About 5 years ago, Joei brought home the friendliest homeless cat to come play with our kitty, Sammy. He was so playful, he used to try and play with her hand when she'd reach in to feed him, so she thought he'd be a great friend for Sammy until he was adopted. Boville was his name. He was left behind by an elderly couple that had to move to Canada to receive affordable medical care. They left as well a large cat perch, toys, and a leash (because they used to take Boville on walks) at the veterinary hospital Joei worked at. And Boville was fun, he was playful and energetic and loved to climb into bed and lay on my chest when I watched hockey on TV at night.
We tried to adopt out Boville to Joei's uncle Rex, but he didn't get along with Yogi and after just a few months came back to our foster home. We soon found out that Boville had FIP that he had contracted from being in the vet's kennel. The disease is highly contagious and almost always fatal, so we were saddened for him and for our other foster cat, Bobby Jon. We immediately took steps to immunize B.J. and treat Boville. We had a bad year, losing Sammy our cat and both Cat and Martha, our dogs, so we fought to not lose Boville too. He had some bad periods of illness over the next year or so, but Boville survived the FIP thanks to treatment from a vet in Scotland and a consistent dose of laying on my chest watching hockey on TV. He was my best buddy.
After the FIP, Boville's personality changed a lot. It's a common effect of FIP. He wasn't very friendly to anyone anymore, especially new-comers. He trusted on one (as anyone who saw the non-blinking stare of fear in person will tell you). We joked at his paranoia--that every sudden move and every person walking by was a potential assassin to Boville. He would freak out and hiss or run away when any animal would come near him (he never did trust Alex ... even after living with him for 4 years!!). It made living with him more difficult than with a normal cat, but he was still my buddy laying on my chest watching hockey on TV. He'd jump like he was being shot at if I made sudden movements, but he always came back to lay on my chest again.
He's spend nearly everyday sleeping alone in a corner or in a room away from everyone, only coming out when he heard me come home from work. He'd meow and rub against my legs, waiting for me to sit down so he could jump up and lay on me (even during the hockey off-season).
Boville became even more anti-social after we moved from Utah. He started having other problems and wanted to spend more time outside than in and more time alone than with people. But at night, when it was near dinner time and I would get home from work, he'd be back, meowing to come in, and when I sat down he was there to jump on me. Even jumping on me a couple of times when I was holding Nico (but that was short-lived if the baby made any noises or moves ... apparently Boville though Nico was brought in to kill him).
Well last Sunday, Boville didn't come home at dinner time to be let inside. This was one of the few times Boville didn't come home at night (and the first in over a year), so we were already a little worried. But when I came downstairs Monday morning and saw what I thought to be a wolf (although everyone tells me it must have been a coyote ... a very large coyote) standing in our backyard, I just knew that Boville wasn't coming home. It's been a week and we're pretty sure (well, sure enough to write this post) that he met his end that night.
Well I wanted to write a "eulogy" for Boville because I've done them for Martha and Cat and, even if he turned into a paranoid, unsocial ornery grouch, he deserves one too for always being my buddy (although he thought I might be a buddy just so I could get close enough to try and kill him!). And I hope I get to see him again someday, because I'm really gonna miss him laying on me and watching hockey on TV.
