My precious little boy

The other night I was going through pictures on my computer and ran into several of them when Blanca gave birth to Paquito, Rudy, and Nico back in March 2018. Their baby pictures were taken in May 2018 as is the case with most stray cats their mothers keep them hidden until they are six weeks old.  I knew they were there, I could hear them, sometimes catch a glimpse of them, but not hold them.

His brothers were afraid of me but Blanca never was and upon seeing that Paquito decided to follow me around like his mother.  He was loving and adorable.

Paquito hugging his brother Rudy

Unfortunately, he was also mischievous and often got himself in trouble. He injured his eye and to this day I do not know if it was that Blanca had scratched him since she no longer wanted to nurse him or if he ran into some sort of desert cacti. The thing is he got a severe infection and when I took him to the vet he said his eye could not be saved and had to be operated on...that is how he became my one-eyed Jack.

Looking at the pictures I could not help but note how much weight he had gained over the years. I tried to feed him less but he was having none of it and would throw fits and shove Nico out of the way and try to eat his share as I fed them in the kitchen away from the other cats.

Paquito has never been late to breakfast or any other feeding. If he felt I was oversleeping he would come to my bedroom window and meow loudly until I woke up...he had me well trained!

That is why I was surprised not to see him by the kitchen door this morning. I called out to him but got no response. I would later go looking for him both in the north and south part of the property and started to get concerned. I was looking for the keys to the back bathroom/shed/junk room so I could get my ladder out and climb the fence into my lot that is infested with mesquite trees when I thought I heard a meow but with eight cats it could have any one of them.

I went out the front door to check and when I did I saw him in the front yard. He stood out because of his coloring, had it been one of the other cats it would have been difficult since they blend into the landscape.

I ran to him but I could tell even before I reached him that he was no longer alive. He was bloodied but I could not see any bite marks. Ants were already in his eyes, mouth, and ears. He must have been dead for a while as rigor mortis had already set in. The last time I saw him was at 6:00 p.m. yesterday after I fed him dinner.

Of the three brothers, only Nico is still alive
and their mother Blanca

I was afraid that I would not be able to carry him to the southern part of the property where we have our Pet Cemetery as he weighed between 12 to 14 pounds. I put a double set of disposable gloves on and after finding a sturdy cardboard box I gently placed him inside. To my surprise, he did not weigh much.

I found some potting soil and filled the box with it and then added horse pine pellets to control the smell though he did not emit an odor yet. While I was doing that Nico came around to pay his respects much like he did when I buried the kittens Molly killed.

I will miss my precious little boy. Rest in Peace Paquito...

March 24, 2018, to November 24, 2021

Cat Goodbyes