Salem

Salem was dumped in the woods in 2011 by careless people. He came to our deck and would cry out for days, but was very scared of us. After weeks of trying, we finally pet him. The little, scruffy, black void with a ripped ear chose us. It took 6 months to teach him not to be afraid of houses. He didn’t like when he couldn’t see the sky. It had to be completely silent indoors when we would bring him inside. He didn’t know what a bed was, or how to play. He didn’t know how to give kisses, or how to snuggle.

By 2012, Salem was an indoor only cat. He learned to love sunbathing in the windows, and would chase the sun around the house all day. He grew very close to our other cats and dogs. He would give all of them baths everyday. He learned to talk. And was very vocal. He couldn’t meow for the life of him. He could only say a series of different “eh’s”. He learned tricks. He could speak, sit pretty, and give paw. He loved to paw you in the face very gently for treats. Temptations and Delectables were his favorite. He was very loyal, greeting us everyday when we got home and coming to whistles to go to bed every night. He was just a pile of fur to the people that dumped him. But he was our Little Man for 14 years. He grew up with me. He was by my side during the worst years of my life. Always loyal and loving no matter what.

Salem developed soft tissue sarcoma and had to be put to sleep after getting multiple surgeries that failed. I tried to save him, and it wrecked me that I couldn’t. He was still the loving cat I always knew. But the tumor on the side of his neck was massive. Bigger than his head. He had part of his ear amputated, and more tumors grew on the scar. They would bleed profusely and cause him a lot of pain. The tumors caused him to not be able to eat much, even though he wanted nothing more than to inhale all of the treats. His brain and spirit were still there. Still healthy. But his body was failing him. We chose let him go peacefully instead of letting him bleed and suffer. He was our best friend until the end.

I’ll never forget you Salem. I hope you’re with Sierra, Tazer, Taffy, Angel, Fluffy, Mighty, Rio, and mom. I hope you have all the sun and treats you can get. Maybe you’re giving mom and the others baths. Or maybe you’re upside down getting scratches. But I hope you’re not in pain anymore. I hope one day I’ll be able to see you again and sunbathe with you and all the others. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, Salem. Thank you for choosing us. I think we had a lot of good times together.