Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Rest in peace Mythos Kallas


Today was was my 57th birthday. It was also the day I put my beautiful cat Mythos down. I've had better days.
    Mythos came to the back door of our old place on Saticoy Avneue, where we lived for years before we decided to buy our own home. Our landlord had three rottweilers that lived in his half of the backyard and one day the dogs were acting even more crazy than usual. They were actually very sweet dogs, but something was in their backyard and they wanted to get to it.
    We never used the back door off of  my daughter Lindsay's room, or even went into the backyard there. There was something temporary about our residency in that tiny, dingy duplex, so the yard didn't interest us. When I opened the door to the back there was a tiny little white and orange kitten screaming to be let in. Considering his options -- the ever more insistent rottweilers, our house seemed a great refuge.
     The next hurdle was our cat, Orixa, who we called Kitti. She didn't take kindly to little animals and at 18-plus pounds she was a formidable opponent. So we had the new kitty stay in Lindsay's room for a few days, so that Kitti could get used to the idea of him and then we would introduce him to Kitti and Jersey, our cocker spaniel, who loved cats.
     We named the cat Mythos from the Highlander series because Rob said it would sound good with Kallas. He was a really funny looking little guy -- all jaw and ears. He was also spastic. As soon as he got out of the room he went wild. He would attack Kitti mercilessly. We got him neutered at 6 months because he was tormenting Kitti by trying to hump her even though he was half her length and would just basically bounce around on her back.
     Mythos quickly became Meepee, the Meep or Monsiour Le Meep because of the meep sound his meow made after being neutered so young, but he was insane. We couldn't keep pictures on the walls because he would run up the wall and tear them down. He chewed his way through electrical wire on the Christmas tree and singed his whiskers. There was a small burn mark on the carpet. He crashed the computer by running on the keyboard, costing $35 to get it unlocked. We ate with one arm guarding our meals because he would run through the room and grab food off our plates and take it into Lindsay's room where he would hide it in the corners until it smelled so bad she would have to dig it out.
     Mythos had  a death wish and would taunt the rottweilers through the screens. One day he got out and went after them and they him. It was an ugly affair, with Mythos drawing blood on everyone including the landlord who was holding his dogs back and Rob who was trying to wrangle Mythos to put him inside. Meepee was always trying to get out, but once he jumped the fence, he would panic and start screaming in fear because he was lost. On one such occasion he attacked Rob so ferociously, Mythos bit completely through Rob's thumb pad. Rob said he was going to kill Mythos, but Kitti, who by now had adopted Meepee as her very own, stood guard and wouldn't let him. Kitti bit me on my leg, drawing blood, when I scolded Mythos for running at the screens in the windows to taunt the rottweilers; he was her baby to raise, she said.
     Soon after, Kitti became very ill with liver cancer. As she got weaker Meepee would attack her and she would cry, but eventually Mythos seemed to understand and he stopped bothering her. We finally got around to getting our own house and after we moved, Mythos was nowhere to be found. We looked everywhere. We put out food. We cried. We called. We made posters and got ready to put them up when someone said, "Isn't that Mythos in the kitchen?"
     By now Mythos had grown into his chin and ears and was a big, beautiful, long-haired cat. But he hated any kind of change, so after we moved he managed to curl his 17 pound self into a small kitchen drawer. He loved his new house and he would hang through the top banister perched on his haunches during special events and watch over his house. When Kitti died of her cancer, he knew and cried all that night as Kitti's life slipped away.
     A few months later, there was a meowing at the front door. I opened to see a tabby cat out in the rain, crying to be let in. I kept turning it out, hoping it would find its way home, but when our neighbor came over to ask whether it was ours, I realized it was a stray, so we let her in. Mythos was ecstatic. He wanted another cat and even though she was afraid and hissing, he made himself small and kept his distance until she could get used to our house. Lily isn't really much of a cuddler, but she and Meepee loved each other, even though they were constantly fighting. Even in his older age, Meepee could get a touch of the crazies and he would go after Lily, who gives as good as she gets.
     Along the way Jersey the cocker spaniel died and we ended up adopting five dogs, each of whom needed a home. Meepee loved his dogs, even through they did their best to try to dominate him. My little chihuahua Fuser always tried to bite Mythos, but only got a mouthful of hair for his trouble. Meepee had turned into a real cool cat in his old age. Rob called him a "dog cat" because he would come when he was called. Meepee watched over the house and wasn't fazed by much of anything.
     He seemed healthy up until the end when he started drinking huge amounts of water and vomiting. He would have these spells, but then seem better. Over the weekend, he was in bad shape. When I took him to the vet, she said he was near death and suffering. So as I petted him and kissed him and told him I love him, feeling for his faint purr in his throat, she administered the sedative and he died, his brilliant blue/green eyes watching me.
    I love you Mythos. I will miss you terribly. Say hi to Kitti, Jersey, Lucy and Dennis for me.