Muffin was our first child. We got him on November 25, 1984.
He was about 6 weeks old so we claimed October 14 for his birthday. In his early years, he was quite ferocious;
we called him our "attack cat." He was loveable around the two of us but would growl and hiss something fierce
when anybody else came within 5 feet of him. We were concerned about this antisocial behaviour when our son,
Robert, was born but somehow Muffin knew that Robert was part of his inner circle. Muffin was extremely tolerant
when Robert became a toddler. Robert would pull his tail or whiskers, or even sit on him, and Muffin would just
look somewhat annoyed. But Robert also played with him a lot and fed him Cheerios. They became best buds.
As time went by, Muffin mellowed
a lot; he would let just about anybody pat him the last few years. He was a great cat albeit single-handedly ruining
the livingroom couch. He could be very annoying, too, like deciding at 4:00 a.m. it was time to be fed and meowing
and scratching persistently at the bedroom door. He was great at lying across doorways or wherever else he might
inadvertently be stepped on. He knew when we snapped our fingers at him it meant "get down." He loved to play
Hide 'n' Seek. Even until he got sick he enjoyed crouching in the front entranceway, hiding below the bottom step,
his eyes bright and mischievous, pouncing out when you'd pass by. Sometimes we'd walk back and forth just so
he could do it over and over.
Muffin was a short-haired cat but
his fur was wispy and extremely soft. He had a couple of mannerisms we thought were funny. He'd lie down with
his rear legs stretched out behind him; we called it his "seal pose." When he spotted a bird or other prey his jaw
would twitch and he'd make this chattering sound.
For a lot of his years, he was overweight (14 ½ pounds). It was hard not to feed him when he was so determinedly
pesky about it. He liked canned food in the morning but only dried food would do at supper.
For the canned food, Muffin only would eat 3 flavours of Friskies brand. He'd be sure to crawl halfway
into the cupboard just in case we couldn't manage getting out one of those cans on our own. Then he'd have to rub
the can several times to make it his.
His favourite treat ("mooching") foods were mushrooms (he'd appear out of nowhere if mushrooms
were being cut up) and bacon. Muffin also had a bad habit of eating plastic bags. We had to make sure after
shopping all bags were put away. He'd even go into our bedroom and tip over the garbage can cause sometimes
we'd throw away bags there.
Muffin suddenly turned ill on October 10, 1998.
A couple times he seemed to be getting better but then have another relapse. He gave up eating all together on
November 14. The vet diagnosed cancer. The last week Muffin was being given 2 pills a day and had to be force
fed with a syringe. He just kept getting weaker and could barely walk. But he'd start to purr at the drop of a hat.
It was heartbreaking. He slept all day in the basement, never ventured upstairs any more, never pestered for anything. We had him put down on November 23; all three of us were in attendance.
We love you, Muffy... sleep well, Baby.
NEW! - JANUARY 2002 - CHECK OUT AN .AVI OF OUR MUFFY (1.6 MB)
This is a video of Muffin licking his lips after eating ice cream.
(If .avi doesn't play automatically after clicking on above pic, right click on mouse.)
Visit (or return to)
Spot's Spot & Spot Spot 
(Muffin's baby sister)
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