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7:31pm

Pepe.....my big boy

Well, I see there is another story about black animals in the news. People are really, really stupid. My Pepe was black and, when he was little, the underside of his tail was silver-gray like a reverse skunk hence the name Pepe. If you rubbed his fur the wrong way it was silver-gray and I thought he might change color. The silver-gray all went away and he was solid black with 2 fangs so he was almost not Pepe at all.
That was 16 years ago and yesterday, 16JUNE2008, I laid my friend to rest. He was going into renal failure and his time had come. I cried for him and thanked him for every day he gave me. He was my big boy and he slept at my feet.
About 18 months ago, the dogs got him. I was napping and had the back door open and he had wandered outside and went out front. In my sleep I heard something hit my house and was up and on the front porch before I was awake. There were 2 dogs and one of them had a black cat in its mouth. I thought it was the huge black tom from the feeder/breeder down the street and I was going after the dogs. Then the cat turned his head and looked at me and that really woke me up. It was my big boy. It was my Pepe. I remember yelling his name and taking off. I had no fear and I knew I was going to get him back. I guess they knew it also. The dog dropped my Pepe. I tried to grab him but he flopped off. He had no use of his back right leg. He tried to climb the oak tree and I was trying to get him. He was hissing at me and then the dog who had him came back. I could not leave him as he could not use his leg. I started swinging and kicking and finally made contact. The dog left. Pepe hobbled under my car so I ran in the house. I had my garage door cracked for protection from the dogs. I ran out in the garage and he was out there so I picked him up. He wasn't hissing any more.
His eyes were clear and he was not in pain that I could see. I called a friend over and she concurred. I noticed later he was up in the dining room chair. I knew if he could do that he would be okay until morning when my regular vet opened. When he would try to walk he just flopped around like a fish - poor baby.
My vet said all the ligaments in that leg were shredded. He said if the dog had pulled an nth harder it would have pulled his leg off. He said he could not imagine why they dropped him as they usually don't do that. I told him they must have known it was the smart thing to do. I was not a pretty picture I am sure.
He said he could operate and reattach everything but he could not predict how much function he would have. Worst case scenario he still had 3 legs and cats do very well with 3 legs thank you.
Well, you would have never known anything happened. He gained 100 per cent function and plugged along just fine until about a week ago.
I thank him for every day he gave me. People should be so lucky to have a black cat like this one in their life. Farewell my big boy. I'll see you at the Bridge.