He was one of three siblings at the shelter, neither particularly assertive nor overly shy. But we could tell he just liked people. Not in the “hey, you, feed me!” way. But simply as a curious cat who’d like to get to know you.
He reached out to everyone he met the same way: cautious, yes, but friendly and open. That didn’t serve him well with the neighborhood cats — he never picked fights and lost every one he got into. He wasn’t a good hunter, either.
But through him we got to know a number of neighbors we hadn’t met despite living at 286 for years. It was not unusual for him to follow people home after meeting them. Which led, among other things, to a voicemail from a neighbor a couple of blocks away asking if we’d mind coming to pick him up, because he’d followed the neighbor home while he was out walking his dog…and Moose had simply waltzed into the neighbors’ home and showed no interest in leaving. In fact, he was better known than we were: opening our door one Halloween resulted in two youngsters exclaiming “Moose! So, this is where you live!”.
While he wasn’t crazy about it, he accepted wearing a GPS tracker…which showed he was one adventurous cat! It was not unusual for him to clock three miles a day, and he rarely did less than two until he started getting sick. One time he even started to cross El Camino. Fortunately, he turned back.
Earlier this year he started feeling very poorly, the result of developing a blood cancer and some other malady the good people at Sequoia Veterinary Hospital1 were never able to identify. We began treatment for the cancer (which is often survivable)…but he eventually became so weak and dispirited we decided we weren’t doing him any favors by letting him continue to suffer.
He only had eight short years. But while he left us too soon, we cherish every day we had with him. He may be gone, but he will never be forgotten.
Requiem en pace, buddy.
highly recommended ↩
5 thoughts on “Moose, 8/1/2018 – 8/26/2026”
Moose was a real character — so sorry he’s gone.
Beautiful!
We were all fortunate to know Moose. I really enjoyed his antics and personality. When you have a friend like Moose, you are never without laughs. Rest in peace, buddy. We will have stories for the rest of our lives about you and a never-ending supply of smiles.
Dear Barbara and Mark, words of comfort are difficult to come by, but I hope these will offer you solace because they did for me during those time of goodbyes. “ There is a cycle of love that shapes those who choose to travel in the company of animals. It is a cycle unlike any other. To those who have never lived through its turnings and walked its rocky path, our willingness to give our hearts with full knowledge that they will be broken seems incomprehensible. Only we know how small a price we pay for what we receive; our grief, no matter how powerful it may be, is an insufficient measure of the joy we have been given.”I will miss Moose tremendously! Even Maggie loved Moose !We loved to greet him on our walks. (((Ehugs))) my friends!
So sorry to hear this news . All these pictures are so precious . Love the one of him standing looking out the window and the one where I imagine he may have jumped onto the Christmas tree.
Never easy losing à pet ( family member). 🥲sending hugs to you all .