What good is a career in journalism if you can't eulogize your own cat?

Tux, 18, of Gillette passed away Monday at Gillette Veterinary Clinic after a lengthy battle with very old age. He was born in 1995, the runt of Miss Tiggy's litter, not expected to survive. He grew to be part-puma in size and in spirit, and he lived his neutered & declawed life proving that really awesome cats don’t need claws. He lost part of an ear in a midnight row with a lesser creature, and he wore the ragged remaining bit of fur and cartilage with surly pride.

Tux loved Mom more than he loved anyone or anything else, and he deemed her the only human worthy of his voluntary cuddles. He had a fantastic purr that almost hid his utter disdain for most people and animals. He enjoyed afternoon naps in the shade of the front-yard hedge, judgmentally glowering at passersby from the back of the front-room sofa and stealthily massacring birds. He disliked dry cat food and vacuum cleaners.

Tux was preceded in death by his grandmother, Kitty, and presumably by his mother, who ran away one day and never came home. He is survived by Mom, Dad, Matt, Sarah and Charlie the Dog, who will miss his buddy. There will be no services. In his memory, be kind to a cat. 

My Tux-kitty, judging the passing world at Thanksgiving 2012.