I just lost my best animal friend — Okie-Dokie, the black cat. She was just fine a few days ago, but then she had some serious kidney problems, and within a few days she was gone. Poor Okie-Dokie. She was a good pal to me — after teaching me some dog-cat manners. I’ll miss her a lot. I guess, though, that her 17 years were pretty good cat years.
Okie-Dokie adopted Fred and Barbara about 10 years ago. She just showed up one day, in the front yard, hunting for gophers, a few of which had migrated across the street from the golf course. She hunted gophers for a few days, and then she started to check out the front doorstep. Eventually, Fred and Barbara put out some cat food, which the strange black cat gobbled down. Next, she started to explore the inside of her house. All in all, it took Okie-Dokie about two weeks to decide to adopt Fred and Barbara.
A few years earlier, Fred and Barbara had dinner at a restaurant in Cabo San Luca, Mexico, where their waiter was just always saying “Okie-Dokie.” “Okie-Dokie, I’ll bring you another Pacifico.” “Okie-Dokie, your enchiladas are coming right up!” So they decided that they would name their next cat “Okie-Dokie.”
A few years later, Fred and Barbara learned the true story about Okie-Dokie. Okie-Dokie, who was originally named Maxine, was a ferel cat that had been adopted by a young couple that lived a few blocks away from Fred and Barbara. When the couple had their second baby, Okie-Dokie decided she wasn’t getting enough attention, so she started scouting for a new place to live. It turns out that some of the couple’s neighbors saw this happening, but Fred and Barbara didn’t learn about it for several years.
When Okie-Dokie adopted Fred and Barbara, Jamie (my predecessor Golden Retriever) was about two years old (which is what I am now!). Here’s a photograph from “My Doggie Says… Messages from Jamie,” that shows Okie-Dokie and Jamie having their daily afternoon nap in the hallway.
When I arrived at Fred and Barbara’s house almost two years ago, Okie-Dokie was about 15 years old. At first, Okie and I didn’t get along very well. I was a fluffy little puppy, and I kept thinking Okie-Dokie would want to play with me. But everytime I jumped at her, she swatted my nose. I finally learned that Okie-Dokie was in charge and that we could play on her terms, not mine. We didn’t actually “play” a lot, but we got to be very good friends. We enjoyed sniffing noses. Sometimes, Okie-Dokie would lick my face, or my coat. Sometimes I would lick Okie-Dokie’s fur. We never shared a nap in the hallway, like Jamie and Okie-Dokie, but recently we napped a lot on the futon in Fred’s office. Sometimes, I used Okie-Dokie like a pillow. She seemed to like that.
So that makes three really good pals I’ve lost in my two, young years. Charlie, my Golden Retriever friend that I used to see on my morning jog. And then Ishka, Karen’s (Fred and Barbara’s daughter) Golden Retriever. And now Okie-Dokie. Okie-Dokie is the toughest to deal with, because I spent time with her every day. I’ve been making up for the loss of Okie-Dokie by spending lots more time with “Stinky,” my one-half stuffed puppy security object. I don’t know what I’d do without “Stinky.”
Fred says losing a pet is really hard for people, too. They love their pets very much, and it’s hard for them to understand that dogs and cats just don’t live as long as people usually do. Here’s a collection of poems that have given Fred and Barbara lots of comfort when they’ve lost pets.
Goodbye, Okie-Dokie. You were a great cat and a great pal, and I’ll always love you.
Callie
