Goodbye Jaws! We loved you.
The day before Halloween in 1991, I was leaving work. As I went to my car I saw a little black/white kitten with his eyes barely open fall from the roof of the building next door. A family of stray cats lived there and we would see litter after litter of kittens come and go. I really didn't need another cat. I had 2 at home, b
ut I took this little guy home because I couldn't leave him to the fate of the others. First, I dropped by my vet and had him checked out. Then I took him home.My older cat, Chloe, would not have anything to do with him. She'd already raised Shelby, allowed him to nurse when he wasn't even her baby. But, Shelby took one look at this little kitten and took him under his "paw". He did everything for the kitten that a mother cat would do, including cleaning him after he ate. Because he was so young, he had to be fed by hand, and we actually had a friend who lived in the apartment complex that babysat him while we wereworking. I never really intended to keep him, but he stayed with me. He got 
his name right before Christmas. We started out withArtie, Archie (after the museum where I worked), Zacheus (because hefell off the roof), but nothing ever stuck. You know how kittens are, mouthy and their claws don't go in? Well, that's how he got his name. But, I had to spell it different, so it wouldn't be tooobvious. So, his name became Count von Jausenclaus - or JawsnClaws. He has lived most of his life with the threat of FIP,and it looks like it finally took its toll. He hadbeen steadily losing weight, and this past week really went downhill. Friday, we noticed that he wasn't fighting anymore, usually growling and hissing were everyday occurences with him. He was all growl/hiss and usually never struck out. Saturday, he really went downhill. He died in my arms between 1:00-3:45am this morning. He will join my other two cats at the Rainbow Bridge. Update: We took Jaws down to the farm on Monday night. It had just finished raining, and there was a very faint rainbow just above where we buried him. We took photos, but they do not show up well.
ut I took this little guy home because I couldn't leave him to the fate of the others. First, I dropped by my vet and had him checked out. Then I took him home.My older cat, Chloe, would not have anything to do with him. She'd already raised Shelby, allowed him to nurse when he wasn't even her baby. But, Shelby took one look at this little kitten and took him under his "paw". He did everything for the kitten that a mother cat would do, including cleaning him after he ate. Because he was so young, he had to be fed by hand, and we actually had a friend who lived in the apartment complex that babysat him while we wereworking. I never really intended to keep him, but he stayed with me. He got 
his name right before Christmas. We started out withArtie, Archie (after the museum where I worked), Zacheus (because hefell off the roof), but nothing ever stuck. You know how kittens are, mouthy and their claws don't go in? Well, that's how he got his name. But, I had to spell it different, so it wouldn't be tooobvious. So, his name became Count von Jausenclaus - or JawsnClaws. He has lived most of his life with the threat of FIP,and it looks like it finally took its toll. He hadbeen steadily losing weight, and this past week really went downhill. Friday, we noticed that he wasn't fighting anymore, usually growling and hissing were everyday occurences with him. He was all growl/hiss and usually never struck out. Saturday, he really went downhill. He died in my arms between 1:00-3:45am this morning. He will join my other two cats at the Rainbow Bridge. Update: We took Jaws down to the farm on Monday night. It had just finished raining, and there was a very faint rainbow just above where we buried him. We took photos, but they do not show up well.
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