by Stacey Davis
Last night we had to put Jacko to sleep and it was simply the hardest thing, the most painful thing, I have ever had to do. Jacko was not my baby, and I was not his mom. He was not that type of animal. But he has been underfoot and meowing at us all for 17 years...how can he not be there tomorrow? When I visit mom's, how do I walk through the door without screaming, "JACKEROONI!!!!!!!" and hearing him screech back at me to shut up and quit calling him stupid baby names?
Jacko has been through it all, with all of us. I brought him home when I was 15. When my parents divorced and my mom and I got our own apartment, we took him with us. He hated it. He had the worst cabin fever and paced constantly. But he slept at the foot of my bed every night. He HOWLED when he wanted to be let out and I would squirt his butt with a water bottle. Then, when I had to move in with my aunt when I went back to college, Jacko went to live at my dad's house. My stepmom was allergic to cats, so he lived outside for 5 years, virtually on his own. My stepsister would sneak him into the house when nobody waslooking. Then, when I finally bought my own home, he came back to live with me for a short while, until he went to live back with his real mom, my mom. And he has been with her since.
Jacko never once had a shot, or a vaccination. There was simply no getting him to go to the vet. Onece, he had an eye infection, and I managed to get him into a pet box and take him to the vet, and when the vet opened the box, and he jumped out, she thought it was a lynx or something. At his peak he must have weighed 20 pounds and he was solid, not fat. He had these huge green eyes that stared you down and DARED you to make him do anything he didn't want to do. He never once got treated for flea prevention and in all those years outside, he never once got fleas. He fought off two huge dogs, much bigger than him and only had one scratch on his head. He never wore a collar, and never let you pet his tummy or cuddle him or play with his tail or anything. He really had that superior cat attitude. He would wait around a corner for you to walk past and reach out and scratch the hell out of you with one claw and then turn around and walk away. We called him hellcat and Satan quite a bit. He as definitely not an angel!
At the end he was very sick and the vet suspected cancer. He had terrible digestive problems that I don't even want to describe. He had been lethargic and not moving or eating for the last 4 days, and if you even touched him he would howl at you. At 17 years old he was just too sick and worn out. We all went to the vet with him and held his last little ten pounds of body while he went to sleep. I will miss him so much, I will miss him sneaking up behind me and scratching me, I will miss him stealing my brother's potatoes off his plate, I will miss him howling at me to shut up and quit baby-talking him. I hope he is free from pain and in a better place.
WE LOVE YOU JACKO
Love,
Stacey
Brandon
Chad
Mom
Dad
Tina
Sheri
Tasha
Cassandra
Calvin
I will see you again someday, you little shit!!!! Now you can have all the cheese you want!! : )