Turns out my neighbors (who already had several cats) were feeding him. How could I not help feed him? Or take care of him? I called all of the shelters in the area, but they were full of cats. I asked around and no one wanted a cat. So we kept feeding him. But I didn't take him into the house because we already had two cats of our own.
Then one day, it was supposed to storm, so I built him a little shelter under the patio table so he could stay dry. And Jason called me from work and said, "Shannon, just take the damn cat into the house." So I did. And that's how Einstein joined our family.
His ears were huge and his meow terrible. He didn't seem to enjoy being alone; he was always with another animal. Because he spent the first 6-8 months of his life outside, he never learned how to rub on people the right way. If you weren't prepared for it, he might knock you over as he fell into you He'd nearly knock himself out rubbing against the wall. He was not a graceful cat.
He was so fat, he had what we called "Einstein's jiggle." It was a spectacular swinging jiggle. He loved jalapeno cheddar cheetos and he really loved pepperoni. He sometimes thought he wanted to be an outside cat again. He spent one night outside a couple of years ago and never tried that again. Life was too harsh on the outside.
We lost him today. A couple of years of irritable bowel disease took its toll on him and he lost that jiggle. But he never lost his desire to be around people. Sometimes we thought he actually thought he was human.
We will miss him and his terrible meow. XOXO
