One of the pets I had was my pet cat that I named Squeaks because he always made a “squeaky” sound as opposed to meowing. I have written articles on all my other beloved pets that have passed away, so I did not want to exclude him. He was my second pet but the first one that died. He was a very funny cat!
His name was Squeaks
I adopted him as “Xander” at 4 months old on 1-20-08 and he died 10-5-10. I had less than two years with him. It’s wrong that he died so young and I feel cheated that I didn’t get more time with him.
He didn’t like my dog, sometimes attacked my cat Charlie (who would beat his ass), but he was a sweetheart.
My pet cat Squeaks and his idiosyncracies
He was small with a small head. As a matter of fact, he only weighed 9.1 lbs in July 2010 when he was almost 2 years old. Here is a litany of his behaviors and characteristics.
From general to specific stuff
- He squeaked like a mouse, reared like a horse when I petted him on the back, and like a dog would drag a turtle-stick-string toy to the room I was in and play with it in front of me
- Two or more times he broke through the screen window in the backroom and went out onto the roof of the 1st floor apt and then on the roof of the garage. He would be stuck there until I went out to get him.
- When he pooped he would stand on his hind legs and his front legs would be on the lip of the litter box (whatever helps you go, buddy).
- He would lick water from the bathtub drain.
- Quite often he would swipe at my dog or attack my cat Charlie after cleaning her (Why so aggressive, dude?)
- My futon was his favorite sleeping spot, either underneath it, lying on it, or he would climb into my sleeping bag that I left on the futon.
- He chewed thru my cell phone charger cord once which cost me over $40 to replace.
- When I first got him I had to pry his eyes open because they were sealed shut because of some eye disease or something (eye goo).
How squeaks entertained himself
- He would climb everything and go in the cupboards under the kitchen counter-top
- He would climb on my keyboard and walk all over the keys (thanks!)
- I mentioned this above, but he would carry the stick-string-turtle toy in his mouth like a dog.
- If there was anything “open”, then he would go inside to investigate: closets, bags, shelves, cabinets, etc.
- Chasing flies was one of his exercise routines.
- Of course, he went crazy for catnip.
- He looooved my laser pointer. He also loved any string toy and the mouse and bell-ball toys.
- He would play with anything he found – pens, rubber bands, pieces of paper, …
How my pet cat interacted with me
He was really funny and quite a character, though he did have a tendency to piss me off – I loved him. He would anger me after 10 “bad” things and then do 1 awesome thing and I totally forgave him. He followed me like a shadow. He apparently loved me and I hope he knew I loved him as well
- He would reach his paw out from under the table by the door and try and swipe me – he loved hanging out under that table.
- He would reach his paw under the front door when I would leave (hilarious).
- I would pet him as he walked past me and he would rear up like a horse when I pet his back while he continued walking.
- He would snuggle by my arm on the couch and would sometime put his snout in my armpit and lick my pit. That was gross but it did tickle.
- He would “knead” my shirt or shorts before lying on my lap.
- My favorite was when he would crawl up my chest and “kiss” me. What he would do is rub his mouth and snout all over my lips. I would give his Eskimo kisses in return.
- When I tried to put on my boots, he would go after my shoelaces.
- I would sometimes put a collar on him which he would chew and claw to get it off.
- He would partly run into the room in a funny way when I called his name – he always came when called.
- When I went to sleep, he would climb under the blankets, push Charlie out of the way to get closer to me, stay for 5 minutes then leave. Charlie would never move back closer to me after that. I wasn’t happy about that result.
- I would walk into a room to find him with a look of “caught in the act” and then he would take off into another room and hide like he knew he was guilty. What was he doing?
- I often put him on top of the fridge to investigate or just look around.
- He would always bite the zipper of my pull-over jackets
- He also responded to “hey little buddy” or just “little buddy”. I named my dog Buddy because he did the same thing.
- He would chase or, more often, get chased by Charlie.
- He always responded to his name – “Squeeks”.
- He would “squeak” when I picked him up.
- He would “rough-up” my shorts or shirt or whatever I was wearing before he settled in on my lap.
I never got the chance to take him camping to Assateague Island as I did with Charlie. He would have loved that place.
Final Thoughts
Squeaks was a cat whose life was too short and I wish I could have saved him. But then I wish all my pets were with me. I’m sure you feel the same if you have lost a pet in the past. I’m grateful that I have had them in my life, and my pet cat Squeaks is no exception.