

The day she moved out of the family home and into a cottage, my brother brought along his husky dog providing a peculiar brand of “help”. He did a great job of scaring the cat outside creating a concern about possible abandonment. When the moving van left and everything quieted, I checked around and found Poncho behind the house gazing out into an overgrown side yard. Easygoing as always, he was okay with being picked up and crated for his journey. It didn’t take long for him to settle in to the cottage and enjoy a new yard to explore. Unfortunately, he lost his freedom due to his habit of setting chipmunks free in the cottage. My mothers’ limited mobility made it hard to rescue the critters from under baseboard heaters. Poor Poncho, he cried and carried on with the loss of his outdoor sojourn.

Sometime later, my mother needed a lengthy rehab stay leaving Poncho alone in the cottage. A cat lover and being the nearest person to assist, it became a daily chore, stopping in after work to feed him and clean his litter box. Poncho hated being alone. He needed people around to thrive. During this time frame, I updated his vaccinations as they had lapsed. The veterinary exam revealed inflamed gums and broken teeth. A decision was made to go ahead with surgery to restore his dental health. In retrospect, I could have had him euthanized but that wasn’t a thought. But, the after surgery care meant he shouldn’t be left alone. So, when I temporarily moved him to my apartment, he encountered a cantankerous tortoiseshell who wanted nothing to do with him. Here was this big sick cat suddenly in a hostile place. Gigi retreated to a neighbor’s apartment quite a bit; it wasn’t working out. One morning, they were on opposite sides of a door. Both reached around the opened door clawed me. The mood was treacherous so I had to find Poncho a foster home for a while. He landed in a home with a young girl who gave him the adoration he loved. They had a routine of daily play and brushing his thick coat every afternoon. Poncho did return to the cottage after a few weeks.

Sometime that spring, a calico came to live with me making us a two-cat family. Sweetie had some eccentric tendencies, which is common for these colorful cats. At first, I thought she was a drop off roaming around the apartment complex. Her owner preferred that she live outdoors except when a son had visitation rights every so often. Given that we were in a rural setting with fox and coyote commonly nearby, I offered to take her in. It was none of my business but Sweetie was happy to take me up on the invitation.

Gigi wasn’t too happy about another cat in the household. However, she acclimated and made the best of it. Things settled down for a few months, until an opportunity appeared for me to become a first time homebuyer. The search was on for a home. A few days before signing serious documents, I struggled with a sick headache. The stress was getting to me so much I needed medical care to relieve a three-day migraine. Of course, more drama was added when my mother’s health weakened. Poncho was about to lose his home. Why did I take him instead of dropping him at a shelter? Maybe it was the path of least resistance to pack him up too. Late October, I closed the door on my apartment and headed towards home, not with two cats but three.

On move in day, I remember putting crated cats in the basement. Once all the furniture was moved in, they were freed to check out the new place. The basement has a walk out sliding glass door to a sun porch leading into a sunny backyard. The storm door had a large glass panel allowing cats to easily look out and look in. I had quite a shock in the early days seeing two young black and grey cats peering in the window. I had been feeding two young feral cats near my apartment complex that were the exact same size and color. How could they be here? I was miles away. The curious young cats had an uncanny resemblance to the others. How strange that was!

The early days are a bit of a blur now but I recall Poncho figuring out that despite his large size, he was at the bottom of the mealtime totem pole. A spot in the kitchen was created for all three to eat separately. Patiently he would wait for his serving. He never bullied the calico’s for more, but if they left food behind, he was first to mooch the scraps.

The cats had the freedom to roam outside during daylight hours. It was a habit at the apartment and continued in the new place. Somehow, he also figured out where the property boundaries were. Maple trees mark the natural border but there are large gaps of open land. A few neighborhood cats had a habit of passing through our yard daily. Yet, he tended to guard only our space and stop just at the border. Poncho would puff himself up and scare them out with fierce growls and snarls. There was never a rolling around the grass confrontation, only loud hissing.

A few of his adventures stand out in my memory like the time he charged a big dog. The backyard is long and narrow. On sunny Sunday afternoons, the cats often joined in on whatever chore was happening. I was at the far end of the yard raking leaves when a yellow lab ambled in. The walk out basement door was wide open. The cats were somewhere behind me and that left a long run to safety. All of a sudden, a hissing Poncho jumped at the dog, not once but twice. He hit the dog as hard as he could. For a panicked moment, I had a vision of the dog turning on Poncho and biting him in two. The dog sort of looked at the cat and gently walked in a different direction. When I realized the danger was over, I ran toward Poncho praising his courage. Unfortunately, Poncho gave a pathetic meow in response. The poor soul couldn’t put any weight on his front paw because he sprained it attacking the dog. Well, he received the royal treatment for a while. After a few days, his health improved and he was strolling around as always.

Sometimes Poncho behaved as a dog would rather than a cat. He could look fierce when his hair stood out. I fell more in love with Poncho the day he stared down a repairman. Contractors hired for services all have the nickname big boots. They clunk around making a lot of noise, stepping on things and generally taking up too much space. A new roof was put on the house in 2011 and I was not too happy when a leak appeared in one area. I had just signed the last check but had yet to mail it in. When the roofer came to the house, Poncho happened to be on the front steps and did a great imitation of a lion, adding a growl to his voice. His stance was: I Dare You to Come Closer! I had to intervene but I wonder if he picked up by telepathy that I was not happy to see this guy. This behavior did explain some mean comments from previous workmen. I thought it was bad attitudes from them but perhaps Poncho let them have it.

Poncho was skillful at reading my emotions. I needed him more than ever when the rare occurrence of a tornado came too close to our town.  June 1, 2011, the weather report mentioned possible thunderstorms in the afternoon. It had been sticky hot for several days. At the time, my work commute was about fifteen minutes door to door. My goal that afternoon was to stop for a gas fill up. But, a fast moving squall went from gentle drops when I left the office to horizontal rain very quickly. I took the path of least resistance and went home instead. Gigi, the older tortoiseshell, was at the bottom of the basement stairs for some reason. She was huddled in a little loaf. Sweetie was sleeping upstairs on the bed. Poncho greeted me in the normal way. About an hour later, I turned on the weather alert radio to find out why the sky looked so strange. The clouds had the texture and color of a dark haired poodle. They sat low on the horizon, almost cauliflower in shape. What a shocker it was when the automated voice kept repeating a tornado warning. The message relayed: Tornado on the ground in Wilbraham, Palmer, Monson, Brimfield, Sturbridge. These towns are right over the hillside about four miles south! I panicked a bit and Poncho did too. I remember going in circles until I went into the cellar. Poncho meowed and meowed in an agitated way. Gigi, dear Gigi had it figured out already! Get low Mom! The next day at the office, everyone had dark circles under their eyes. We were scared and too many people witnessed the tremendous destruction.  The people of Monson saw 75 houses destroyed. Poncho stayed close and watched me carefully the whole time. Sweetie was oblivious and Gigi spent the night in the basement. She was smarter then all of us.

Poncho’s problem with gum disease returned in December 2013. He had been doing so well living with us. He loved his yard and sunny afternoons in the garden. When I parked the car at the end of the day, he trotted out to meet me with a big meow. The three cats never really liked each other, but learned tolerance. An awful decision was made to end his life at 14 years old. The cost for dental care this time was too high for me to take on. We had four years together. I was able to be with him at the end and still miss his presence. I remember empty days after he was dead. His spirit was so lively. He slept on my legs every night, curled up on my lap every day. I don’t think the other cats felt that way. But, to me, he became a friend and defender. Poncho found a way to make himself comfortable at my house. All that’s left of him know are memories.