Heartbreaker, ? - 2023-12-15

When we bought our house in Ireland, there was a note from the owner along with some cat food, requesting we feed the cat. It took a few days for us to see him, but when we did, we started putting out food.

He was a stockly-built black & white tabby, in the pattern I refer to as a meow-cow -- that is, he looked like a black&white cow. He was un-neutered. I referred to him as Stray Cat, but pointed out that this was his job title, not his name. His true name, I told people, was Heartbreaker.

He did not show up every day, sometimes going as much as 2 days before we'd see him again.

It took several weeks before he would let us approach him; a couple more after that before we could touch him. After another month or so, I could pet him reliably. And even pick him up for short periods. I tried putting him in a carrier, but due to errors on our parts, he instead freaked the fuck out, and injured me pretty badly. Fortunately, rabies is not a thing in Ireland.

We got him an insulated house, which we filled with straw, so he could have a warmer, dryer place. We put it so we could see inside, and, it turns out, so he could see us in the kitchen.

He came by most days. He'd still skip a day or so, but this seemed to be weather-related. My best guess was that he had a barn or similar he could stay in, which was warner, dryer, and out of the wind, but didn't have as much food. When he showed up, he'd eat as many as 8 pouches of food at a setting.

I tried letting him inside the kitchen. It took a week or two, but he decided this was an okay place to be. I could even feed him inside. I got a litter box, and he used it (although not well, he may have had some issues urinating). On this past Wednesday, I let him in for hours, with the door closed. He didn't freak out.

On Thursday, I gave him some food dosed with gabapentin. I was able to get him into a carrier, although it was a struggle (but he didn't bite me, he was just freaked out by the carrier). I took him to the vet, for everything they could do -- ideally, vaccinations, antibiotics, and of course neutering. They called me back later, and confirmed he was FIV+, and advised euthanasia.

I declined; we'd been through that with Brian O'Cat at the previous rental house, and that had caused me to read a lot about FIV.

Today, the same vet called me, and told me that he had died of respiratory distress while under anesthesia -- that he just never woke up.

He lived up to his true name. He was a very good cat to have around. He was friendly, silly, and deserved better.