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REST IN PEACE, MY BIG BUDDY
Glacier Supernatural
"Carlos"
August 9, 1999 to November 5, 2015
Carlos was my best friend for over sixteen years.
I thought he would be with me forever, but the time for him to leave came suddenly.
Though it was heartbreaking to see him weaken daily, it means the world to me that
I was there with him, every moment, giving him the love that he deserved.
In my heart, I think he knew.
Rest in Peace, Carlos, my friend.
Someday I'll hold you in my arms again.
Since the 1970s I had wanted a Ragdoll cat. After moving to Kalispell, MT, and not having my dogs in the house with me, I decided the time had come. Fortunately, there were several Ragdoll breeders in the area. The second one I visited was Glacier Ragdolls. When I arrived at Candy's house, the living room was full of cats. Big cats, little cats, girl cats, boy cats... She showed me several kittens, and one older kitten who had a white patch over his eye. But there was another kitten who kept strolling through the room. I asked about him and Candy said he wasn't for sale. But he was the one that kept catching my eye. I looked up and he was gone. Then he was back. I asked his name and she said he didn't have one yet. He was about four months old.
The next day I went to the third breeder, who had a litter of blue mitted kittens that were adorable. But I couldn't forget that little devil at Candy's house. I called her that weekend and said I had to have him. Finally she agreed. She arranged for him to be neutered and I picked him up on December 31, 1999. Yes, Y2K day! I named him Carlos in honor of Carlos Santana, and his registered name was Glacier Supernatural after the Santana album.
Carlos moved in and made himself right at home. He was the only four-legged creature who had the run of the house, so he was king of the hill. Then we got a guinea pig. He was fascinated by her. One morning I got up and heard little squeals from the pig pen. When I looked inside there wasn't one pig in there, there were four! She had had two babies and Carlos was cuddled up with them. Apparently he thought he was their dad.
In the fall of 2000, Carlos and I moved to the Mountain Villa Apartments in Kalispell, just the two of us. We had a great little place, with an upstairs loft and a balcony. Carlos slept on the railing of the loft, which scared me to death. Then we moved to a two-bedroom apartment with a patio and he would sit and look out the door for hours.
In 2001, Carlos, Benjamin, and I moved to a house in Kalispell. We went from the peace and calm of the two of us, to the chaos of a teenage boy and all his friends. Then Ozzie came, a Silky Terrier who dragged Carlos around by the scruff of the neck. It was too much. After Ozzie left, Hagar arrived, a horse of a dog, but so timid that Carlos' reign was not in jeopardy. In September 2004, we got Kato. He was a Ragdoll as well, a seal bicolor.
Poor Kato was sickly from the start. He was so tiny he had to stay in the bathroom while I was at work. He was not a friendly or affectionate kitten, but he idolized Carlos.
In June 2005, Carlos, Kato, and I moved to Aberdeen, Washington. Carlos and Kate rode in a crate beside me in the front seat of the moving van for two days. We moved into a two-story apartment, which they loved. They spent their days on my bed upstairs looking out the window.
About a year later, I bought a house and we were finally home. At the same time, I got a Pug puppy, Gorby. He was an adorable but tough puppy, who made Carlos' life a living hell. We decided he was just too much for us, so we found him a home. In January 2007, Lily entered our lives, a little black furry thing smaller than my black furry slippers. She loved Carlos, who was indifferent in that feline way. Kato, though, wanted nothing to do with her. He would escape by jumping out the upstairs window, onto the carport, and down a tree. In the summer of 2009, he disappeared one day, and never returned.
Life settled down with the three of us, Carlos, Lily, and me. Over the next few years, some dogs came and went for various reasons, but by 2013 we were back to our original threesome and that's how it stayed, except for the gerbils. Carlos loved watching the gerbils. He would sit on the couch with his eyes flickering back and forth, watching his "prey".
Life went on quietly and uneventfully, the three of us happy in our household. But then, in late 2014, Carlos started howling at night. He had trouble going up and down the stairs. He had an enlarged heart and chronic liver disease. By the summer of 2015, he was on daily hyperthyroid medication. At the end of October, he suddenly took a turn for the worse, stopped eating and drinking, and slept all day in Lily's bed in her crate. I had already decided I would not put him through being hospitalized or living with IVs and feeding tubes.
On November 5, he died in my arms outside in the sun and fresh air that he loved so much.
