by Marie Coppola

Created on: November 13, 2009   Last Updated: November 14, 2009

We call our pet cat "Gombah". His name is Italian - spelled compare - which means "Godfather". With Italian dialect, it comes up sounding like Gombah.

Gombah came into our lives 9 years ago when he was one year old and an outdoor cat. Since he seemed to enjoy being outside, and we had a large wooded backyard, it seemed a match made in heaven. Gombah loved prancing around outside and monitoring the garden, chasing chipmunks, squirrels and anything that moved. I would watch him from the deck running a marathon around they yard and dashing up a tree and down again; he really loved it outside.

Occasionally, he would bring us a mouse dangling from his mouth (eek!) or a bird flapping it's wings but then he would meow to be let in with it (um, no thanks) and in doing so, would drop his prey which would run or fly away in much haste, and Gombah was on the chase again. When winter came, we let him sleep in the warm basement which we called his apartment and he was happy until spring and then out again; the cycle continued for a year or so. When we decided to spend the winter in the south, we packed up our car complete with a carrier with Gombah in it. He travels well and the condo was a little mystifying for him, but he liked to take long naps and quickly adjusted; his 'outdoor' time was spent on the screened-in porch. That spring when we returned home, Gombah was happy to be in his element, outside being a predator and terrifying the smaller population. We got word that coyotes were in our area; how could this be? We lived in a built up suburban area and there were coyotes? Yes, there were, and one day, Gombah was injured by one. It wasn't a large injury, but it involved a trip to the vet, x-rays, antibiotics and follow-up visits to the tune of $500. When he recovered, he was anxious to get outside again, and reluctantly, having become overprotective caretakers, we let him go.

It was not long afterwards, when he was attacked again, this time more seriously. He became infectious, and upon another trip to the vet, more x-rays, antibiotics and follow-ups, and another $500, the vet suggested that if we wanted to keep him, that we should consider making him a full-time indoor cat. He talked about the dangers of another wildlife attack or cat fights, fleas, and ticks. Cat collars which do not provide stretch releases have killed many cats, and the danger of getting hit by a car crossing the road. There are diseases they can carry indoors, like ringworm or ticks that may

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>