A Member of The Family...

Just recently my family & I lost a valuable member of our family. His name was T.C. and was our beloved cat. My mom had raised him from a baby after finding him in a trashcan years ago, that is how he got his name, T.C., it means Trash Cat. My step-dad didn't want mom bringing in another animal when we found him because we already had 3 other cats, but my mother promised him it was only to nurse and raise him untill he was old enough to use the litter box, and then we would find a new suitable home for him, my step-dad allowed it, but was wary.

T.C. was not old enough to be away from his mother when we found him, reason why mom wanted to take care of, until he was old enough that is. My mother is an animal lover, as am I, I believe that is where I got my heart for animals at. Well, that day came, T.C. finally used the litter box on his own, my mother cried, knowing what was going to be done later on. My mom bonded with that kitten too much to want to let him go, and so did the rest of the family, even my step-dad.

So, he told one of my siblings, "Grab the fishing-pole..". The fishing pole was our play toy for the other cats, basically my step-dad needed an excuse to give in and keep the kitten. If T.C. would chase after the little toy mouse at the end of the line, he would be adopted into our family...Guess what...T.C. chased after it like the spaztic kitten he was.

Years past, and over those years he had gotten bigger, but not because he became an adult, he also became a little fat kitty, our...little fat kitty. Well, a couple days before my family was to return from visiting other family in Arizona, My grampa found him laying in front of their pond...dead. He called me up, told me of the situation, I told him to pick me up and bring me over. When I arrived...there he was, laying on his right side, lifeless. I wanted to cry, but I didn't, I felt nothing...I didn't understand why. So I requested to my grampa to run down to Lowes to grab latex painters gloves so I could examine him properly.

While my grampa did so I called my step-dad and told him what happened. He sighed and said he would call me back, my guess was that he was going to inform my mother. Moments later grampa didn't return yet, so I went inside and grabbed a few trash bags and covered up the lifeless T.C. due to the overwhelming smell that came from him. Grampa had told me that he wasn't there the day before he came to check on the animals, so we were grateful he at least passed on here at the house, so we could bury him, without worry of where he was at.

My cellphone rang, it was mom. I answered and unsurprisingly, she was crying. We talked for a few, it wasn't to difficult to understand her during her sobs, for I dealt with her in many cases in the past when she was crying. I explained what I knew of T.C., the more I told her, the louder the sobs that came from her. We hung up after and then my grampa returned with a bag of what I requested. I put on a pair and uncovered T.C., I carefully ruffled through his fur looking for any form of injury...nothing. I examined his left side of his face, the side that was exposed, nothing but the flies that swarmed around.

I flipped him onto his other side...I jumped back in shock. His right side of his face was being completely eaten away by maggots. This was when I cried, the poor lifeless cat, being tormented by death. I continued to examine him as the tear streamed down my face. I couldn't find anything. I had to stop, the smell was to much for me to handle, I was gagging the whole time I examined him.

Mom called again, I told her everything I saw, she cried more, especially when I mentioned the maggots. She told me what I needed to do before I hung up with her on the phone. I double bagged him in trash bags since I couldn't find a box for him. This was difficult to do, as I said, the smell was horrible, but I got it done. I took him out in the back yard and dug a hole about 6 feet away from a cat that we had before, someone whome we lost years ago, but I wont get into it. After I buried him, I placed a board on top and placed 2 big rocks (so the dog didn't go and dig him back up and to let the dirt harden). I stood there and stared at his new grave, unable to release anymore tears.

I turned around and placed my hand on grampa's shoulder, told him "Let's go home." because there was nothing needed to be done. We locked up my parents house and got into my grampa's truck..and drove off home.

We love you T.C., and always will. We hope you lived the life you wanted, even if it wasn't very long, and I hope you lived it...with no regrets.