Cassiel The Dumpster Cat
by Bill
(Canada)
It has been about sixteen years since Cassiel came to live with us. It was a day that pretty much started out as any other; off to work and out the back door of the apartment. I could have sworn I had heard a meow coming from somewhere but I could not figure out where it was coming from at all. I looked but to no avail.
Later that day when I came home from work my girlfriend mentioned to me she had seen an orange cat out by the garbage dumpster and he was really, really skinny.
We already had three other cats at this time. We decided to go out and look to see if we could find where this cat was and try to figure out his story.
Sure enough with the help of some cat food we were able to coax the skinny orange cat to us. Well it did not take much coaxing and thinking of it this cat was starving.
I mean, I do not know if many of you have ever seen a starving cat but the way their skin hangs from bone is just really creepy and terrible looking.
At first we thought he must have been some kind of odd breed or something because he looked so bad and strange but in actuality it turned out he was just starving to death.
In came the cat soon to be named Cassiel and well it was pretty plain and clear this was going to be where he was going to live and that was just that.
I mean the cat must have purred for three or mores hour straight just out of the pure pleasure of rediscovering heat.
He was hungry and that can of cat food that drew him into us was long gone and, well, another was offered and devoured with great exuberance.
This of course was followed with a collapse into a slumber besides me. I thought to myself who throws out a animal like garbage? I mean, he had no collar and no tattoo. What was just as strange was that there had to be other people who had seen him during this time. I mean it must have taken some weeks for him to get as skinny as he was.
The next day he was off to the vet so he could be given tests to see if he had feline HIV and other things.
The vet was pretty concerned over his emaciated state. He was also given fluids .
Over the months ahead Cassiel got better and, well, plumper! In fact, it would appear that due to his starvation, food was pretty much on his mind constantly.
Cassiel is a cat that is like the court jester always up to something naughty whether it being ripping open a fresh bag of cat food or figuring out new ways to open doors and cupboards he should not be getting into; even figuring out how to pry off the lid for a big Tupperware container filled with food.
Even though Cassiel can be so extremely sneaky and cunning he really is a lovable cat. He might not be a fancy purebred but he makes up for it in spades with his character.
Cassiel is one of those cats who likes people very much and if you come over he will try to find a way to weasel something from you. whether its a hug or the theft of something from your plate when your head is turned.
He has many nicknames “Stealth cat”, “The Beggar”, “The Thief”. He was no longer skinny and at this point he was a bit overweight.
About four years into him deciding to come live with us he got a lump in his throat. I was really, really worried it was cancer so off it was to the vet and well it turned out to be a salivary gland that needed to be removed. After a week or so he was back his old self.
Even though we made efforts to contain his appetite and keep his weight in check he would still find ways to steal food.
A bag with Chinese food left on the counter for only a blink of a eye would be carried off and devoured to be found scattered about and him in a deep sleep besides it!
He got up to about twenty pounds and after about six years he is now about thirteen. I guess he would be close to seventeen years old now we got him sixteen years ago and he was about a year old at that time.
Earlier this fall he was unable to walk one morning; his back legs did not work at all and it was off to the vet with the worst thoughts running through our minds.
The vet was quite concerned and all kinds of blood tests and things were given. It was not cheap but if you are going to own a cat you must be prepared to spend money even if that means you don’t get to spend that money on yourself.
Cassiel was diagnosed with a thyroid problem and he was given some pills and within two weeks he was a heck of a lot better.
A month passed by and it was like he had a new lease on life – running up and down the halls chasing the younger cats.
To be honest this cat really gets his way. He gets to do pretty much anything he wants to do and while I am a lot more careful about what he is able to steal food wise now, if he wants to steal the odd pea from my plate that is fine by me.
There has not been very much this cat has not tried to eat or has eaten. I mean I would have thought raisins would have been safe until I found him ripping open a box of them!
While Cassiel has been a handful at times and he has been a fairly expensive cat to own due to his surgery I would not trade him for the fanciest of cats.
He is such a friendly cat and everyone who meets him finds him quite entertaining despite his terrible habit of stealing food. He has lived and proven to be a very durable beast.
I still to this day do not know why no one claimed him or even had a add up for him being lost. I hate the fact there is people who treat cats like they are disposable things.
I mean cats are intelligent sensitive beings. It’s nice to have a pure bred cat without a doubt. It, though, is not any more important in the long run that saving a cat who is unwanted by the world and would surely face a quick death without help from humans.
Most of my cats are moggies. Cassiel has been one of the funniest characters I have known either human or feline.
Bill
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