Goodbye, Zorro

Zorro's mom, Matilda, with her kittens in August, 1996
Zorro is the black splotch in the middle of the pile

Zorro died peacefully yesterday, June 9, as I sadly held him. I didn't want to be there because my heart was broken. Zorro had been sick for a week. His blood test confirmed thyroid disease but he was not tolerating the medication and it had to be stopped. He lost 30% of his weight in seven days and had stopped going outside. He was jaundiced. I decided that any more treatment would be distasteful for this brave guy, and we let him go.

Zorro enjoyed his greenies

We buried Zorro in the back garden near the huge lilac bush that he loved to nap under in the summer. We placed the cremains of his mother and brothers and sisters with him. He was the last remaining member of the family. All of the others had died at various ages of EGC. We planted a snowball bush with them to mark their graves. Zorro’s doctor told me that the average lifespan of a cat is 13 years. Zorro would have been 16 in August. It still was not enough time for him or me.  I have chosen several photographs of his life to share and remember Zorro with.

Zorro doesn't like having a new dog (Scout) in the house in 2003

Zorro never was the big cat in the house; Buddy was.
Zorro was groomed by Buddy daily.

I never realized how thin Zorro had gradually become until I looked at these photos again.
He was never a plump cat; he was lean and tough.

The photograph of Zorro tossing a mouse (not seen here)
won The World's Toughest Cat Competition in 2007.

Zorro was a fierce hunter. Never birds, only rodents, although he did stalk turkeys and chickens. He always skinned his mice before he ate them — an odd habit, I always thought. His entire being required him to be outside, even in the winter. We always had a difficult time getting him inside the house after dark (because of coyotes), but he would eventually learn to return home at dusk and nap until dawn, when he would trot out the door with his tail high. When he lived in New Hampshire, Zorro's favorite prey was chipmunks. He would bring them home alive, and after praising Zorro's prowess to him, we would rescue and release the chipmunk.

This chipmunk was released unharmed.

A friend to all, Zorro and George enjoyed cat games.

Scratching, stretching, climbing and playing on an apple tree this spring.

Zorro's last photograph.
May 7, 2011

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Hartford is the Worst Again

This is a school, SAND (South Arsenal Neighborhood Development) Elementary, at which I taught in Hartford, Connecticut. It has since been demolished in order to discourage gang activity. There were shoot-outs in the school yard. There was no recess outside because of the danger to the children. This is also the school where I found Sammy and Matilda.

Now Hartford has another "worst": cafeteria food safety (from Center for Science in the Public Interest):

Of the 20 jurisdictions evaluated, Hartford, Conn., received the lowest score, 37 out of a possible 100. Hartford had the highest number of critical violations, including multiple cases of dirty equipment and utensils, inadequate hand-washing facilities, and poor personnel hygiene. Hartford also had infrequent inspections (on average, one per year, violating the federal requirements for two inspections), poor access to inspection reports, and a weak food code. Other jurisdictions with failing scores include the District of Columbia, with the lowest inspection frequency; Rhode Island; Minneapolis, Minn.; and Hillsborough (includes Tampa) and Dade (includes Miami) counties in Florida. Montgomery County, Md., barely passed, as it has the most outdated food code.

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Cats Tuesday: Matilda

Matilda and her son, Turnip

I want to tell the story of Matilda and the moth. When I taught in the inner city in Connecticut, I found Matilda behind the school. She was just about the cutest thing I had ever met. Her huge eyes enchanted everyone and her sweet, outgoing personality endeared everyone. As young as she was, she quickly became the mother of all the cats in the house. We learned very soon after rescuing her that Matilda was going to be a mother for real!

Young Matilda

Matilda was the best cat mother I have ever observed. She taught her family of five kittens how to drink from a water bowl by having them sit around the bowl while she drank. I then watched as one by one they tried to drink it. Repeatedly Matilda would demonstrate the technique for them as they struggled with this new skill.

Another day as the kittens were lined up on the kitchen floor (how did she get them to do this?), Matilda brought a huge moth into the kitchen. We lived in the city then, but had built the cats a large and safe run so that they could be outside. Occasionally different animals like moths, earthworms, snakes, and even birds were killed and brought into the house.

Using the live moth, Matilda demonstrated her hunting skills for the kids. Some were horrified and cringed in fear of the moth. Others tried to jump in and play. But Matilda kept them all in control until she let them kill the moth with their play.

I miss those days with Matilda and the kittens. I kept all the kittens except one which I gave to my son. There are only two left now: Zorro and Turnip. Zorro you have seen before in my photos. Turnip is in the first photo of this post with his mother.

Matilda died the day after Thanksgiving 2005, from a severe case of ECG, an auto-immune disease that is not controllable forever. Even while in severe pain, Matilda was kind and gentle to others and slept in my arms all of her last night. I was unable to let Matilda suffer any longer and tearfully let her go in peace.

Even dogs trusted Matilda and allowed her to nibble their mouths.

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