Today I said goodbye to my sweet boy, Mole Negro. He was such an awesome companion for nearly 20 years.
I still remember heading to the Long Island shelter where I first met Mole on a cold November day in 2005. He was barely two months old. Just a scrap of black fur, meowing pathetically.
Mole stood out from the other kitties in the shelter because he had a cold. He kept sneezing and shivering and made the most pathetic little noises. Once I held him, there was no way I was going to let him go.
Mole was with me through so many moves and transitions in my life, accompanying me from Manhattan to Brooklyn, Pleasanton, Oakland and finally San Francisco.
He was such an easy roommate. He was a pretty social cat, happily hanging out with other animals and humans. Mole just needed food, water, a relatively clean litter box and a few minutes of attention a day. He was never particularly affectionate, preferring to be NEAR me but not ON me most of the time. He didn’t even want to sleep in the same room as me.
Mole would ignore me when I was working except when I was on a Zoom call. And then suddenly he would want to be in my lap and get petted. Such a diva.
In his last couple of years, I could see him slowing down, becoming less active. More and more health problems kept popping up (hyperthyroidism, high blood pressure, arthritis), but he seemed his old contented self.
Interestingly, he became more cuddly and affectionate in his old age. After eating his breakfast he would cry until I held him for a few minutes. And at night, he had a favorite spot on the bed, nestled in a ball next to my knees. Every morning, when he first heard me stirring, he would sit on the pillow above my head until I got up and fed him.
As I was planning my trip to Asia, I worried that he might pass while I was away. Ever the considerate cat, Mole chose to die literally as I was getting ready to leave the apartment for the airport. So I was able to with him for his final moments. He lay on his side, gasping pathetically. And then he was gone.
I couldn’t have asked for a better furry companion. I’m going to miss you, Mole Negro.
