He was born behind the dryer in the laundry room at our apartment complex, the prettiest kitty in a litter of three. The kids wanted to keep one, but we already had two cats, so, not wanting to be the bad guy, I said, “Ask Daddy.” Unexpectedly, he said “Sure!”
Mommy cat and kittens were taken in by another resident of the apartment complex, a girl who loved cats and already had a few of her own. Sheltering the young family gave the kittens the chance to survive and grow. After five weeks, though, they were getting rambunctious, so the cat-lover told us it was time to collect our kitten. It was way too early for the young ones to be taken away from their mother, but with no other alternative, we welcomed the newest member of our family.
We tried a few names on the little fellow. I particularly remember Snickers, and then Rascal. Rascal was always his “official” name, but Boogie was the name that stuck.
Boogie. Boogins. The Boogie Man. Boogs.
We built him a pen of oversized toy lego bricks, until he was big enough to venture out on his own and meet Max and Fritz. He was adorable, as all kittens are. 
Very quickly he was holding his own, and bravely endured several moves over the next several years, from that first apartment complex, to the big house with the pink rug, then back to a very small apartment, and then the townhouse in Coral Springs.
At the small apartment, Fritz left our family, and Squee joined. At the townhouse, we lost Max. Somewhere along the line we were also briefly blessed with the greatest dog in the world, Cookie.
Boogs always had lots of animal to interact with, but without a doubt, he loved people best of all. When Russ came into my life, the first time Boogie met him, he just walked right up and sat in his lap, purring his silly head off. When I saw that the Boogins approved, I knew I’d made a good choice in Russ.
Boogie and Squee traveled in crates in the back seat of my Saturn for 11 hours to their new home in Alabama. Not the best experience in their lives, I’m sure, but they survived and adjusted to their new home. 
I don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about how and when Boogie started to get sick. It was quite a while after the long ride in the car, so it’s unlikely that was a contributing factor. Bad food? Plastic water dish? Or just something that was going to happen to him, no matter what?
Was there something more we could have doneto help him? We spent a lot of money at two vets, tried all kinds of foods, medicines and remedies, and I even got suckered in a couple of times by internet snake oil, all in an attempt to make him feel better. Some things worked, for a short time, but over time, his condition just kept getting worse.
I don’t want to spend a lot of time, either, in rehashing what a hard decision it was to finally admit we’d gone as far as we could go, done as much as we could do. In the end, 
Russ notes, the only time he really seemed contented was when he was eating (despite the fact that he kept losing weight, he was always hungry), and when I was cuddling him. I like to think that at least I could do that much for him, simply by being with him.
Now that he’s gone, I hope the memory of the sick cat will begin to fade and instead we’ll remember all the really great things about Boogs. I know as a parent you’re not supposed to say you love one of your kids more than the others, but since Boogins was not my kid, just my cat, I feel perfectly fine in saying that of all the cats I’ve ever had, he was my absolute favorite, and I just don’t see how there could ever be a better cat than Boogins.
He loved catnip, and chasing the “Tinkerbell” glow of a flashlight. He always went nuts for salmon! He could purr up a storm, and was extremely photogenic, as you can tell by these photos here. He was terrified by helium balloons, and not extremely fond of plastic bags either. When Squee came into his world, Boogins took over as caretaker, spending countless hours grooming the little guy’s face and ears. Russ has noted that on occasion, when he would feed the two of them, if Squee did not come immediately to the food, Boogins would look around and wait, not wanting to start the meal until his buddy was there.
Boogs was a good soul, if cats have souls, and if they don’t, they at least have personalities, because having been blessed with many cats in my life, I know that each one is so different from all the others. There was never anything mean or bad about Boogie. His only behavioral problems stemmed from his illness. He was a good cat, in every way.
This Thanksgiving, my special thanks to God is for the blessing of having Boogie in my life for thirteen and a half years. I wish it could have been longer. I wish he could have been healthier. I’m glad I was able to be with him at the end, talking to him, petting him, and that I didn’t cry until after he was gone. I miss him, and I’m sure I will always miss him, but now he’s gone to be with Tapper and Wendy and Max and Fritz and Cookie, and on the other side there is no sickness, there is no pain.
