BC

Today was a great day in South Alabama. I tied Sippi up outside near where I was cleaning out my brother's truck. Wanted to make sure she got to enjoy a little bit of the day.

When she isn't with me, Sippi spends her time in the basement. A junky, moldy place, that I live in denial it actually exists. But it has served its purpose for other strays that have come this way. BC started coming around I'm not sure when. I found out about him one day when my Mother said, "Don't tell Daddy but . . ."

But what? She had been feeding a feral black cat in the carport. BC, or black cat, came and went, often gone for weeks. My Mother was taking bowls of dog kibble smothered in milk to him. I think the raccoons enjoyed it too. Somewhere along the way, I started to feed him as Mother wasn't able to do it anymore. Over the weeks and months, I could touch him, then pet him, then lift him up briefly.

He had big fat tom cat jowels. There was a scar or two on his ears. One day his face was swollen with a terrible bite. Long story short, I caught him and took him to the vet. An even shorter story wound up with BC moving into the basement. It turned out, that after $500 worth of treatment, he had FIV or feline aids and had to be quarantined. Hurray for me.

What I had once thought was a mean, untrustworthy cat turned into a sweet, purring, drooling, kneeding kitty. I found out that my Mother was going into the moldy, stacked up environment to take a nap on an old wicker couch. She and BC were having bonding time. Eventually, he moved into the main house and followed her around like a dog.

My called me one day saying something was wrong with BC. It was terrible. I came into the kitchen to find him splayed out. He was hassling and a bloody foam was coming out his nose. I scooped him up and headed to the vet. But he died on the way. They tried to intebate him when I got there but his lungs were too full of fluid. The vet said that often heartworms can do that to a cat. He was fine one minute and gone within forty-five. I read the symptoms and they matched BC pretty well. After all the years outside, he must have been harboring a worm.

I'm still pissed about losing that cat. He turned out to be such a good companion for my Mother. Some of his black hair is still on the cushions on that couch. The couch that Sippi likes to sit on.