Marvin the Martian, 2005? - 2008
In the last few months, I've had to put down four feral cats who have wandered onto my patio. The first three were relative strangers; old, sick cats who were looking for a quiet place to die. The fourth, however, who was put to sleep this morning (5 Apr), affected me more deeply because he has been a fixture around the apartment complex where I live for the last 3 years or so.
His name was Marvin the Martian.
As you can see from the photo above, he was a very handsome white/orange tabby. He was also very friendly (as far as ferals go). Outside of the patio, he acted just like any wild animal -- "Humans? I'm getting the heck outta here!" On the patio, he felt safe enough to allow me to scratch his chin and rub his back.
He suffered from cerebellar hypoplasia, a nonfatal disorder contracted in the womb, which gave him a lopsided gait.
Unfortunately, he also suffered from Feline AIDS. When he showed up on my patio scabby & balding, I managed to catch him and took him to a vet. I had hoped that it would just be a matter of curing the scabies (and finally "fixing" him) but it was not to be. In fact, his advanced case of scabies was most likely due to his ravaged immune system being unable to fight off the mites.
So this morning, I went down to the vets' and rubbed his back one last time.
I'll miss Marvin.
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