August, 2010.
We were going through a rough patch in life. The husband and I had gone to lunch at Famous Daves then stopped off at Walmart for a few odds and ends. As we pulled into the parking spot, the tiniest, ittiest, bittiest kitten appeared out from under a truck. She came right to me, jumped into my arms, and there she stayed. We said to heck with the groceries, took her home and prayed our other cat, Cali, would love her as much as we did.
We named her Toby.
Cali hated Toby with a vengeance. They fought non-stop, one wound even required a trip to the vet. So we did what any good pet owner would do... we locked Cali in the craft room during the day, and then would trade them every night, because Toby bothered us way too much at night, whereas Cali never did.
We did this every night for three years. Every once in awhile, we would have a weak moment and let Toby stay in the house, and we always regretted that decision about an hour later.
Toby was a naughty kitty. She clawed up all the carpet in the house, right down to the subfloor in spots. She clawed holes in all the furniture. She got on the cupboard constantly and would get in to anything she could get in to. She wasn't afraid of water, so spraying her rarely deterred her. She climbed on everything... the top of the book case, curio cabinet, freezer... those were her domains. We didn't even bother putting anything up there, she would just knock it off. She left huge claw marks in all the screens, and destroyed most of the blinds and curtains, clawed holes in the office chairs and ruined the seat to the bowflex.
But we loved her. She loved to play and wrestle. She would sit on the bar stool with her front paws on the cupboard and watch me cook, unless it was something yummy, then she would stand on her back paws beside me, stretching up as far as she could, begging for a bite. She loved honey dew. Tuna fish. Cheerios. If anybody was eating icecream or yogurt, she'd sit on your lap and wait not so patiently for you to finish so she could have the last bite off your spoon.
She liked to be in the middle of whatever you were doing and would playfully bite you if she thought whatever you were doing was getting more attention than she was. She squeaked when she purred and squeaked when she jumped (that's how we always knew she was on the cupboard). She loved to sit on the piano and watch the birds on the front porch. No one could ever go to the bathroom without her standing outside the door with her paw under the door, begging to be let in. In fact, she would stand outside any closed door and meow and claw at the carpet.
Every night, when it came time for bed, she would hide, and sometimes she got downright mean, she didn't want to go to bed, she wanted to play. Every morning when I traded her, we would always grab a handful of weeds for her to chew on, and she would hold them between her front paws as we carried her in the house. They were her favorite treat.
Toby would run to the dining room window when she heard us pull in the driveway and would greet us at the back door. She loved to see us and would love on us for hours when we returned from work/school.
She was Ashlee's best buddy. Every night, Ashlee couldn't go to bed without giving her a kiss and Toby made sure she was in the bathroom whenever Ashlee took a shower, sitting patiently on the toilet seat for her to get out. Ashlee had a million nicknames for her... Tobias, Baybree, Baboosh, Tobes.
Arilee had the funniest voice she would use when she called Toby, it became known as her Toby voice. Whenever we said Toby's name, especially when she was in trouble, she would meow back at us. She was a sassy little thing. I don't think she ever answered to "kitty"... just Toby.
We never let Toby go outside unsupervised, until recently. She never went anywhere and was never outside for long. For years, we worried about our dogs chasing her, but they are so old now, we would have to get after Toby for chasing the dogs instead. When some new cats showed up this summer, Toby fought endlessly with them, until we started bringing the kittens in the house. She warmed up rather quickly to "Cute", and whenever Cute came in the house, Toby would sniff her, give her a kiss on the nose, and then they would go about their business and pretty soon, none of the kittens bothered her, nor their mama. Can't say that she loved them, but she tolerated them. It wasn't long before we started letting her go outside whenever she wanted. She was never gone for long, she would chase a few birds and a squirrel, climb a tree and taunt the other cats get in a fight or two with Stella (our other outdoor female cat). She was usually only gone a few minutes, especially when it got cold, before she'd be back at the door begging to be let in. I never worried about her.
Friday, the girls and I went to the Festival of Trees. Toby wanted to be let out, but I wouldn't let her since we didn't know how long we would be gone. When we got home, she darted out the door first thing, and we left her out. It was a beautiful day. Several hours later, we started looking for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Cody walked the property several times, and the only other creature he came across was the next door neighbors pit bull, Buddy. We hunted and prayed, hoping Buddy hadn't got her. By dark, there was still no sign of her. It was a long night, filled with worry and sadness. Where was Toby? Surely she'd find her way back, we left the garage door open for her, just in case she needed a place to get out of the cold.
The next morning, she was still nowhere to be found. A short time later, my sister in law called, she was in tears. She had found Toby under a tree beside her house, her fur matted, her back bloodied. She was dead.
The worst moment of my life was wiping away the tears of my little girl after she was told that her best friend in the whole world was dead.
We buried her out back next to the garage, where she liked to go lay and bask in the sunlight. We wrapped her in a towel, laid one of her favorite toys in her paws, gave her one last pet, and said our final goodbyes. Cody laid a brick over her grave and Ashlee painted her name on it, and found some silk flowers to place on it.
My sister in law gave Ashlee a necklace with a heart that said "Toby" on it and a cute little glass cat figurine. She prominently displayed it in the curio cabinet so we could all look at it and remember her.
Recently, we discovered if you wanted to make her flip out, all you had to do was put a cheerio on her back. I wish I had caught that one on film. Last week, Arilee accidentally spilled red glitter all over her, she sparkled for days. I wish I had taken a picture.
She was a sweet little kitty, our little black monster. She wasn't just a cat, she was a part of our family, our baby. She drove us absolutely freaking crazy, but we also miss her like crazy. Life will never be the same without her. We love you, Toby!
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