starryeyedheathr
09-21-2008, 08:10 PM
Enzo was adopted from the Second Chance Center for Animals in Flagstaff, AZ this past December (2007.) His age at the time was estimated to be about 13 weeks old, and so we approximated his birthday to be around September 20, 2007.
Our little guy was an affectionate and curious little kitten; he was never shy around strangers; he only hid from the vacuum. He had his own bedroom, and loved to lay out on the balcony whether rain or shine (just not in snow!) :D As my first cat, I was constantly amazed by his actions and demeanor. Though my husband had been around cats his whole life, even he was constantly amazed by this one.
Enzo was a constant companion to his "father" and spent many nights (and mornings) by his side. Enzo watched many baseball games with Jason, and was raised to be a NY Yankees fan. If Jason happened to fall asleep in front of the tv, Enzo was sure to be found on the couch with him. If either of us entered the bathroom, for any reason, he would lay down at the door and meow... he always let us know he was right there.
When we decided to return home to NY after spending a year in AZ, we rented a truck for the trip. Enzo spent the first day of driving in his carrier, often meowing as this was his first big car trip. At rest stops we would let him out to explore inside the truck and stretch a little bit. The second day of driving found him to be much more relaxed, eating and drinking like normal, and rarely crying. When we spoke his name, even if only in mentioning something like "Enzo is being so good," he would utter a tiny meow of recognition.
It was on that second day, September 2 of 2008, that we decided to let him stretch a little further by putting him on a harness outside at a rest stop. He was out of the truck for no more than 2 minutes when a tractor trailer on the highway downshifted and frightened him. He jumped and squirmed out of the harness so fast that we couldn't catch him. He ran down an embankment and hid in the grass crying loudly, which was a great relief to us that he was ok. But as we got close to him, Jason fell and Enzo ran again... and this time straight to the highway.
This was the most tragic thing that could have happened to us, and we refused to leave our little guy behind. Jason picked Enzo up out of the grass in the median of the highway, and we brought him home to NY, where we had him cremated. Though the outcome could have been horrible, we are grateful for this: Enzo was in perfect condition. We asked for the vet to determine his cause of death. It was determined that a 4 cm tear of the lung was the fatal damage. Enzo suffered the impact of a car hitting a speed upwards of 75 mph (as that was the posted limit on the interstate) and had not one broken bone.
We loved our kitten as much as we possibly could, and did our best to show it not just in affection but in the way we trained him, and what we fed him. I was even excited that he was finishing up the last bag of kitten food, and was about to start the "big boy" (adult) food. We also fed him vitamins daily. He never developed a liking for people food, and as such never begged for food. He was always curious though, and liked to sniff at what we were eating!
This weekend we celebrated what would have been our kitten's one year birthday by visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. We had a litte bat inscribed with his name. He is missed every day... and will never be forgotten.
Our little guy was an affectionate and curious little kitten; he was never shy around strangers; he only hid from the vacuum. He had his own bedroom, and loved to lay out on the balcony whether rain or shine (just not in snow!) :D As my first cat, I was constantly amazed by his actions and demeanor. Though my husband had been around cats his whole life, even he was constantly amazed by this one.
Enzo was a constant companion to his "father" and spent many nights (and mornings) by his side. Enzo watched many baseball games with Jason, and was raised to be a NY Yankees fan. If Jason happened to fall asleep in front of the tv, Enzo was sure to be found on the couch with him. If either of us entered the bathroom, for any reason, he would lay down at the door and meow... he always let us know he was right there.
When we decided to return home to NY after spending a year in AZ, we rented a truck for the trip. Enzo spent the first day of driving in his carrier, often meowing as this was his first big car trip. At rest stops we would let him out to explore inside the truck and stretch a little bit. The second day of driving found him to be much more relaxed, eating and drinking like normal, and rarely crying. When we spoke his name, even if only in mentioning something like "Enzo is being so good," he would utter a tiny meow of recognition.
It was on that second day, September 2 of 2008, that we decided to let him stretch a little further by putting him on a harness outside at a rest stop. He was out of the truck for no more than 2 minutes when a tractor trailer on the highway downshifted and frightened him. He jumped and squirmed out of the harness so fast that we couldn't catch him. He ran down an embankment and hid in the grass crying loudly, which was a great relief to us that he was ok. But as we got close to him, Jason fell and Enzo ran again... and this time straight to the highway.
This was the most tragic thing that could have happened to us, and we refused to leave our little guy behind. Jason picked Enzo up out of the grass in the median of the highway, and we brought him home to NY, where we had him cremated. Though the outcome could have been horrible, we are grateful for this: Enzo was in perfect condition. We asked for the vet to determine his cause of death. It was determined that a 4 cm tear of the lung was the fatal damage. Enzo suffered the impact of a car hitting a speed upwards of 75 mph (as that was the posted limit on the interstate) and had not one broken bone.
We loved our kitten as much as we possibly could, and did our best to show it not just in affection but in the way we trained him, and what we fed him. I was even excited that he was finishing up the last bag of kitten food, and was about to start the "big boy" (adult) food. We also fed him vitamins daily. He never developed a liking for people food, and as such never begged for food. He was always curious though, and liked to sniff at what we were eating!
This weekend we celebrated what would have been our kitten's one year birthday by visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. We had a litte bat inscribed with his name. He is missed every day... and will never be forgotten.