Thank you all for your kind words and love. I wish I could turn back time. He was such a good boy and we loved him so very much.

I became familiar with Spunky’s story when Norma Blackstone Milton, of Halfway Home Pet Rescue, made a post about a cat found in a potato barrel on February 11, 2019. I will never forget that date because it was my birthday. The ball got rolling when he was found in Fort Fairfield by kind, compassionate people, Gene and Patty Helstrom who were checking their potato house. They found Hobo aka: Spunky in the barrel frozen, starved, and very near death. They called Fort Fairfield PD, one of the officers picked him up and brought him to Halfway Home Pet Rescue. The very dedicated volunteers went right to work saving this beautiful boy.

Months after his recovery, I received a call from Norma, asking if I would be willing to foster Spunky. She explained because of his age and health issues his chances of getting adopted were slim. We already had 4 cats, but after talking to my husband, we agreed to take him in. I fell in love with this sweet boy immediately, and he was my foster fail. We adopted him within 2 weeks of having him with us.

I will miss waking up in the morning to him laying on my chest and tapping my cheek with his paw to get me up. He was hungry and wanted to be fed. He would stay up as long as I did at night, but when I said, “Let’s go to bed, Boy” he would jump down, look at me and meow, and lead the way. I will miss seeing him in the living room window, where he would sit, when I left, and watch for me to come back. I will miss his kisses on my nose, his following me everywhere, climbing up my leg because he was hungry and wanted the food I was preparing now, I will miss him reaching with his paw to pull my hand toward him because he wanted more scratches or another bite of whatever we were eating. I will miss him getting on my lap after dinner and make biscuits and suckle on my shoulder for a good 15 minutes before settling down beside me until we went to bed.

He was a quad kneader, I always got a kick out of that. He loved kisses between his ears. I would gently hold his head with my hands and give him kisses on his head between his ears, he would purr so loud, and rub his check against my chin. I will miss my conversations with him, where he would sit on my lap, facing me, and meow, I would meow back. I knew his bowl was empty and he wanted more food. After going back and forth a few times, I would ask him if his bowl was empty and was he still hungry. His answer was to jump on the floor, walk a few steps ahead of me, and stop to see if I was following. I would follow him into the kitchen and give him another can of catfood. I loved him so very much and he loved me too. My husband would often say he could really see how much this cat loved me. I will forever be grateful to Norma for trusting me with this very special and smart boy to foster.

He fought so hard over the weekend, Monday and yesterday, but it was so obvious to me Monday that he was in pain. He was so restless, before I took him to the vet. Our hearts broke yesterday when we got the word, no one wants to hear, that their pet has cancer. I was given the option to bring him home for a couple more days with pain medication so we could come to terms with losing him to this awful disease. I declined that offer because my heart was breaking and whether he came home for two days or two weeks nothing was going to change that, and all the while he would be suffering. It wasn’t about making me feel better, it was about doing what was right for him. He had suffered enough already. He was down to 7 lbs and so weak when he opened his mouth to meow, no sound came out. So, we went to the vet earlier and I got to hold him longer, and talk to him, I pray he understood. Until we meet again my beautiful, sweet boy. I will love you forever. Thank you to all of you who wouldn’t give up on him, and I got to spend those most precious moments with him.