Nov. 18: R.I.P. Cleo

Darlene and Wellington’s cat died on Sunday. He was one of the sweetest kitties we’ve ever known and all of us are feeling very, very sad that he’s gone.



Cleo and his brother Mu-shu joined the family when they were about eight weeks old. They looked a lot alike—Mu-shu had more white on his paws—but their personalities could not have been more different. Cleo was laid back and affectionate, while Mu-shu, though friendly, was territorial and completely freaked out by Scout’s constant barking.

One of my favorite stories about the kittens is when Darlene noticed one of them was limping. She called the vet and they told her to bring him in. Of course, like a sick kid, during the exam the kitten was just fine. Darlene was embarrassed, figured he had suddenly gotten better, and left the vet. On the way home she realized she’d taken in the wrong kitten, so switched cats and called the vet back to say “he started limping again.” :)

During their first year Mu-shu would disappear for weeks at a time, and whenever he would come back, Darlene said Cleo was always so happy. I think even though Mu-shu liked Cleo, he probably wanted his own territory and went somewhere he could have it. That’s what I chose to believe, anyway, when Darlene told us a year had passed since Mu-shu had last been around the house.

Cleo was not a roamer; he was content to stick near the house, which seemed unusual for an outdoor cat. When Darlene and Wellington moved from the Seattle area down here to Portland, we weren’t sure how Cleo would adjust to new surroundings. But he did just fine. He came when we called him, just like a dog. When he heard Katie’s voice he’d come running, even if she wasn’t calling him. In fact, he had a hard time refusing her, and she was frequently helpful when it was time to go to the vet or kennel.

I love this picture of him and Presley from a couple summers ago. She was another one of Cleo’s favorite kids.



He was such a good boy, and we miss him very much.