Jamal, the Best Kitty that Ever Was

Jamal stopped eating in June.  After a trip to the vet it was discovered that he had a tumor under his tongue.  He spent about another week with us and we were all able to say our goodbye's.  It was a very difficult, sad time, but I'm grateful that we had the week to prepare the kids.  He's buried on the side of our house under some pretty purple flowers.  I'm sure he would have like to lay under them or maybe poop under them.  

I went through the last few years for some of my favorite pictures of him.

Here is a selfie I took just recently while I was trying to take a nap.  Jamal and Annie wouldn't allow it.

Jamal the cowboy kitty.

All of the kids have always loved to pretend that they're kitties.  Here, Jamal is not amused that he has to share his floor milk.

Jamal in a patch of sun in the garden.  He was a very quiet kitty.  He wasn't too pushy or needy for affection, but would always do his job well if you needed it.

He was the silkiest kitty ever.  We made sure that we fed him expensive cat food because it made his fur extra shiny and silky.  He didn't shed very much either.

If there was a patch of sun on the floor, he was in it.  He would move spots throughout the day, so I always knew where to find him.  Sometime his fur would get so hot, I couldn't believe he wasn't cooking.

He was a great, patient friend.

He loved peas and green beans.  He had extremely long bear claws, and we loved to put peas on the table for him.  He'd so gently reach his paw up, hook the pea with one claw, and pull it over to him.

Here he is just a mildly annoyed that I was interrupting his nap.  That I think is one reason people are attracted to cats, it's so easy to see what their mood is.  He just has one ear slightly to the side, saying "seriously?  come on."

He was a super jumper.  He could easily scale a 6 foot cinder block wall while we lived in AZ.  He did rub a bald spot on his saggy belly, though.

Every night during TV time, he would slowly climb up on Jared's chest and lay until bed time.  He'd get really annoyed if you were unavailable.

After I had laser eye surgery, I was in the worst pain of my life for a couple days.  I was all alone in my bed, not sleeping because of the pain, and bored but unable to see anything.  At one point Jamal seemed to sense this and came and snuggled up behind me.  This was not something he would normally do and I really do think he did it to comfort me.

He was always very patient with the kids.

He LOVED milk.  He could hear the sound of a bowl of cereal from miles away.  Here he's giving Lily a little love, head-butt/ hurry-up nudge.

He was usually pretty polite about it and not too pushy, so he usually got what he wanted.

He was a good hunter.  He caught birds, snakes, lizards, mice, bugs and all kinds of things.  Sometimes he would so thoughtfully bring them into the house for us.

He was pretty patient with my crazy antics.

He was a good cleaner, too.  Note the macaroni noodle on his back.

We got him from the pound when he was a big kitten.  He meowed so loudly that I couldn't leave him, I knew he wanted to come home with me.  After that he never meowed so loudly again.

He and Ruby were besties, we got them at the same time.  They always cuddled, cleaned each other, and wrestled.  I think she misses him, too.

Even earlier than these pictures, before we had kids, our cats were our kids.  We used to take them with us every sunday night to watch them play at my parents house.  My sister would bring her cat and the cat-cousins would play together (fight).  There was also the year that we held our cats for our Christmas card.  We even have a Christmas stocking for him.  There are so many great memories, he really was part of our family.  He is irreplaceable and unforgettable.   I actually do think he was the best kitty that ever was.