Almost 14 years ago, a neighbor had come over to my house and asked if I wanted to adopt a cat from her. His name was D'Mitri and he was approximately 10 months old and an adorable orange tabby kitten. My children, Josh & Steph, already knew him as they had recently pet sit D'mitri and really loved him. The previous owner told me that they adopted him from the Denver Dumb Friends League and although he was cute, he was mean to her daughters and bit them. She said that if I didn't adopt him, they would return him to DDFL. Nice, huh?
I knew what would happen if he were returned. Most cats over the age of 6 months have an extremely hard time of being adopted, not to mention with a reputation of being a biter. I really could not let that happen. He came to live with us and we quickly discovered that not only was he the sweetest cat, but he was probably the coolest cat we had ever known. My daughter always said he was like the James Dean of cats. The only time that he ever tried to bite was if you messed with his feet, his previous owners had him declawed, so he was tender there. Their daughters would pull his tail and squeeze his paws! Hello?? Duh! I personally don't blame him!
D'Mitri (or Demon) as we nicknamed him, because he was supposed to be so horrribly mean, moved in with us and never looked back. I think he knew we loved him and would not pull his tail or mess with his feet.
Demon owned the neighborhood! He would sunbathe on the driveway spread eagle, cruise the neighborhood and walk into other peoples homes and take a nap! He would sit in the middle of the street and almost dare cars to stop for him. He had no fear of dogs and over the years would come home with the battle scars to prove it. I would tell him that he was living on borrowed lives, he didn't seem to care.
It was over a year ago that when he went outside, he did not come home that same night as he always did. We thought for sure that a coyote had finally gotten him. My daughter had called me and told me that he finally showed up after being gone for almost 4 days, this time with half of his hind end missing. She took him to our vet who cleaned and stiched him up. His wandering days were over, no more going outside for Demon! He was not a happy camper.
When Michael and I moved in together, I brought Demon to live with us. He quickly wormed his way into everyone's heart. This crotchedy old cat with such cattitude! Demon also became especially fond of Michael. He would often sleep on top of Mike's chest and poor Mike would be stuck there because Demon was curled up and sleeping so soundly.
D'Mitri passed away last month. The worst day for me. Mike and I were able to be home with him and hold him while he passed. Afterwards, Mike, Taylor and Jordan buried D'Mitri in the back yard, right under a beautiful tree in the corner. We plan to plant a garden this summer around him. I have owned many animals in my lifetime and through them all, certain ones stick out. My first cat, Michelobe was as unique as D'Mitri and they both happened to be orange tabbies.
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