In Memory of Rat Heebeegeebee

For those of you who don’t know Rat Heebeegeebee, AKA Arnie, he had a very commanding presence on social media for the past several years. A champion of the shelter cat, the ferals, the cats thrown out on the streets and left to die. Rat, along with his mom Robin, would post their stories on his Facebook page asking for help. He was especially fond of senior cats, as he was one of them.

Born 18th April 1997 with a pigeon chest and given a 50/50 survival, Rat lived, loved and was cherished by his family. He said goodbye to his mummy and daddy on January 30 at 4:30 a.m. I wanted to share his passing with the readers at PoC, as Rat commented often on the articles written by Furby.

Rat had been a bit on the ill side lately, but he was almost 18 years old. His mom had taken him for a vet visit with a case of the sneezes the day before he died, where he was given an injection and medication. Rat didn’t stop eating, drinking or loving, despite being a bit under the weather. He snuggled with his family that last day. It was almost as though he knew his time here on earth was running out. Robin found him sick and breathing heavily and rushed him to his vet in the middle of the night. As soon as she removed him from his basket, he took his last breath.

This beautiful boy was such a good friend to me, as well as Furby‘s best friend since he was a tiny kitten. Furby would throw imaginary catnip parties, where Rat would be fetched from his home in Northampton by a magic vacuum cleaner. He’d ride the skies to our home in South Carolina, and end up staying the night after ingesting too much catnip. Rat did have a problem with the nip, much like Furby. It was during one of his imaginary “layovers” that Rat Heebeegeebee fell in love with our black girl Cassie. They carried on a long-distance romance and eventually married. Cassie and Rat passed holiday cards back and forth over the years. Rat, being a bit of a romantic, also leaves behind a girlfriend, Patti Poop Cake. This sweet boy loved the lady cats.

Rat was my cat son-in-law, but for some reason he always called me grandma. I’ll miss that. I’ll miss him. Robin will continue their work in saving the unwanted cats of the world, but I know it has to be hard on her. She may be lost for awhile without Rats valuable input as he lay close by while she crossposted needy cats.

I broke the news to Cassie on Monday. For some reason, she’s staying close to us instead on in her sleeping spots in the back bedroom. Could she possibly understand that Rat is gone? For some reason I haven’t broken the news to Furby yet. They were as close as brothers, with Rat cheering on every stupid thing Furby ever got into. Even Sealy appears to know something is wrong. He’s staying close by me these days. Perhaps he feels the pain coming off of me in waves since hearing Rat has gone to the bridge.

Hold your cats a bit closer today friends. It’s hard for us when they make that final journey. Even when it’s a cat you called a friend, but had never met. Fly free, dear Rat. Your legacy will live on forever in our hearts.