Boogins had a good life, until the end when he was sick, and when he was sick, he got the very best care until there was nothing more we could do for him. I will always remember him, and always love him….the best cat ever.
Luke 12:6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.”
Hi Chris, I’m so sorry to hear that Boogie is gone. I know you both did all that you could, but these things are not always in our control. I remember when I lived in New Port Richey and I came to visit you at the big house with the pink carpet. The whole family would go off to school and work. Boogie would come in the bathroom while I did my hair and makeup. He’d sit on top of the toilet tank just watching everything I did , keeping me company till I finished.I also remember how when he finished using the litter box he would check to make sure he covered everything properly by smelling it. If it wasn’t up to his satisfaction he would make this sour face as if to say that stinks and then proceed to cover it some till it reached his idea of idea of clean enough. It is hard to loose a pet as they are family members . I will remember him too. Love Mom
Thank you, Mom, so much for these wonderful thoughts about Boogins. This was something I didn’t know…or, if you had told me at the time, I probably just forgot about it, thinking it was not really that important. But now every memory of him is important to me.
The fact that he was so fastidious about his litterbox just shows how far he had fallen. He was always so clean and well-groomed, one of his nicknames was “Silky Puss” because his coat was always so silky and beautiful. Towards the end, he wouldn’t even wipe his face after eating, I had to do it for him with a tissue. So sad. But I like to be reminded that in his prime he was a clean and dapper gentleman. 🙂
Collecting all the pictures of Boogins to put in this post really reminded me of how handsome he always was, and comparing these pictures to his most recent appearance further confirms for me that there was something wrong, that he was sick, and it was time for him to go.
It’s nice to hear that other people got to enjoy some aspect of our proper and friendly little gentleman!
Thanks.
Chrissy
Yeah, that sitting-and-watching-you part brings back memories. I have a chair set up next to the chair at my desk, and whenever I was home alone, he would hop up and sit in that chair, and watch me work on the computer all afternoon.
Whenever I’d close the keyboard drawer, he’d fly out of the office into the kitchen, because he knew that sound was followed by food.
After we watched a DVD, his head would snap up when I opened the DVD player, because he knew that sound was followed by lights dancing on the walls.
That’s some of the stuff I remember…
The “lights dancing on the wall” being the reflection of the DVD being moved about, and it would be especially pronounced if there was sunlight coming into the room. He would chase these “Tinkerbells” until he ran out of breath. But whenever he “caught” one, he never knew what to do with it! He just loved the “hunt.” I think if we had mice, he would have been a good mouser. (But I’m glad we never had mice to find out!)
Hi Chris and Russ – I am so sorry for your loss. Boogins sounded like such a great cat and very smart!! Usually cats are independent and just go off on their own, but from what you describe, boogie seemed to have a lot of manorisms of a dog. As you probably know, I’m a “pet parent” myself and can understand how attached you can get. I’m sure you’ll always have a special place in your hearts for him. Hang in there, and remember all the joy he gave you!!!
Thanks, Lori. I know you’ve got a cute little doggie and can understand how upsetting it can be to lose a pet. Boogins WAS very smart, and also very loving. Right now I’m still thinking about him every day, several times a day, but I know a time will come when I will think about him about as much as I think about Max and Fritz and Cookie, and that those thoughts will mostly be happy ones. I don’t know if everybody is this way, but I find in most cases my memories tend to focus much more on what was good, rather than what was bad. I guess that’s a fortunate thing, and I look forward to getting to that point.
So sorry to hear about Boogins. Just relish the memories and know that he was privileged to have you as parents. Its very hard to start each day without them, but remember how much happiness he brought you and that will make it easier. Sorry again for your loss.
Thanks, Terry, and I know you understand what this is like, because you’ve been through it a few times yourself. I had to smile at your term “parents.” In a way, they really are like kids. In fact, I’ve often said that having a cat is like havin a two year old…for ten or fifteen or twenty years!! You never stop taking care of them, doing everything for them, they rely on you completely (and I know dogs are the same.) There was a lot of happiness with Boogs, and I hope that in the long run I’ll mostly remember the beautiful happy cat he was for so much of his life.