After Easter Jean-Luc seemed to be not feeling well for a couple days and was spending a lot of time on the game room couch, then perked up a bit last weekend. We all paid him some extra attention and he purred for us, but then suddenly on Tuesday night his back legs weren't supporting him and he was out of breath. It was lucky we were all home and took him to the Plains Animal Hospital where they checked him quickly after we arrived. The news, though, was terrible since it turns out he had a blood clot. The staff were wonderful and helped us to have time for a last visit with our boy. Jean-Luc was 10 years old. Such an important member of our family, who brought joy & companionship especially for Steve shortly after he moved to Cherry St, Scranton in 2010. Jean-Luc was "chill", a portly, comfortable and calm kitty (except when being taken to Grooming Cottage for baths). He was quite a ball of energy as a kitten, thrilled to watch birds out the window since was not allowed out into the great big world. Steve told him many times that it's not safe out there for little kitties, and of course he listened like cats always do.
A re-telling of the salad story is quite necessary. JLA (Jean-Luc Albert) was half grown in the winter of 2011, when Steve had me over for dinner. Dinner was eaten at a small round table in the "dining" room (which was a semi-storage room, including the bicycle along the outside wall). When dinner was almost ready, Steve put a table cloth and place settings on the table. The table cloth was draped over the edge of the table, as is traditional. After the salad was tossed, it went on the table too. But not for long! Jean-Luc thought the dangly table cloth must be there for him to play with, so he reached up, snagged it and pulled everything onto the floor. Well, as you know Steve rarely gets mad - but he was definitely mad. Little Jean-Luc was marched upstairs where he was banished in the bathroom. The remnants of the salad were collected & tossed out in the front yard. For the rest of the year, when we stopped over Robby would ask where the salad was - and kept looking in the front yard for bits of lettuce.
During the move between Cherry Street and Montgomery Ave, JLA temporarily stayed at a pet hotel near Moscow. Upon arrival here, I remember him hiding on the shelf under the kitchen sink. Some of his favorite spots here were lying on a comfortable couch preferably next to Robby (or spending a few hours next to Rob in his bed), on other beds upstairs, on the dining room rug with his legs up in the air, on the back porch in a sun spot and most recently in a kitty bed in the office next to Steve. For many years, Jean-Luc had lovely naps in Steve's lap, however only when Steve was in the office sitting at his computer. He would also enjoy close by when Steve laid down on our bed for a rest. As to annoying habits, the one I can think of is Jean-Luc licking plastic bags - which could be loud enough to wake you up.
Jean-Luc was a water cat - he truly enjoyed playing in the water bowl. His habit of meowing for slow drips from the bathtub faucet turned into a problem when he started scratching on our bedroom door every morning at 5 am. So that had to stop, after which he thoroughly enjoyed lying next to the bubbler in the boys' bathroom, sticking his head under the fountain.
Jean-Luc was accepting of Tiger, and then of Rambo - he liked his kitty pals. For a few years, we had 3 cats! There were a number of wrestling interludes (known as a "tussle") and grooming sessions that started civilized and usually ended with a squabble. There was no particular ownership of assigned kibble bowls. The wonderful announcement of "Treats!!" was usually enough to produce a thunk when Jean-Luc jumped down from a bed then bunny-hopped down the stairs - in case he was not already waiting nearby for after-dinner munching. He and his colleagues have done their duty with pest control, cornering and dispatching the occasional mouse who visited from the basement. In the past couple years, it seems likely that Rambo did most of this dirty work.
Here are some wonderful pictures of our Jean-Luc.
Tiger's education on the art of drippies:
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