vincent van gogh

2011 - 2021

Vincent was an impulse adoption. The local shelter was having an adoption event at the mall, so I went in just to look. Vinny was in an enclosure all by himself, while many younger kittens were playing in a larger area. When I saw Vincent, I knew I wanted him. He was beautiful. He reminded me of pussywillows. He was mostly grey with some tabby markings and long hair, and probably about 4 months old. They asked me if I really wanted him and not a smaller kitten because he had a clipped ear (thus the name Vincent Van Gogh) and a short crooked tail. I said I wanted him for sure. When I picked him up he began to purr. He was an apartment (indoor) cat for most of his life until about a year ago when we moved to the country. We were very cautious when he went outside, as there are many predators here. We didn't let him out after dark. He loved it here. For the first time in his life, he could run; and boy did he! He would shoot across the yard so fast! He was free!! He would follow us down the long path to the mailbox, along with our small dog, so we called him Catdog. And he would bring us special gifts of mice! He was living his best life...until he was attacked by a stray cat that came on our property and attacked him. He only lost fur and had a small scatch that I treated, but the worst of it was that he changed. He began to hide in his litterbox and then not eat or drink. In three days, he passed away in his sleep on my husband's lap. Letting us hold him was unusual, so we were just enjoying it. We didn't even know he was gone until we moved him. He was still beautiful and looked like he was only sleeping. We all (including the dog) miss him sooooo much. I'm planning on adopting two kitties now. It will take two to distribute all the love we felt for Vinny. Can't wait to see him again someday. I'm sure he's running the fields of heaven right now.