For those who hate the "just a cat" line, here's a little story for you. Kinda' a "don't get mad, get even" thing.

When my friend Ronnie was 25 he was back in his parents home for a few months. The family cat was 23 years old and Ron could never remember a day without her. She only went out once a day and that was to slip into the bushes outside the door and return within 3 or 4 minutes.

The neighbor had a mean-ass dog that everyone in the neighborhood hated. It had scared inumerable kids AND adults and killed assorted other critters. The owner just laughed it all off and the police could do very little as the area had no leash law and the dog had not actually attacked anyone so far.

So one cold winter day the cat slips out as usual and within a minute or so there is a ruckus. Ron and his Mom go out to find their beloved old cat dead and the dog ambling off toward home. Ron and his Dad went over to the guy's house and told him what had happened and the reaction was......yeah, you got it...... "No big deal. It was just a cat."

A few days go by and one evening Ron hears a clanging out in their backyard and through his bedroom window sees the dog in their garbage cans. Did I mention Ronnie was a bit of a gun nut? He got his Colt Python .357 out of the closet, opened the window, poked the barrel through the screen, took aim, and fired. Dead dog.

Ron calls the neighbor and tells him to come get his dog out of their garbage. The guy finds his dead hound and goes to the door demanding to know what happened and what Ron is going to do about it. At this point Ron said, "No big deal. It was just a dog."

The police came and issued Ron a fine for discharging a firearm in the city limits. The neighbors heard about it and brought Ronnie a nice cake......and paid the fine!

I am very sorry for your loss. Its the worst part about having pets. Maybe Shadow will run into our old guy "Cutter" who died a few years ago at age 20......a couple of well experienced black cats hangin' out and prowling around together....I think that'd be nice for both of them!

Spaw