Goodbye Sharkey

Sharkey's been gone for about six weeks and he's officially settled in to his new home. Since there's no chance of him ever coming back, I thought it only appropriate to give him proper goodbye.

I took Sharkey up to FVH to declaw his back feet. When I dropped him off, one of the vet techs said, "So the front claws weren't enough?"

No, the front claws weren't enough. This crazy kitty climbs the walls - literally. He also eats Ben's food and bites my neck. He jumps in the full bathtub and tears through the house soaking wet. He chews the tops off of pacifiers and bottle nipples earning him the nickname: Pacifier Assassin. He's also helps himself to our dinner waiting on the table. More than once I've seen his little face whisker-deep in mashed potatoes.

He's a crazy cat! We could pull all his teeth and it wouldn't be enough!

I asked my parents if Sharkey could stay at FVH for a few days while he recovered so I didn't have to deal with keeping him quiet and the special litterbox instructions and of course they said yes.

Then I did the unthinkable, something I've always hated, something I've called inexcusable. I dumped my cat at the animal hospital.

People do this more often than you'd think. They drop off Sadie for a spay and say, "We'll pick her up tomorrow." The next thing you know it's been a week and their phone's disconnected.

I have no room in my heart for irresponsible pet owners and honestly, I never set out to dump Sharkey. It just happened. It had been four days and my mom said, "Everyone up at work loves your little cat. He keeps us in stitches all day."

"What cat? Oh yeah, Sharkey. Funny, I didn't even miss him."

My mom said, "Everybody wants to take him home - Teresa, Holly, everyone."

Then I said it, "They can have him." And just like that, I'd dumped a pet. I decided I was never going to pick that cat up and I didn't. I didn't even go tell him goodbye.

Now, he lives with Teresa and his new name is Archie. She says he's a great cat and that her other cat and dog love him. He sleeps with her every night and even won over her husband. Well, good for Sharkey, er... Archie. By the way, he likes mashed potatoes and dry Cheerios.