Steffan Cockrell: One Last Love Letter to My Cat Vegas…

So I have some bad news… a lot of you have followed for a long time and been through ups and downs with me. And I appreciate it so so much. I know there are Brazilians of people you could catch up with online and I'm very lucky, happy and grateful that you stop by here or @RunEatRepeat on IG to say 'hi'. Thank you.

And I know a lot of you loved my cat Vegas so I'm extra sad to tell the Vegas fans that he went to kitty Heaven this week.

He was close to 14 years old and lived a good life. And I'm sad. But I'm grateful I had so much time with him and that so many of you loved my RER co-star.

I had to put Vegas down a few days ago. And even though it was hard it was peaceful and for the best.

And I want to share some happy pictures and stories to remember him.

How I got Vegas…

One random weekend morning I was dropping my brother off at his high-school job and then hit up my bank that was in that same shopping center. After using the ATM I heard a lil meow and looked around… the meowing continued and I found a kitten walking near one of the stores across the parking lot. Most of the other places in the center were closed because it was early so there weren't any people around and we weren't close to houses so he was obviously very lost.

I scooped up the kitten and walked over to the store my brother was working at to go tell him I found a cat and ask his thoughts on trying to take it home… Do you think mom would be cool with this? … But I didn't get to ask him because as soon as he saw me he said, 'What are you doing in here with a cat?' and he didn't really seem interested in helping me come up with a plan to convince my mom to let me keep this stray kitten.

So – I took the fur ball home and told my mom sometimes God just does things in our lives that we don't understand or plan on (my cousin had passed away unexpectedly a bit before this so we were all a bit more lost and leaning on God that might be the norm previous to that)… Anyway. She likes cats and/or was too tired to argue with me so – I got a cat! And Vegas moved in and proceeded to sleep, eat, barf, meow, get dirty, sleep more, repeat… until a few days ago.

Recently…

He had been slowing down since December a lot. He got in a bad fight in December and just never came back from it 100%. He suddenly seemed to have arthritis and couldn't jump on the couch anymore so he'd kind of climb up it. And he was VERY UPSET he couldn't go outside anymore. He'd been an inside/outside cat his entire life. At my mom's house we had a big yard and dogs so he was free to roam around. When Vegas moved into the condo with me and Ben we let him go outside whenever he wanted. Mostly he'd sit on the fence and people watch – or maybe cat watch? But every now and then he'd jump off the fence and get in a fight with another cat.

Transitioning an Outside Cat to Inside Cat –> I wrote this post after that

Oddly he mostly only fought with other orange cats. I guess he wanted to be the only ginger cat around!! When he was young the fights were not cool but not that damaging. And we'd run out and break them up if we ever heard anything starting. We tried to only let him out if we were outside too – to try and stop any potential cat fights (other fight-y cats wouldn't come around if we were around). But he was not happy staying inside. He wanted to be an outside cat that came inside to sleep or have a snack. He didn't like to sit at the window and watch the world. He didn't like cat toys. He didn't like me. Well, sometimes he didn't.

Where was I going with this?

Oh, after his fight in Dec I didn't let him outside when he'd ask but he never 'got over it' or forgot like people said he would. He'd run out when I'd come back from the store or take out the trash. He didn't really want to stay out that long – I think he just wanted to know he could.

And I'm kind of conflicted on keeping him inside 100% of the time being the best thing on some philosophical level… it felt like clipping his wings.

Yeah, it prevented him from getting in a fight.

But it also made him miserable to be stuck inside when his entire life previous up till this he got to go out. He didn't want to play with a cat-nip mouse, he wanted to go the F outside.

And before you argue with me – this isn't about Vegas… I'm projecting my feelings on this. Some of this is how I relate this to me and the situations I've been in… I think when I apply it to my life – I'd rather go outside and have a shorter life than stay inside and live longer but unhappy. Ya know?

Anyway. The point is – I did my best. Vegas was awesome and he had a good life. And I miss him.

Now he's in kitty heaven running around outside and eating tuna all the time!

I don't want to focus on the end of his life… I think I just needed to process that lil inside / outside debate to help me get some of the random thoughts and memories off my chest.

I want to focus on cute cat pics and happy times. So here are a few of my favorite Vegas the cat posts…

Some of my top cat posts:

Ben is better – this post is from 2011!!

I almost threw my cat away

Vegas might love me a little bit

Vegas is trying to kill me (this might negate the previous post)

Vegas tries to kill Ben

I'm turning into Vegas my cat (trigger warning: Ben pics in this one)

No cats were harmed in the making of this blog post – This might be one in my top 86 favorite blog posts of all time, it's random but fun.

Vegas helps me decorate

That time I peed on my cat

And kinda related… if you have a friend allergic to cats – Tips on How to Clean When a Friend / Visitor is Allergic to Cats

My favorite things about my cat:

1. He was my only friend / roommate and didn't care if I did weird stuff like dance around randomly while making dinner singing Britney Spears songs.

2. He hugged / attacked my running shoes.

3. He let me dress him up (for 2 seconds).

4. He greeted me when I got home with a hello 'meow' – he didn't always get up and come to me but he'd always meow a few times and I'd respond and once he confirmed it was me he'd go back to sleep or ask to go outside.

5. He talked to me… when I'd ask him something he'd respond. He knew the cadence of a conversation.

6. He was pretty chill.

7. He head-butted me and it was like a confirmation of our affection.

8. He let me do the cat dance with him (I would just hold him and dance around)