Barney

I haven't written for a bit because our Barney died. I tried several times to write about things....some days just general stuff and some days Barney failing, but I was either too tired or too sad. Here is one of my starts from a few days ago.....

"I'm back. I took a couple days off. Our cat is sick. Renal failure. Anemia. Congestion and old age are all attacking Barney at the same time. Barney is 17 years old and was not "my" cat too until about a year and a half ago. Barney has been Barry's cat forever. But now Barney belongs to me and Jay and Stan also."



That was all I could get down. Barney was such a great cat. He would do these head butts against your head. I always thought it was Barney's way of giving out some love. He liked to sleep in a chair by the fire. He ate a coffee bean for breakfast and he was partial to a couple tortilla chips for an afternoon snack. He purred and meowed, and click-clacked his toenails on the floor. Mr Barneys was a part of our home, and now we miss him. He and Stan were a team, even though they didn't know it, and now Stan is a one-man show.

Barnes, like most cats, had a dozen names. He was often both the King and the Court Jester. I loved to watch him sit in the sun, or sleep all curled up, or saunter across the lawn. He bit my nose, once, very hard, and I think he enjoyed it. He sneezed a lot. He liked to lie right on the newspaper when I was reading it. We miss that good old man.

I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul. - Jean Cocteau