Honoring Mohawk

Mom here. The Furry Bambinos graciously allowed me to post today, in honor of Mohawk. He was One Who Came Before.

Twenty years ago tonight, David and I visited a friend to meet Mohawk. We ended up leaving with Mohawk that night, and took him home to my apartment. It is a great story, and you can read it here.

In addition, today is a sad anniversary, as it is the day in 2002 that Mohawk left us for the Rainbow Bridge.

Although I had had kitties in my life before (Kiki and Puddy), Mohawk was the first cat for whom I was truly responsible. Kiki and Puddy were family pets, and while I loved them both very much, Mohawk was the first cat I lived with as an adult. Adopting Mohawk was the signal to my parents that I was all grown up, and that I wouldn’t be moving back into their home. Puddy, the family cat, was big, orange, and intolerant of other felines.

Each of The Furry Bambinos reminds me of Mohawk in his or her own way. Meerkat is thin and svelte, the daintiest of the Bambinos. Mohawk was also slight of build, weighing just 10 pounds at his heaviest. In contrast, Clyde, Mohawk’s adoptive brother, weighed 19 pounds at one point.

Cookie is our “Cat Ambassador”. She is not afraid of visitors, and especially enjoys assisting furnace repair personnel. Mohawk enjoyed helping plumbers who visited our apartment.

Caramel is sweet and cuddly. Mohawk’s specialty was cuddling. He liked to climb inside my clothes, while I was wearing them.

Padre, in his finicky dining habits reminds us of how Mohawk used to have to be “invited” to join us for meals. Sometimes we would pick up the basket in which Mohawk was reclining, and carry Mohawk, basket and all, to the kitchen for meals. Similarly, we often have to hunt Padre down at breakfast time, and bring his food dish to him.

If you live with cats, you know all about regurgitation. Padre often gets sick and vomits his dry food. We are trying to switch dry foods in hopes that this alleviates this problem.

You know how they say that there are about 60 different words for snow in the Inuit language? Well, we had about 60 different words to describe “Mohawk’s special skill”. In fact, he earned the title “King of Horking” for his creative works of art. Mohawk specialized in using gravity to add to his performance art. So far, none of The Furry Bambinos comes anywhere close to matching Mohawk’s skills. Thank Bast!

Panda Bear’s “meow” reminds us of Mohawk’s voice. Mohawk’s voice sounded more like a bleat than a true meow. It often sounded like he was complaining, but it was really just the way he spoke. Panda Bear makes a very similar sound, and we are always reminded of Mohawk whenever Panda Bear talks to us. Panda Bear also likes to nap on top of us, like Mohawk used to do.

Mohawk also knew his name and would do a happy dance when we said “Mohawk!” in a happy tone. Mohawk would jump onto a bookcase and wait for his “snuggle bath”. Panda Bear knows his name as well as his nickname, PB. Panda Bear will come to us when we say his name in a happy tone of voice, and we reward him with snuggles.

Mohawk, we miss you, and love you always.