Fred came to me about 18 years ago. I’d been looking for a grey kitten to replace Smokey, my first grey cat.

Tailiko brought me a very young kitten and I was stoked. We bonded in my hammock and I was thinking of a name.

If you are old enuff to remember “The Furry Freak Brothers” in Zap Comics in the 60’s you know Fat Freddy had a cat (unnamed). This cat sometimes got revenge for being left home alone. I came home one evening to find that my kitten seemed to have followed in Fred’s cats footsteps. He had shit in my earphones which was identical to what Fred’s cat had done.

Ergo my kitten had named himself Fred.

He was my hammock, bed, couch, lap cat. When he was young he’d run up the coffee tree I was picking.

When he was around 5, he lost an eye; but it didn’t seem to bother him at all as he still brought me live mice at night (yes, to my bed where he’d play with them until I’d toss the mouse/rat out the window).

He’d stand his ground with visiting dogs, but easily made friends with people and put up with kids.

Until I met Susan, he was the best companion I could hope for.

The last couple of months he’d been failing and last week he could barely walk. Fri he was lying on the couch with me and managed some purring. I went to the outhouse and he stumbled outside while I was gone and we haven’t been able to find his body yet.

At  Keei beach, buried in the sand

Playing with  “George Mouse”

His computer mouse.

Above with Sonny’s cat Mini.

After I met Terry, he sent some pictures to me, showed me the farm, the house and his cat. He convinced me to get a cat, so I got a kitten, named her Mina.

On the day she delivered her first litter of kitten, I was sitting by a big basin, washing laundry. Mina came to me, bit my pants and tried to drag me. Even she couldn’t speak human language, but obviously she wanted me to go somewhere with her. I followed her to the new nest I made for her. She got inside the box, lied down. I thought, she was going to have her babies soon and she was nerves (it’s her first time), she wanted someone to be there with her. So I talked to her, stroke her, it seems comforted her. I saw her first baby came out, then Mina got busy to clean her babies. She had 6 healthy kittens, they gave my whole families lots of joy.

I like cat, but loving a cat is a very different thing, I don’t think I can love a cat like Terry does. He gives dearly care to our cats, allowed Fred snuggle with him all the time. Last few months, Fred slept a lot, napping with Terry on the couch; he lay on Terry’s chest, laps, on the pillow or by his feet, part of Fred’s body always touching Terry. If Terry moved or changed position, Fred moved too, then settled down and satisfied to touch Terry again.

Last Friday night, Sonny and I were watching TV, Fred was sleeping on another couch. Suddenly he rolled off the couch, kicking, struggling to breath, like he was dying at that moment. I sent Sonny to bedroom to get Terry, and I kept patting and talking to Fred. Terry came, gently picked him up and put Fred on his laps, Fred’s breathing became normal again. Part of that night, Fred slept on Terry’s chest.

Early morning of next day, Fred woke up, drank some milk and ate some can food, slept the whole morning peacefully on the couch. He disappeared in the late afternoon, we had no luck to find his body. We hoped he could die on Terry’s lap, Terry could hold him at that moment. Several times, Fred stumbled out from the house, Terry brought him back.

Here is another story I like to share. I had a miscarriage, it was my first pregnancy, about 2 months. When I started bleeding a little, I asked our lady friend. She told me, if there were just a little blood, don’t worry about it. So we decided to wait and see. At that time, Fred was very sick, he stayed under the house all day, loose poop with some blood.

About 4 or 5 days after I noticed my bleeding, I had a dream. In my dream, Fred sat on the floor of living room, looking at me who is standing in the middle of the room. He was very sad, a big tear drop hang underneath his only eye.

Next morning I told Terry about my dream and my worries. I sensed, if I had this baby, Fred would die; if Fred lived, I would lose this baby. I cried for Fred and the unborn baby, so sad. 2 days later, I wasn’t doing better, we went to hospital and found out I was not carrying the baby anymore. I prayed, wished Fred would restore his life, since I already lost my baby. Slowly, Fred recovered, lived many more years to receive more love from Terry. Even Fred couldn’t talk, but he sure loved Terry in his own way.

Fred, a very special cat.