A few years ago I was stuck living a very rough life. At one point I
would have died if a compassionate human hadn't found me and taken me to
the shelter. The humans at the shelter saved my life, then they arranged
for a foster home to take me in.

When I got to my foster home I could smell other kitties in the house.
The humans put me in a quiet ununsed room to give me a few days to
decompress. But I decided that I wanted to meet my new roommates, so I
busted out of my isolation room.

Each time I met another kitty I told them "I'm Milton, I'm just here for
a little while, and I don't want to fight." They all seemed ok with
that. Only one of them hissed at me, but I learned later that Francesca
hisses at everybody. When I met the last other cat, a young buff-colored
kitty with very soft fur, when I told him that I didn't want to fight,
his reply was "Ok, then let's be friends!" And he meant it!

He introduced himself as Freddie, then he ran off and fetched a couple
of felt mice, which he brought back. He invited me to play mouse with
him, so I did. Later that morning we played chase through the house
(taking turns leading), then ended up curling up together to nap on the
human's really comfy bed.

Fred was my first kitty friend, and our friendship was instantaneous. I
went from complete stranger, to member of the family with a new BFF in a
matter of minutes (yes, shortly afterwards the humans did adopt me and
make me an official part of their family). Fred shared the story of his
life, and it was furry sad. He had been dumped as an older kitten, and
had to learn how to watch other kitties for the location of food, sneak
in when they weren't looking to try to get some food, and getting beaten
up and bullied all the time. He lived more than a year as a scared,
starving little kitty, and it took him over a year to warm up to the
humans who tried to take care of him.

But he finally did learn to trust the humans, asked them if he could
live inside with them, and adjusted to living as a pampered house cat.
He was still very scared and very timid, but he did come to be
comfortable with his new family. I don't know why he picked me to be his friend, but I am so very happy that he did.

Several months after the humans adopted me, I woke up in the morning to
the sound of Fred coughing really badly. It scared me, and it scared the humans. I've never seen Paw move as fast as he did then, getting dressed
and getting Fred into his carrier. Meowmie called the vet to tell them
that Paw was coming, and Paw took off with Fred in the car. When Paw
came home without Fred about half an hour later, I knew things werent
good. Paw went to bed and spent the rest of the day in bed and did a lot
of crying. He did get up long enough to tell all of us that Fred had
gotten sick and had to cross the Rainbow Bridge. It turns out he died in
the car, about half way to the vet's office. The vet said he probably
had a congenital heart defect, and he suffered a catastrophic heart failure.

My theory is that Bast or Ceiling Cat or whoever you believe puts
kitties on the Earth made Fred with a heart that was bigger than it was supposed to be. He loved everyone and everything too much. Ceiling Cat
then decided one morning that the world had had Fred's company long
enough, and it was time for the kitties at the Rainbow Bridge to enjoy
his company.

Fred Buffcat, you were the best friend a kitty could ever hope for. You
taught me a lot, and I am going to do my best to be a good friend to the
other kitties in my life. Thank you for the gift of your friendship. I
miss you, I will always miss you, and I will always love you. Farewell,
my friend.

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