Mocha

Mochas, Mocha-chas, Mocha-chio, little marshmallow, little fat bear, mud face, mocha-hontas, mocha-dotties, chico chico, Mokitas, Mokes, Mo ka ka, Fatty Paddy, little chiquito, panzone, baby, sausage seal, old man whiskers, little bears fan, little blue eyes, moco loco, Mocha James the cat, pequeno, babbas…

As you can see, you had many nicknames. I don’t know where all the chubbier ones originated from as you had a slender build, but you responded to most of them.

You were unique with a capital “U” and with an exclamation mark! You were a rare cross of a cat, a puppy and a human. You exuded intelligence, curiosity, love, humor, and ingenuity that I have never seen in an animal. It’s difficult to steer from being biased, but these traits were affirmed by everyone that met you; a cable man making a service call, a family member or friend dropping by, vets and specialists, and complete strangers all cooed over you and confirmed your simply remarkable traits. You gave so much in your short life. This is your story…

On a particularly average night, I heard a small meowing outside that could only resemble that of a kitten. Being an animal lover, I quickly ran outside and to the side of the house where the meowing was coming from and there, sitting in a world amongst giants, was you. You were beautiful. I could tell though that you were hungry, dehydrated, and scared. When I slowly approached you, you darted off into the dark, but you were hesitant to leave the yard and instead circled the property several times. No amount of food, promises of a warm bed, or a declaration of peace would change your mind that night and you ultimately vanished into the dark world. I figured that we would not meet again. However, fate did intend for us to meet again as I found you the next day in the empty lot. You were a pitiful sight. You sat in the tall grasses with your paws tucked nicely underneath you with silent meows exiting your mouth. I suspected you would not last long in the rugged terrain and this time you did not give up much of a fight and was easily caught.

You were bathed (which surprisingly you didn’t mind too much), fed, given water, and had the chance to relax. I had to go to LAX that night and not wanting to leave you, I simply took you. I used an over-size purse, wrapped you in a towel, and you slept the whole time walking around the airport. You completely crashed out.

My intentions for you were to nurse you back to health and find you a loving home, but upon buying you supplies after supplies, and the affection you offered so quickly, I knew… you found your home in me.

You quickly became a little ball of energy filled with purrs, playfulness, curiosity, love, intelligence, and I quickly gave you a “voice” in all conversations I had with you.

These conversations were always present when it was time to take various “dress up” pictures.

“Mocha, let me take this one picture and then we will be done. It’s time to send out Holiday cards!”

”Okay, mommas, please hurry up and take a picture. You get one shot!”

 

…And your outtakes were pretty funny too. You usually decided to play with the props after you gave your one good shot.

Many people would find this kind of talk absurd, but unless you’ve had an extraordinary cat such as yourself, I don’t expect many to understand the sort of bond that we had.

Your shinning moment was when you were featured as one of the pets on people.com. How many cats can say that their picture was hob-knobbing next to a celebrity?! You stayed humbled. 😉

I was completely jealous of your ability to stretch out and take naps in the most peculiar ways. They didn’t always look so comfortable, but hey, who am I to judge?

We took the best selfies together.

 

You were friendly, not aggressive to other animals. I only heard you hiss once in your life and it even surprised yourself.

You were a small male cat and must have been the runt of the litter, but even though you had a sweet disposition, you were fierce and acted like a watchdog whenever you heard a noise from outside. Your ears would perk, you would jump up to look, and promptly saunter off to investigate. I’m not sure what you would have done if you encountered true danger and ferocious beasts and giants, but I appreciated your protection.

One of my fondest memories of you is that whenever I would get up in the morning and go to the bathroom, I would shout out, “C’mon potty partner!” and you would come for wherever you were and whatever you were doing and run into the bathroom and burst into purrs. This was our morning routine and I always looked forward to it every morning.

You loved playing hide and seek. You would squeeze under the dresser and upon me coming into the room I would say, “Where’s Mocha?!” and I would simply see your tail flicking back and forth under the dresser. I would then say, “I guess he’s not in here” and as I would walk out you would dart out from the dresser running past me clearly in complete satisfaction that you had me “fooled”. You would hide under tables and run out nipping the back of my leg and take off to hide under the dresser. You also liked to crouch down near the doorway, wiggling back and forth as if you were getting to pounce. Upon hearing, “Ready…. Set… GO!” You would take off running the gauntlet of furniture and objects with agility and speed.

You were my homework buddy, confidant, playmate, and would sit patiently behind me as I cooked. You were fascinated with the oven and the dishwasher.

Life can be cruel and unfair, and unfortunately it was to you in your last month. You came down with a sickness that has no cure, no answers, no hope and ravaged your beautiful body and soul. You were stoic and fought until you could no longer take it anymore and needed help with ending the suffering. It was obviously harder on me than it was on you, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. You gave so much in only 2 and a half plus years; I can only imagine what would have been. The rooms are now sad, empty, strange, and quiet. This is only a glimpse into your life and only a snapshot of who you really were. I hope, above all, that there was in fact something good waiting for you. I miss you Mocha… and I always will. You are too special of a cat to forget…

Mocha James the Cat- August 29, 2011 to April 3, 2014