Farewell To Marty

This new year has brought me a lot of motivation, excitement and inspiration..........just not about blogging. I will have to fill you in on the end of our glorious vacation in Carmel in a future post. This post is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend and family member, Marty the Cat.

When we left on vacation, Marty was active, healthy and alert. Much to my chagrin, he was a talented hunter. His favorite choice of prey were birds. Then on the day before our return, we received a call from Elena, our friend and caretaker, who informed us that Marty was limping. We didn't ask her to do anything since we would be home within 24 hours to assess the situation.

We arrived home on Sunday but could not find Marty anywhere. We called for him and searched our whole yard, but out attempts were unsuccessful. We left food out and he did not eat it. We looked for two more days and then by Tuesday, we were pretty sure Marty must have met with foul play. But our little adventure was not over yet.

On Wednesday, we had an appraiser come to our home to review our property. They looked it over from top to bottom. Then suddenly, one of the appraisers came back into the house with a concerned look on her face. She said, "Do you know there is a cat locked in your shed?" Panic struck, I darted out to the shed to find Marty, crouched and crying and pitiful. His eyes were fully dialated and he acted like he couldn't see. I carried him in and gave him some food and water. He only ate two bites. An hour later, I was at the vet's office and Marty wasn't responding. It was beginning to seem like he was suffering from more than dehydration. The vet looked him over and exclaimed "Your cat is blind!" I had no idea. He was just hunting two weeks ago.

Apparently, Marty had suffered from some sort of trauma, probably just after going blind, while we were on vacation. He had been hiding in the shed because he couldn't see and he was sick. My husband was in the shed only the day before and didn't notice Marty. Sadly, he hung on for a few more days. At least we had the chance to say goodbye and hold him until the end.

I know there are a lot of people that don't care for cats, but we liked to think Marty was special. He was friendly and greeted visitors, but didn't fuss all over them. He was a constant companion whenever we were in the yard. He seemed to watch over us like we were in his pack. He didn't act all finicky and snooty like some cats. He always knew when to keep his claws in and he never bit or nibbled on us. Marty would walk with us four blocks down to the corner market and then back home. He wasn't on a leash; he just liked being with us. Farewell sweet Marty! You were a wonderful pet.